| Stanley Fafara | |
| Birth Name: | Stanley Albert Fafara |
| Birth Date: | September 20, 1949 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Redland Pioneer Cemetery |
| Nationality: | American |
| Education: | North Hollywood High School |
| Occupation: | Child actor |
| Years Active: | 1955 - 1963 |
| Children: | 1 |
| Relatives: | Tiger Fafara (brother) Dez Fafara (nephew) |
Stanley Albert Fafara (September 20, 1949 - September 20, 2003) was an American child actor, best known for his role as Hubert "Whitey" Whitney in the original Leave It to Beaver television series. His older brother, Tiger, played "Tooey W. Brown" in the series.
Fafara was born in San Francisco, California, in September 1949. In 1957, at the age of 7, his mother took him to an open casting call for a new family television series titled Leave It to Beaver. He had been working in commercials and television westerns since the age of 4. Fafara earned the part of Hubert "Whitey" Whitney, one of the Beaver Cleaver's best friends.
Fafara remained with Leave It to Beaver for six years. After the show's cancellation in 1963, he attended North Hollywood High School. He became friendly with the pop-rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders and reportedly moved in with the band for a time. He developed an alcohol habit and began to use drugs.[1]
At his parents' instigation, Fafara went to live with his sister in Jamaica, where he tried his hand at painting; however, he continued to drink and use narcotics. He then returned to Los Angeles in 1972 where he was married briefly. He supported himself by dealing narcotics. In the 1980s he was arrested for breaking into pharmacies seven times. Fafara was sentenced to a year in jail after being arrested and convicted for an eighth burglary. After his release from jail, Fafara tried several jobs but eventually returned to dealing drugs.[1]
Fafara later developed an addiction to heroin and was in-and-out of rehabilitation centers for many years. He became sober in 1995.[1]
Fafara spent the final eight years of his life clean and sober, initially living in a house for recovering addicts and alcoholics, then in a subsidized apartment in downtown Portland, Oregon. He lived on Social Security checks of $475 per month until his hospitalization in 2003. Due to his addiction to heroin, he contracted hepatitis C.[1]
Fafara died on September 20, 2003, his 54th birthday, in Portland, Oregon, of complications from hernia surgery he underwent the previous month.[2] Fafara is buried at Redland Pioneer Cemetery in Redland, Oregon.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Good Morning, Miss Dove | Fred Makepeace - Age 6 | Uncredited |
| 1957 | Casey Jones | Carl Svenson | Episode: "Iron Men" |
| 1957-1963 | Leave It to Beaver | Hubert "Whitey" Whitney | 57 episodes |
| 1958 | The Millionaire | Boy | Episode: "Millionaire Dan Howell" |
| 1958 | The Lost Missile | Boy on Evacuation School Bus | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Wagon Train | Johnny O'Malley | Episode: "The Luke O'Malley Story" |
| 1959 | Wanted: Dead or Alive | Young Boy | Episode: "Angels of Vengeance" Uncredited |
| 1959 | Man Without a Gun | Episode: "Eye Witness" | |
| 1961 | Window on Main Street | Peewee | Episode: "The Haunted House"" |
| 1962 | The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | Hansel | Uncredited |