Teddy Infuhr

Missouri-born child actor Teddy Infuhr, youngest of four, moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was three and was initially prodded into acting by his mother. A young student at the Rainbow Studios, he was spotted by a talent agent and booked the very first film he went out on with The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942) at the age of 5. Throughout the rest of the 1940s he would find steady roles as mean-spirited tykes, trouble-makers or bullying types, never settling down to one specific studio. A good portion of this little toughie's work was noticeable yet he also appeared unbilled much of the time. Unable to move into the major child star leagues, he was nevertheless cast in some of the biggest "A" pictures Hollywood had to offer including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Spellbound (1945) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). One of his more oddball roles included the role of Gale Sondergaard's fly-swallowing nephew in The Spider Woman (1943). Teddy found a recurring role in the "Rusty" canine adventure series (as Squeaky Foley), beginning with The Return of Rusty (1946) and finishing with Rusty's Birthday (1949). He was also one of the bucolic brood in the Ma and Pa Kettle series that was introduced with the classic The Egg and I (1947). He appeared more times in that series (six) than any other of the regular kid actors. In the postwar years he had ostensibly larger parts in The Boy with Green Hair (1948), Fighting Fools (1949), West of El Dorado (1949) and Blondie's Hero (1950) and appeared with western hero Gene Autry a few times. Outgrowing his adorableness, he did not survive the transition from awkward adolescent to adult, ending his career unbilled as a troubled teen in Blackboard Jungle (1955). Teddy played it smart, however, and found a vocation, graduating from chiropractic school in 1958. Long married to wife Rita who bore him two sons, he had no qualms or regrets about leaving show business. Teddy continued to be a guest at nostalgia conventions here and there until his death at age 70 on May 12, 2007.