...Alan Perl (update)

So, when I started this blog a few week's ago I made my second post explaining why it was so-called and set out my first task, to locate Alan Perl.

Shortly afterwards I did find an address for a namesake, and of the right age and a letter has been sent... but no news yet.

What did happen that was rather strange was that after a few years of searching it just so happened that the day I decided to start this blog was also the day that a rare publicity shot of Alan Perl in The Toy Wife appeared on Ebay. What are the chances? Duly purchased I share it here now. It's the only photo I can find of Alan Perl anywhere online:

"THE WITCHES'LL GET YOU IF YOU DON'T WATCH OUT"...Four-year-old Alan Perl, who appears as the son of Luise Rainer and Melvyn Douglas in M-G-M's "The Toy Wife," hides behind a teddy bear that growls when you squeeze it. Theresa Harris, as the negro maid, has just threatened dire things.

[MGM publicity still, 1937]

...Alan Perl?

The person that really got me started on this blog was Alan Perl.

Who?

Exactly.

As a Luise Rainer obsessive I recently tried to find out if any of her MGM co-stars were still living, or had she outlived them all. Whilst there's a chance that there may be some of the Ziegfeld girls from The Great Ziegfeld still (high) kicking, the likelihood of tracking them down, especially as most were not credited for the film, was zero to very little. There was, however, one person who made a film at MGM with Luise that may still be alive: Alan Perl.

Alan played Luise's son Georgie in The Toy Wife (1938), MGM's jump onto the Gone With The Wind bandwagon, with Luise as a European-Southern belle stealing the hearts of two beaus and getting herself into hot water with her steadfast sister (played by Barbara O'Neil). The film is charming, but doesn't have the quality of Luise's previous Oscar winners. 

This is Alan Perl's only credit. He was only four years old at the time so he would be in his late 70s today. I have been unable to find any further information about him, so....

Whatever happened to Alan Perl?