Career
He was a native of Los Angeles, California. Before joining the wildly popular series, Spear made appearances in several Buck Jones westerns. Spear made his first appearance in the series at the age of five in the film Chicken Feed.
At the dawn of the sound era, newcomer Jackie Cooper took over the role as the leader/tough guy in the gang, replacing Spear.
Spear"s final film would be Bouncing Babies. After departing the series, Spear briefly entered vaudeville, entertaining audiences with a dancing and monologue routine.
By the mid-1940s, though, he left the entertainment industry and severed ties with his former alumni. Spear"s whereabouts after the 1940s pretty much remained a mystery for over half a century.
However, several diligent fans attempted to track down Spear in 1995.
Residing in San Diego, California at the time, Spear (who went by his legal name of Harry Bonner) continually denied being the "Harry Spear" of fame for unknown reasons, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. From United States Naval records, it was found that Harry Spear served as a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy during World World War II, of Korea and Vietnam. Spear died of kidney cancer at the age of 84 in San Diego.
Some name confusion existed for a while because of a different actor named Harry Spear, who appeared in some bit roles in several movies in the 1960s.
