An interesting little "Our Gang" story:
When Matthew Beard ("Stymie") was 5 years old and appearing in the "Our Gang" films, he was an avid fan of Stan Laurel (of Laurel & Hardy).
Laurel heard about his devoted fan and visited Matthew on the set one day.
Little Matthew was just absolutely overwhelmed. Laurel spent most of the day with Matthew, and they got along famously.
As a parting gift. Stan Laurel gave Matthew his bowler hat.
From then on, Stymie was never without his bowler hat.
Matthew Beard had a cameo appearance in the movie
The Buddy Holly Story in 1978 at age 53.
Yep! He wore his bowler hat!
