Stanley Fafara

Last updated

Stanley Fafara
Stanley Fafara in Leave It to Beaver 1960.jpg
Stanley Fafara in Leave It To Beaver 1960
Born
Stanley Albert Fafara

(1949-09-20)September 20, 1949
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedSeptember 20, 2003(2003-09-20) (aged 54)
Resting placeRedland Pioneer Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
Education North Hollywood High School
OccupationChild actor
Years active19551963
Children1
Relatives Tiger Fafara (brother)
Dez Fafara (nephew)

Stanley Albert Fafara (September 20, 1949  September 20, 2003) was an American child actor, best known for his role as Hubert "Whitey" Whitney in the original Leave It to Beaver television series. His older brother, Tiger, played "Tooey W. Brown" in the series.

Contents

Early life and career

Fafara was born in San Francisco, California, in September 1949. In 1957, at the age of 7, his mother took him to an open casting call for a new family television series titled Leave It to Beaver. He had been working in commercials and television westerns since the age of 4. Fafara earned the part of Hubert "Whitey" Whitney, one of the Beaver Cleaver's best friends.

Fafara remained with Leave It to Beaver for six years. After the show's cancellation in 1963, he attended North Hollywood High School. He became friendly with the pop-rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders and reportedly moved in with the band for a time. He developed an alcohol habit and began to use drugs. [1]

At his parents' instigation, Fafara went to live with his sister in Jamaica, where he tried his hand at painting; however, he continued to drink and use narcotics. He then returned to Los Angeles in 1972 where he was married briefly. He supported himself by dealing narcotics. In the 1980s he was arrested for breaking into pharmacies seven times. Fafara was sentenced to a year in jail after being arrested and convicted for an eighth burglary. After his release from jail, Fafara tried several jobs but eventually returned to dealing drugs. [1]

Fafara later developed an addiction to heroin and was in-and-out of rehabilitation centers for many years. He became sober in 1995. [1]

Later years and death

Fafara spent the final eight years of his life clean and sober, initially living in a house for recovering addicts and alcoholics, then in a subsidized apartment in downtown Portland, Oregon. He lived on Social Security checks of $475 per month until his hospitalization in 2003. Due to his addiction to heroin, he contracted hepatitis C. [1]

Fafara died on September 20, 2003, his 54th birthday, in Portland, Oregon, of complications from hernia surgery he had undergone the previous month. [2] Fafara is buried at Redland Pioneer Cemetery in Redland, Oregon.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1955 Good Morning, Miss Dove Fred Makepeace - Age 6Uncredited
1957 Casey Jones Carl SvensonEpisode: "Iron Men"
1957-1963 Leave It to Beaver Hubert "Whitey" Whitney 57 episodes
1958 The Millionaire BoyEpisode: "Millionaire Dan Howell"
1958 The Lost Missile Boy on Evacuation School BusUncredited
1958 Wagon Train Johnny O'MalleyEpisode: "The Luke O'Malley Story"
1959 Wanted: Dead or Alive Young BoyEpisode: "Angels of Vengeance"
Uncredited
1959 Man Without a Gun Episode: "Eye Witness"
1961 Window on Main Street PeeweeEpisode: "The Haunted House""
1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm HanselUncredited

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Brown</span> American singer (born 1969)

Bobby Barisford Brown Sr. is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started his career in the R&B and pop group New Edition, from its inception in 1978 until his exit from the group in December 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leif Garrett</span> American actor and singer (born 1961)

Leif Garrett is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his drug abuse and legal troubles.

<i>Leave It to Beaver</i> American television sitcom (1957–1963)

Leave It to Beaver is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It stars Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Mewes</span> American actor (born 1974)

Jason Edward Mewes is an American actor, comedian, film producer, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse franchise.

<i>Requiem for a Dream</i> (novel) 1978 novel by Hubert Selby Jr.

Requiem for a Dream is a 1978 novel by American writer Hubert Selby Jr. that concerns four New Yorkers whose lives spiral out of control as they succumb to their addictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Novak</span> American skateboarder and motivational speaker

Brandon Thomas Novak is an American motivational speaker, author, and former professional skateboarder and CKY crew member. He also had appearances in the Viva La Bam reality comedy series and the Jackass films.

