Michael Winkelman

Michael Lew Winkelman (June 27, 1946 – July 27, 1999) was an American child actor best known for his role as Little Luke McCoy from 1957 to 1963 in 136 episodes of the situation comedy television series The Real McCoys starring Walter Brennan in the title role of Grandpa Amos McCoy, with Richard Crenna as Luke McCoy, older brother of Winkelman's character. After its five-year run on ABC, The Real McCoys switched to CBS for its final season in 1962–63 without the services of Kathleen Nolan as the young housewife Kate McCoy. The series was created by Irving Pincus and directed by Hy Averback, with Richard Crenna later assuming some directing duties. Winkelman did not appear on The Real McCoys after the February 1, 1962, episode "The Law and Mr. McCoy, in which the Walter Brennan character is arrested and jailed for burning trash and decides to tackle City Hall as a result. In the series' last season on CBS, both Lydia Reed as Hassie McCoy and Tony Martinez as farmhand Pepino Garcia also appeared less frequently than they had in the first years on ABC. Subsequently, Winkelman found few acting jobs and entered the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He was later a groundskeeper at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California.