High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Matthew Beard, Jr. (January 1, 1925 - January 8, 1981) was an American child actor, most famous for portraying the character of Stymie in the Our Gang short films from 1930 to 1935. He was a native of Los Angeles, California. Beard had previous played baby parts in many films before signing a five year contract to play in Our Gang. In contrast to Farina, the character he replaced, Stymie was a slick-tongued con-artist who was always self-assured, nonchalant, and ready with a sly comment as well as clever ideas to solve the problems he faced.