<i>Junkie</i> (novel) 1953 novel by William S. Burroughs

Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict, or Junky, is a 1953 novel by American Beat generation writer William S. Burroughs. The book follows "William Lee" as he struggles with his addiction to morphine and heroin. Burroughs based the story on his own experiences with drugs, and he published it under the pen name William Lee. Some critics view the character William Lee as simply Burroughs himself; in this reading, Junkie is a largely-autobiographical memoir. Others view Lee as a fictional character based on the author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dez Fafara</span> American heavy metal vocalist

Bradley James "Dez" Fafara is an American vocalist who performs in the metal bands DevilDriver and Coal Chamber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Starr (musician)</span> American bassist (1966–2011)

Michael Christopher Starr was an American musician best known as the original bassist for the rock band Alice in Chains, with which he played from the band's formation in 1987 until January 1993. He was also a member of Sato, Gypsy Rose, Sun Red Sun, and Days of the New.

<i>The New Leave It to Beaver</i> American television series

The New Leave It to Beaver is an American sitcom sequel to the original 1957–1963 sitcom Leave It to Beaver. The series began with the 1983 reunion television movie Still the Beaver that aired on CBS in March 1983. The success of the television movie prompted the creation of a revival series, also titled Still the Beaver, that aired on The Disney Channel from 1984 to 1985. In 1986, the series was picked up by TBS, where it aired until June 1989.

The Wonderland Gang was a group of drug dealers involved in the Los Angeles cocaine trade during the late 1970s and early 1980s; their home base was located on Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. On July 1, 1981, three members and one associate of the gang died in the Wonderland murders.

Jeffrey Dubay is a former American radio personality. He was co-host of the PA and Dubay Show on KFAN, a sports talk radio station broadcasting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul markets, and co-hosted The Judd and Dubay sports talk show on ESPN.

The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and was dismantled in the 1970s. It was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States at the time. The operation was headed by Corsicans Antoine Guérini and Paul Carbone. It also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger Fafara</span> American actor

Lucas "Luke" Fafara II, also known as Tiger Fafara, is a former American child actor best known for portraying the role of "Tooey Brown" on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver Gets 'Spelled</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Leave It to Beaver

"Beaver Gets 'Spelled" is the series premiere of the American television series Leave It to Beaver. The episode is the first episode of the first season of the show. It was written by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, and directed by Norman Tokar. The episode originally aired on CBS on October 4, 1957. It is also available on DVD.

Alexis Christine Haines is a member of the Bling Ring and a former television personality. At the age of 18, she was arrested for her involvement in a string of burglaries that targeted the homes of multiple celebrities. Haines served one month of a six-month sentence after her conviction for one count of first degree residential burglary.

Maria Serraino was an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta mafia-style organization in Calabria. She is one of the rare examples of a woman leading a 'Ndrangheta clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagga Couple</span> Pro-cannabis organisation

The Dagga Couple or DC is a pro-cannabis lobbyist organisation from South Africa founded by Julian Stobbs and Myrtle Clarke after the two were arrested for the possession and dealing in the substance in 2010. Rather than plead guilty, the couple decided instead to sue seven sectors of government that maintained and enforced the policy of cannabis prohibition in the country resulting in what has been described locally as the Trial of the Plant in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Ryan (recovery advocate)</span> American activist, drug abuse interventionist, author and speaker

Tim Ryan is an American activist, drug abuse interventionist, author and speaker. He is the Founder and Executive director of “A Man in Recovery” foundation. According to the National Safety Council, Ryan is notable for his position in favor of Drug policy reform and as a proponent of legislative change in American drug policy. His work was the subject of the A&E series “Dope Man” in July 2017. Ryan is also the author of the 2017 memoir From Dope to Hope: A Man in Recovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Oregon Ballot Measure 110</span> Oregon drug reclassification bill

In November 2020, voters in the U.S. state of Oregon passed Ballot Measure 110, "[reclassifying] possession/penalties for specified drugs". It reclassifies possession of drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, PCP, LSD and oxycodone as a Class E civil violation. The Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based non-profit organization was behind the measure and the measure also received financial support from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McLellan, Dennis (September 27, 2003). "Stanley Fafara, 54; 'Whitey' on 'Beaver'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  2. "Actor who played Beav's pal dead at 53". The Blade . Reuters. September 27, 2003. p. D5. Retrieved June 16, 2022.