
c/o Lord Heath collection
Profile[]
Name: Janet Burston
Nick Name: None
Played By: Janet Burston
Born: 1935
Relatives: Jasper (father), Mary (mother), Aurelia, (sister), Aurelia (aunt), John (uncle)
Clubs: One For All And All For One Club
First Short: Melodies Old And New
Last Short: Tale Of A Dog
Character[]

Janet Burston
Bio: Curly-haired Janet Burston is the last sweetheart of the Little Rascals. She doesn't have a boyfriend like Darla or a rich family like Mary Kornman, but she does have the adventurous spirit of Jean and the little lady personality of Echo DeBorba with just a touch of the tomboy demeanor of Mary Ann. She likes to sing and dance whether she's got the talent for it or not. She has been known to sing the songs, "I Love a Man in Uniform" and "Grandma Wore a Bustle."
Janet is sometimes seen as scorekeeper for the boys playing sandlot baseball, such as in Rover's Big Chance, and following them into mischief at Mammoth Studios in Rover's Big Chance and Greenpoint Department Store in Little Miss Pinkerton. At one point, they cause a city-wide panic with a dog called Smallpox, creating an incident called the worst day in Greenpoint history through over twenty years of the Rascals running loose through town. (Whether this has anything to do with the later permanent disbanding of the group is unrevealed.) She's a member of their One For All And All For One Club, becoming the president after Mickey Gubitosi after a messy election process. She does have her own sense of ethics, chiding Mickey, Froggy and Buckwheat for skipping school in Three Smart Boys.
Not much is revealed about Janet's home life. She has a mother, father and an older sister, but when it seems as if they are too busy to have much to do with her, she tries running away from home. In Family Troubles, the gang tries to get her "adapted" (they mean "adopted") by another set of parents, Mr. And Mrs. Jones. The Joneses are all too understanding of her predicament and try to teach her a lesson before sending her back home.
There are at least three neighborhood girls who look like Janet. Namely, Mary Swivens from All About Hash, Jeanette from Waldo's Last Stand, and Mickey's older sister, Mamie Gubitosi, in Baby Blues. (They were all played by actress Janet Burston.
Quotes:
- "A very nice little girl too!" - Janet describing herself in Family Troubles.
- "Oh, there's nothing to worry about. They haven't been up to bat - yet." - Janet to casting director J. D. Broderick when the Our Gang baseball team is losing 11-0 in Rover's Big Chance.
Notes/Trivia[]
- Janet, Froggy, and Mickey are the only three main characters to only be in 1940-1944 shorts.
- Janet and Froggy are the only two main characters already in the series and later incorporated into the main cast.
- Janet has three other lookalikes which are Mamie Gubitosi, Mary Swivens and Jeanette; these characters were all played by actress Janet Burston.
- Janet was the replacement for Darla Hood, who left the series after the short, Wedding Worries.
- Janet doesn't appear in the shorts Going To Press, Don't Lie, Mighty Lak A Goat, Unexpected Riches and Farm Hands.
- Although she was one of the main characters in the 1940s franchise, Janet does not appear in much artwork or merchandise for the serires. However, she was portrayed in the 1940s Our Gang Comics, which were released just after the end of the shorts.