Frankie Darro, born December 22, 1917 (died 1976).
Wild Boys of the Road (1933) star Darro was a talented child actor born to a circus aerialist team, a background which led to Frankie performing many of his own stunts throughout his career. Young Frankie Darro came to the screen at age 6 and was soon a regular in Tom Tyler westerns during the end of the silent era, appearing in 26 total. Small in stature, Darro was often cast as a jockey as an adult. He teamed several times with Mantan Moreland in the early 1940’s and by the end of the decade appeared in a few of the Monogram Bowery Boys movies. Darro continued to play in small parts both in films and on TV up until a heart attack suddenly took his life on Christmas Day, 1976.
Frankie Darro is shown above on an early 1930’s tobacco premium issued out of Uruguay.
Check for availability: All Uruguayan Premiums in my eBay Store
In seeking info on Frankie Darro I discovered there’s a really incredible website dedicated to him at FrankieDarro.com as well as a recent book, Tough Kid-The Life and Films of Frankie Darro
, published about him (which has now been deposited into my own Amazon cart to be ordered soon after Christmas).
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