Baby LeRoy (May 12, 1932 â€" July 28, 2001) was a child actor who
appeared in films in the 1930s. When he was sixteen months old, he
became the youngest person ever put under term contract by a major
studio.Born Ronald Le Roy Overacker in Los Angeles, California, Baby
LeRoy's career began when he was less than a year old, co-starring
with Maurice Chevalier in A Bedtime Story, and ended with a cameo role
as himself in Cinema Circus (1937). He is best known for his
appearances in three W. C. Fields films: Tillie and Gus (1933), The
Old Fashioned Way (1934) and It's a Gift (1934).Fields recounted a
difficult shooting day during Tillie and Gus where a short scene was
repeatedly ruined by Baby LeRoy's crying until he surreptitiously
devised a solution: "I quietly removed the nipple from Baby LeRoy's
bottle, dropped in a couple of noggins of gin, and returned it to Baby
LeRoy. After sucking on the pacifier for a few minutes, he staggered
through the scene like a Barrymore."LeRoy is perhaps best remembered
for a dinner table sequence in the W. C. Fields comedy The Old
Fashioned Way (1934) in which he throws a handful of custard into the
comedian's face, yanks on his nose, and destroys his pocket watch by
tossing it into a bowl of molasses. Fields initially endures each of
these indignities, but the scene ends with Fields spotting Baby LeRoy
standing in a doorway and giving the toddler a kick to the rear end.
The film's director, William Beaudine, reported that the kick got "the
biggest laugh in the picture."
appeared in films in the 1930s. When he was sixteen months old, he
became the youngest person ever put under term contract by a major
studio.Born Ronald Le Roy Overacker in Los Angeles, California, Baby
LeRoy's career began when he was less than a year old, co-starring
with Maurice Chevalier in A Bedtime Story, and ended with a cameo role
as himself in Cinema Circus (1937). He is best known for his
appearances in three W. C. Fields films: Tillie and Gus (1933), The
Old Fashioned Way (1934) and It's a Gift (1934).Fields recounted a
difficult shooting day during Tillie and Gus where a short scene was
repeatedly ruined by Baby LeRoy's crying until he surreptitiously
devised a solution: "I quietly removed the nipple from Baby LeRoy's
bottle, dropped in a couple of noggins of gin, and returned it to Baby
LeRoy. After sucking on the pacifier for a few minutes, he staggered
through the scene like a Barrymore."LeRoy is perhaps best remembered
for a dinner table sequence in the W. C. Fields comedy The Old
Fashioned Way (1934) in which he throws a handful of custard into the
comedian's face, yanks on his nose, and destroys his pocket watch by
tossing it into a bowl of molasses. Fields initially endures each of
these indignities, but the scene ends with Fields spotting Baby LeRoy
standing in a doorway and giving the toddler a kick to the rear end.
The film's director, William Beaudine, reported that the kick got "the
biggest laugh in the picture."
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