by Hans J. Wollstein
biography
The freckled Mickey of the still-popular Our Gang comedies, his trademark toothy grin always quick to turn into a scowl, was signed by Hal Roach in 1927 at the reported salary of 37 dollars, 50 cents per week. By 1929, when he was about to outgrow the Gang, he was earning 175 dollars a week and Roach had enough faith in his abilities to cast him in The Boy Friends series, a sort of adolescent version of the Gang. Daniels continued playing bit parts in feature films and comedy shorts through 1946, usually cast as newsboys, but then quit to become a construction worker. Although appearing in several highly publicized Our Gang reunions, Daniels died in complete obscurity, from cirrhosis of the liver, in a San Diego hotel room in 1970.
