Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians where his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by four, Jackie was touring at the age of five with his family in Los Angeles, California. While performing on the stage, he was spotted by 'Charles Chaplin' , where he played Uncle Fester opposite Gomez and Morticia from 1964 to 1966. After that, he would continue making appearances on a number of television shows and a handful of movies. He died of a heart attack in 1984.
Son of Jack Coogan Sr. and Lillian Coogan , vaudeville performers who put him on stage as part of their act when he was just 16 months old.
Older brother of Robert Coogan.
Grandfather of actor Keith Coogan.
In 1935, at age 21, he had the traumatic experience of losing his father, Jack Coogan Sr. , and his best friend, actor Junior Durkin , when both were killed in an auto accident in the California mountains. Durkin died almost instantly at the scene, and Coogan Sr., who had been driving, a few hours later at a local hospital. Jackie, though badly injured, was the sole survivor of the accident. He would later call it the single saddest day of his life.
Although he eventually reconciled with his mother and stepfather after the lawsuit over his earnings, things were never the same, and his advice to future child stars was "stay away from mothers."
Always considered his proudest moment his 1972 reunion with Charles Chaplin. After two decades of exile from the United States, Chaplin returned in March of that year to receive the Handel Medallion in New York City and a special lifetime achievement Oscar in Hollywood. Coogan was one of several people on hand to greet Chaplin when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. After greeting the other members of the party with perfunctory handshakes, Chaplin, immediately recognized Coogan (whom he hadnt seen in decades), warmly embraced him, saying, "You know, I think I would rather see you than anybody else." Chaplin later told Coogans wife, "You must never forget that your husband is a genius.".
When he was cast as Uncle Fester on "The Addams Family" , Coogan was 50 years old and nearly broke. After the series ended in 1966, he never lacked work again, with numerous television and film appearances.
His contract with Metro earned him $1 million per year. After money problems with his parents, he helped to organize and get passed in law the Coogan Bill, which protected child actors from such abuse in the future.
Biography in "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pp. 116. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387.
He was engaged to stunning actress Toby Wing in 1935. When approached for autographs while dating her he would often write inscriptions backward to impress her, more or less confusing the autograph seeker. They eventually broke up over differences in their temperaments, just adding to 1935 being probably the single worst year of his life given his fathers death and mothers refusal to pay out his childhood earnings.
During his service in the US Army, in March 1944, he served in the China-Burma-India Theater as the pilot of a CG-4A Waco (a wood-and-canvas transport glider).
Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives., Volume One, 1981-1985," pp. 174-176. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1998.
Was engaged to starlet Toby Wing during much of 1935. The two broke up when Coogan went into a depression complicated by alcohol abuse after discovering his mother and stepfather squandered his childhood fortune.
In "The Addams Family" , a hardware shop was named "Coogans" in his honor.
Interviewed in "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" by Stuart Oderman.
Ex-stepfather of Don Stroud.
Uncle of Jonathan Coogan.
College friend of kidnapping/murder victim Brooke Hart. It was reported that Coogan participated in the notorious lynching of Harts killers.
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1654 Vine St.
Producer Sol Lesser admitted that the original master of Coogans 1922 Oliver Twist (1922/I) was burned for its silver nitrate content--which was worth $80.
Coogan worked to raise $1,000,000 for Armenians and Greeks displaced during World War I, working with Near East Relief. He toured across the US and Europe in 1924 on a "Childrens Crusade" as part of a fund-raising drive, which ended up providing more than $1,000,000 in clothing, food, and other contributions (worth more than $13 million adjusted for 2012 dollars). Coogan was honored by officials in the US, Greece, and Rome, where he met with Pope Pius XI.
During the mid-30s he led a 17-piece orchestra on a tour of one-night stands. He claimed to have earned $12,000 a week.
His parents, Lillian and John Coogan were seasoned career vaudevillians who first presented Jackie to stage audiences at 16 months.
His 1920s contract with MGM earned him $500,000 plus 60% of the gross titles of such films as Tom Sawyer and Little Robinson Crusoe .
Estimates vary but during his eight-year run of success, Coogan earned somewhere between $4 million-$8 million.
Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku was his swimming instructor.
Coogan enlisted in the Army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to the US Army Air Force as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. After graduating from glider school, he was made a flight officer and volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December 1943 the unit was sent to India, where he flew British troops and landed them at night 100 miles behind enemy lines in Burma on March 5, 1944,.
He starred in "Forever Ernest," a 1930s radio show, but it was canceled.
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