He is best known for playing the character Froggy in the Our Gang short films from 1940 to 1944, the films′ final years of production.

[1] Laughlin rose to fame at the age of eight when he appeared in his first Our Gang film, The New Pupil, as "Harold" in 1940.

Laughlin died at a hospital on August 31, 1948, after colliding with a speeding truck while riding with a friend on a Cushman motor scooter.

The 16-year-old friend who was operating the scooter, John Wilbrand, made a U-turn in front of the truck, but survived with minor injuries.

[1] Laughlin is interred in a grave at the Rose Hills Memorial Park Cemetery in Whittier, California, next to his parents.