Carl Switzer
Fun Facts
As a child, Carl Switzer, who was born August 7, 1927, entertained people in his hometown of Paris, Illinois, with his singing. On a trip to California to visit relatives, Switzer’s mother took Carl and his brother Harold to the Hal Roach Studios, a film and television production company that launched the careers of comedy legends like Laurel and Hardy. The Switzer brothers were signed by Hal Roach and Carl was cast as Alfalfa in the Our Gang series, which Roach began producing as silent films in the early 1920s.
Carl “Alfalfa” was married to Diantha Collingwood, heiress of the grain elevator empire Collingwood Grain, Inc. who met and married the troubled child star on a blind date in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1954. She became the mother of his only known son, Justin Lance Collingwood-Switzer, but the marriage lasted less than two years, ending in divorce in 1956.
On the day he was killed, Carl, along with his friend photographer Jack Plott, went to confront Bud Stiltz in his home. There was a confrontation and according to Tom Corrigan, the stepson of Stiltz, his stepfather shot Switzer in cold blood as he was heading out the front door. Corrigan was not allowed to give his testimony and Stiltz’s claim of self-defense was accepted.
Eight years after that, a similar fate befell his brother, Harold Switzer, who by then was operating a company installing and servicing washers and dryers. In April 1967, Harold killed a customer over a dispute. He then got in his car, drove to a remote area near Glendale, California and committed suicide. He was only 42.
Cemetery Information:
Final Resting Place:
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, California, 90038
USA
North America
Map:

Grave Location:
Garden of Memory, Section 6), Grave 6, Lot 26Grave Location Description
As you enter the cemetery drive straight ahead to the first intersection and turn left. Drive 120 feet and park. Walk into Section 6 on your left 2 rows from the road for the final resting places of the doomed Switzer family.
Grave Location GPS
34.089152, -118.319576Photos:
Read More About Carl Switzer:
- Wikipedia Entry
- Alfalfa: The tragic life of Carl Switzer
- The Death of Alfalfa
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer at Hollywood Forever
- Harold “Slim” Switzer: How Alfalfa’s Brother Ended it All in a Murder-Suicide
- Carl Switzer Wabash Valley profiles: a series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference