Jackie Coogan

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Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan at age seven.
Born	October 26, 1914 Los Angeles, California
Died	March 1, 1984 Santa Monica, California

John Leslie (Jackie) Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films.

Contents 1 Hollywood 2 Coogan Bill 3 World War II 4 Marriage and Children 5 Death and burial 6 Trivia 7 Filmography 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Hollywood

Coogan was born in Los Angeles, California, and began his acting career as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited role in the 1917 film Skinner's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in a vaudeville house, doing the "shimmy," a popular dance at the time, on the stage. His father, Jack Coogan, Sr. was also an actor. The boy was a natural mimic, and delighted Chaplin with his abilities in this area. As a child actor, he is best remembered for his role as Charlie Chaplin's irascible sidekick in the film classic The Kid (1921) and for the title role in Oliver Twist by Frank Lloyd the following year. His scene in The Kid where he is taken away from the tramp character played by Chaplin and thrown into the back of a truck by the social service agents is one of the most famous scenes in cinema. He was also the first star to get heavily merchandised, with peanut butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines just being a sample of the Coogan merchandise. He also travelled internationally to huge crowds. Many of his early films are lost or just unavailable, but Turner Classic Movies recently presented The Rag Man with a new score. Coogan was famous for his pageboy haircut and his The Kid outfit of oversized overalls and cap, which was widely imitated, including by the young Scotty Beckett in the Our Gang films.

[edit] Coogan Bill

Main article: California Child Actor's Bill

As a child star, Coogan earned as much as $4 million, but the money was taken by his mother and step-father. He sued them in 1935, but only received $126,000. The legal battle did, however, bring attention to child actors and resulted in the state of California enacting the California Child Actor's Bill, sometimes known as the Coogan Bill or the Coogan Act. This requires that the child's employer set aside 15% of the child's earnings in a trust.

Tragedy also struck in 1935 when Coogan's best friend Junior Durkin, a child actor best known as "Huckleberry Finn" in two films of the early 1930s, was killed at 19 in a car crash that also claimed the life of Jackie Coogan's biological father. Jackie Coogan was the sole survivor of the accident.

[edit] World War II

Coogan enlisted in the US Army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to US Army Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. After graduating from glider school, he was made a Flight Officer and he volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December 1943, the unit was sent to India. He flew British troops, the Chindits, under General Orde Wingate on 5 March 1944, landing them at night in a small jungle clearing 100 miles behind Japanese lines in the Burma campaign.

After the war, Coogan returned to acting, taking mostly character roles and appearing on television. He finally found his most famous TV role as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (1964) television series, for which he is fondly remembered by a whole new generation of fans to this day.

[edit] Marriage and Children

1. Betty Grable, married on 20 November 1937, divorced on 11 October 1939
2. Flower Parry, married on 10 August 1941, divorced on 29 June 1943
   1. 1 son, John Anthony Coogan (film & video writer/producer).
3. Ann McCormack, married on 26 December 1946, divorced on 20 September 1951
   1. 1 daughter, Joan Dolliver Coogan.
4. Dorothy Lamphere, married on April 1952, they were together until his death
   1. 1 daughter. Grandson is actor Keith Coogan
   2. 1 son, killed in motorcycle accident in Palm Springs, CA in 1990

[edit] Death and burial

Coogan died of a heart attack in 1984 at the age of 69. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.

[edit] Trivia

• Was discovered by Charlie Chaplin.

• The youngest self-made millionaire in history.

[edit] Filmography

• The Prey (1984)
• The Escape Artist (1982)
• Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980)
• Human Experiments (1980)
• Double Take (1979)
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
• The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)
• Cahill, U.S. Marshal (1973)
• Marlowe (1969)
• The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)
• Silent Treatment (1968)
• A Fine Madness (1966)
• Girl Happy (1965)
• John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
• When the Girls Take Over (1962)
• Sex Kittens Go to College (1960)
• Escape from Terror (1960)
• The Beat Generation (1959)
• Night of the Quarter Moon (1959)
• The Big Operator (1959)
• No Place to Land (1958) (UK)
• The Space Children (1958)
• High School Confidential! (1958)
• Lonelyhearts (1958)
• Eighteen and Anxious (1957)
• The Joker Is Wild (1957)
• The Buster Keaton Story (1957)
• The Proud Ones (1956) (uncredited)
• Flugten til Danmark (1955)
• The Actress (1953) (uncredited)
• Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
• Outlaw Women (1952)
• Skipalong Rosenbloom (1951)
• French Leave (1948) (UK)
• Kilroy Was Here (1947)
• Sky Patrol (1939)
• Million Dollar Legs (1939)
• College Swing (1938) (UK)
• Love in September (1936)
• Home on the Range (1935)
• Huckleberry Finn (1931) Tom Sawyer
• Tom Sawyer (1930) Tom Sawyer
• Buttons (1927)
• The Bugle Call (1927)
• Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (1927)
• Old Clothes (1925)
• The Rag Man (1925)
• Hello, 'Frisco (1924)
• Little Robinson Crusoe (1924)
• A Boy of Flanders (1924)
• Long Live the King (1923)
• Circus Days (1923)
• Daddy (1923)
• Oliver Twist (1922) Oliver Twist
• Trouble (1922)
• Nice and Friendly (1922)
• My Boy (1921)
• Peck's Bad Boy (1921)
• The Kid (1921)
• A Day's Pleasure (1919)
• Skinner's Baby (1917) (uncredited)

[edit] References

• Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King: A Biography of Hollywood's Legendary Child Star, Diana Serra Cary, Scarecrow Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8108-4650-0

[edit] External links

• Jackie Coogan at the Internet Movie Database
• Find-A-Grave profile for Jackie Coogan
• Jackie Coogan at TV.com