Victim of stabbing was former 'Our Gang' actor

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An 87-year-old man found stabbed to death in the desert has been identified as a former child actor in the "Our Gang" film series.

The body of Jay R. Smith was found Oct. 5 near I-15, about 25 miles north of Las Vegas, police said. He died from multiple stab wounds, the Clark County coroner's office said.

As a freckle-faced boy, Smith was in three dozen of the "Our Gang" short comedies from 1925-29, most of them silent. The series, better known to TV audiences as "The Little Rascals," ran from the 1920s to the early 1940s, and the casts of children changed over the years.

In many of the films, Smith's roles were relatively minor.