Baby LeRoy (12 May 1932 – 28 July 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).
May 12, 1932, Los Angeles, California, United States
Died
July 28, 2001, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Profession
Actor
Star Sign
Taurus
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Fact
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When he made his screen debut, aged six months, in A Bedtime Story (1933), the contract had to be signed by his grandfather, as not only was Baby LeRoy underage, but so was his 16 year-old mother.
At age 8, Baby LeRoy landed the lead role in Paramount's The Biscuit Eater (1940). This was to be his comeback film, after a two year absence from the big screen, when he last appeared, at age 6, in a bit part as himself in the comedy short, "Cinema Circus". He began filming the opening scene of The Biscuit Eater (1940) in October, 1939. The scene called for Baby LeRoy to swing across a lake holding a rope, but he lost his grip and fell into the lake as the cameras rolled. This happened both times that the scene was attempted. As a result, Baby LeRoy became ill with a very bad cold. By the next day he had lost his voice. As filming was on location in Albany, Georgia, and the crew and the rest of the cast could not wait the two weeks for the young actor to recover, as the doctor who examined LeRoy had determined, the film's director, Stuart Heisler, instead placed an emergency call to Paramount in Hollywood. Paramount wasted no time replacing Baby Leroy with another Paramount child actor, Billy Lee, who soon arrived with his father who was managing his career, while Baby LeRoy was sent back to Hollywood to recover from his illness, with a promise from Paramount that he would be given another lead role for another chance at a comeback. Unfortunately, that never materialized. Filming of _The Biscuit Eater_(1940)_ resumed the very day Lee arrived. This 1940 film became the one that he is still most noted for among the 40 films he appeared in between 1933 and 1942, while Baby Leroy is still said to have retired from motion pictures at age 4, four years earlier than this final chapter of his career.
4
Youngest motion picture actor to receive star billing.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
It's a Great Life
1935
Buddy
It's a Gift
1934
Baby Dunk
The Lemon Drop Kid
1934
Wally Jr.
The Old Fashioned Way
1934
Albert Pepperday
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
1934
Michael Fane
Alice in Wonderland
1933
Joker (as Baby Le Roy)
Tillie and Gus
1933
The 'King'
Torch Singer
1933
Bobby, Dora's Baby at 1 Year (as Baby Le Roy)
A Bedtime Story
1933
Monsieur "Baby"
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
To Tell the Truth
1957
TV Series
Himself
Starlit Days at the Lido
1935
Short
Himself
Hollywood on Parade No. B-13
1934
Short
Himself
Hollywood on Parade No. B-6
1934
Short
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
W.C. Fields: Straight Up
1986
TV Movie documentary
Himself - 1956 (as Baby 'Leroy' Overacker)
Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter
1982
TV Movie documentary
Actor - 'The Old-Fashioned Way' (uncredited)
Hollywood My Home Town
1965
Documentary
Himself
Cinema Circus
1937
Short
Baby LeRoy
Known for movies
It's a Gift (1934) as Baby Dunk
The Old Fashioned Way (1934) as Albert Pepperday
Tillie and Gus (1933) as The 'King'
Torch Singer (1933) as Bobby, Dora's Baby at 1 Year
$4 Million
