Stanley Fafara AKA Whitey Has Died.

chip-hp · Sep 28, 2003

The Beav's little buddy ... Whitey ... has died. Link

Jamie Tate · Sep 29, 2003

Youch!!

Stanley Fafara portrayed the Beaver's buddy Whitey
Ex-child actor, 53, dies from complications after surgery
Adult life of drugs, crime contrasted with idyllic TV suburbia

LOS ANGELES—Former child actor Stanley Fafara, who played Beaver's pal Whitey on the idyllic family sitcom Leave It To Beaver but descended into a real-life adulthood of drugs, alcohol and petty crime, has died at age 53, friends said yesterday.

Fafara died in a Portland, Ore., hospital a week ago today, of complications from surgery he underwent last month to repair a constricted intestine caused by a hernia, according to Tom Hallman Jr., a reporter for the Portland Oregonian who knew him.

Hallman, who had kept in touch with Fafara since writing a profile of him last December, said the former actor already was weakened by a hepatitis C infection contracted years ago from intravenous drug use. Hallman said friends of Fafara told him the former actor ultimately was removed from life support after going into a coma.

His death capped a tragic adult epilogue to the boyhood celebrity Fafara enjoyed as a young actor portraying "Whitey" Whitney, the tow-headed pal of the title character played by Jerry Mathers on Leave It To Beaver.

The show, set in the fictional suburban town of Mayfield, aired on CBS and ABC from 1957 to 1963.

Fafara, who grew up in the Los Angeles suburbs of Studio City and was pushed into acting by his mother, landed the part as Whitey after doing a number of commercials. He also had appeared in an episode of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.

In a recent online interview, Fafara said it was Whitey who uttered the first line spoken on the show, asking Mathers' character, "What did she do to you, Beaver?" as the Beav emerged from his teacher's classroom with a note to take home to his parents.

But the innocent, sheltered suburbia depicted on Leave It To Beaver was a far cry from the lifestyle Fafara assumed after the series ended its run.

By his own account, he began drinking and doing drugs as a teenager and briefly lived in a house with members of the rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders. Sent off to live with his sister in Jamaica, he returned to Los Angeles at age 22 and started dealing drugs.

By the early 1980s, he was breaking into pharmacies and was eventually sentenced to a year in jail for burglary. After his release, he worked a number of odd jobs and resumed drug dealing to support his habit.

In and out of jail and rehab, he moved to Portland in the early 1990s hoping to get off drugs. But he ended up as a junkie living in a rented motel room, then the streets, before finally checking himself into a detox centre in August, 1995.

Clean and sober since then, he moved into a halfway house for recovering addicts and alcoholics, then into a subsidized apartment on the edge of Skid Row, where he scraped by on Social Security until being hospitalized, Hallman said.

Near the end of his life Fafara took some acting classes, but his aspirations to return to show business never gelled.
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Michael · Sep 29, 2003

Incredibly SAD Poor soul. I was recently watching an LITB episode with Whitey. When you see the child, it's hard to imagine what the adult would turn into.

stereoptic · Sep 29, 2003

No mention of his older brother Tiger, who played Tooey on Leave It To Beaver

billh · Sep 29, 2003

Originally posted by Michael
Incredibly SAD Poor soul. I was recently watching an LITB episode with Whitey. When you see the child, it's hard to imagine what the adult would turn into.
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Well said. Very sad.

chip-hp · Sep 30, 2003

I wonder how Larry, Richard and Gilbert are doing?

AKA · Sep 30, 2003

In his last few years, Stanley Fafara really cleaned himself up. He got into graphic design and even designed his own web page.

http://www.fafara.com

czeskleba · Sep 30, 2003

Too bad what happened to him. I'd always wondered why he didn't appear in the "Still the Beaver" reunion movie, when most of the other original actors did.

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Stanley Fafara AKA Whitey Has Died.

chip-hp Cool Cat Thread Starter

Jamie Tate New Member

Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

billh Senior Member

chip-hp Cool Cat Thread Starter

AKA Senior Member

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Stanley Fafara AKA Whitey Has Died.

chip-hp Cool Cat Thread Starter

Jamie Tate New Member

Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

billh Senior Member

chip-hp Cool Cat Thread Starter

AKA Senior Member

czeskleba Senior Member

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