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| Sonny Boy Warde |
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born:
11 March 1915 San Francisco, California, United States of America |
died:
08 January 1950 Duarte, California, United States of America (pulmonary tuberculosis, age 34) |
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American child actor, of Japanese and French descent, who frequently played Asian characters such as "Sing Joy" in Our Gang comedies of 1923-25. By early 1925, he was going by the more Spanish-sounding name of Luis Cordova. By 1927, he was acting under the name Sonny Loy. His mother was French-born actress Beatrice Warde (r.n. Beatrice B. Probst, d. 1964). His father was Japanese-born retail merchant Michael M. Richfield, apparently entirely of Japanese descent (though, if so, then the surname of "Richfield" certainly raises an eyebrow in this regard). In the 1920 Census (taken 02 Jan 1920), "Sonny," age 4 years & 10 months (so, b. Mar 1915) and born in California, is listed as "George W. Richfield." Some 1921 articles claim his real name was "Charles Willard Warde," and note a San Francisco birthplace. Fragments of all this info point toward a gent named Willard Xavier Richfield, born 11 Mar 1915 in San Francisco (WWII draft reg. card), being "our guy." According to one article, he made his theatrical debut when he was barely a month old, in a stock play where his mother portrayed his nurse. His nickname of "Sonny Boy" reportedly came from Theda Bara; he had acted in several of her films as an infant and she was charmed by his jovial disposition. He played two seasons with the San Carlos Opera Company as "Trouble," the baby in "Madame Butterfly." "Sonny Boy" received a bit of press for his performance in the film "The First Born" (1921) with Sessue Hayakawa and Helen Jerome Eddy, where he played the titular role. The Standard Casting Directories of 1925-26, in which he appears as Luis Cordova, note that he was "formerly Sonny Boy Warde." In the Feb-Jun 1925 ads, it is stated that Luis is age 9; by Mar 1926, he is now age 10 (that very month, he would actually turn 11). Credits noted are "The First Born," as well as one year playing in the Our Gang comedies. The Mar 1926 ad calls him, "The boy who is different." Early Standard ads (Feb-Apr 1925) give a phone number of "EM pire 6564." Beginning in May 1925, they give a telephone number of "BE acon 5390," and continue to as late as Feb 1927; a match can be found in "Kelts' Geographical Dictionary, Los Angeles, September, 1927, Vol. 1" for Mrs. B. [Beatrice] Richfield, phone no. BE 5390, living at 1509 S New Hampshire. By Apr 1940 (Census), Willard X. Richfield is a "new worker." By Oct of that same year (WWII draft reg. card), Willard Xavier Richfield is employed by Olive View Sanitarium, in Olive View, Los Angeles, California. His death certificate states that he was a lab technician at a hospital. On these records, he identified as White/Caucasian. Willard X. Richfield suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis for 4 years and succumbed at 9:00am on 08 January 1950, at Emerald Sanitarium in Duarte, California. The informant, a Mr. William Dunn, didn't know much about Willard; the certificate lists no birth nor parental info, and gives his age as "abt. 35" years (he would have indeed turned 35 in another two months). He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. He is not to be confused with another silent-era Our Gang cast member, George "Freckles" Warde. |
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Real name: Willard Xavier Richfield Height: 5'7" (age 25, Oct. 1940) |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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