John Davis; ‘Tough Kid’ in Our Gang Comedies

John H. Davis, the first “tough kid” to join Our Gang when those cherished films began in the early 1920s but who soon abandoned films for what was to become a distinguished medical career, has died.

The Los Angeles native, who was groomed for pictures by Harold Lloyd, the famous comedian who was to become Davis’ brother-in-law, was 78 when he died Tuesday of respiratory failure at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica where he had been on the staff.

When John Davis became Jackie Davis in the third Our Gang feature, the 1922 “Young Sherlocks,” the group of carefree youngsters producer Hal Roach had first seen at play from his office window had been making pictures for just a few weeks. Their generally spontaneous pranks in these first silent films had quickly enchanted America, and to round out their appeal Roach, who died Monday at age 100, brought Davis to the series and made him the brassiest and most outspoken of the children.

According to the authoritative book “Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals,” the screen title that introduced Jackie’s character in one of his films, “Derby Day,” read:

“Jack -- some neighbors say he’ll be hanged when he grows up -- others hope it will be sooner.”

He went on to make 19 of the kids’ comedies over the next two years before Lloyd, who by then had married his leading lady (Jackie’s older sister, Mildred Davis), sent the boy off to military school. That proved Davis’ final endeavor in show business, and he went from military school to UC Berkeley, where he earned a degree in anthropology before graduating from the USC School of Medicine in 1942.

After Navy service in World War II, he opened a private practice eventually specializing in cardiology. At his death he was a retired associate professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Dr. Davis is survived by his wife, Josephine, a daughter, three sons, two stepdaughters, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. at Gates, Kingsley and Gates Funeral Directors in Santa Monica.

Donations in Davis’ name are asked to the St. John’s Hospital and Health Center Heart Institute.