Jackie Coogan - wikipedia Jackie Coogan Not to be confused with Jackie Cooper. Jackie Coogan Jackie Coogan with Charlie Chaplin in The Kid. John Leslie Coogan ( 1914 - 10 - 26 ) October 26, 1914 Los Angeles, California March 1, 1984 ( 1984 - 03 - 01 ) ( aged 69 ) Santa Monica, California Cause of death Cardiac arrest Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California Nationality American Occupation Actor, comedian Years active 1917 -- 1984 Spouse ( s ) Betty Grable ( m. 1937 ; div. 1939 ) Flower Parry ( m. 1941 ; div. 1943 ) Ann McCormack ( m. 1946 ; div. 1951 ) Dorothea Lamphere ( m. 1952 ; his death 1984 ) Children Relatives Keith Coogan ( grandson ) Military career Allegiance United States Service / branch U.S. Army Air Forces Years of service 1941 -- 1945 Rank Lieutenant Unit 1st Air Commando Group Battles / wars World War II : Burma Campaign Awards Air Medal John Leslie `` Jackie '' Coogan ( October 26, 1914 -- March 1, 1984 ) was an American actor and comedian who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin 's film classic The Kid ( 1921 ) made him one of the first child stars in film history. He later sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers, widely known as the Coogan Act. Coogan continued to act throughout his life, later earning renewed fame in middle age portraying Uncle Fester in the 1960s TV series The Addams Family. Contents 1 Early life and early career 1.1 Coogan Bill 1.2 Charity work 2 Later years 2.1 Film 2.2 Radio 2.3 World War II 2.4 Television 3 Marriages and children 4 Death 5 Filmography 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Early life and early career He was born as John Leslie Coogan in 1914 in Los Angeles, California, to John Henry Coogan Jr. and Lillian Rita ( Dolliver ) Coogan. He began performing as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited role in the 1917 film Skinner 's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in the Orpheum Theatre, a vaudeville house in Los Angeles, on the stage doing the shimmy, a dance popular at the time. Coogan 's father was also an actor, as was his younger brother, Robert Coogan. Jackie Coogan was a natural mimic and delighted Chaplin with his abilities. Chaplin cast him in a small role in A Day 's Pleasure ( 1919 ). He was Chaplin 's irascible companion in The Kid ( 1921 ) and the following year played the title role in Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd. Coogan was one of the first stars to be heavily merchandised. Peanut butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines were among the Coogan - themed merchandise on sale. Coogan in 1920 Coogan was tutored until the age of 10, when he entered Urban Military Academy and other prep schools. He attended several colleges, as well as the University of Southern California. In 1932, he dropped out of Santa Clara University because of poor grades. In November 1933, Brooke Hart, a close friend of Coogan from Santa Clara University, was kidnapped from his family - owned department store in San Jose and brought to the San Francisco area San Mateo -- Hayward Bridge. After several demands for a $40,000 ransom, police arrested Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes in San Jose. Thurmond admitted that Hart had been murdered the night he was kidnapped. Both killers were transferred to a prison in downtown San Jose. A mob broke into the jail, and Thurmond and Holmes were hanged in a nearby park. Coogan was reported to be present and to have held the lynching rope. In 1935, 20 - year - old Coogan was the sole survivor of a car crash in eastern San Diego County that killed his father ; his best friend, 19 - year - old actor Junior Durkin ; their ranch foreman Charles Jones, and actor and writer Robert J. Horner. The party was returning from a day of dove hunting over the border in Mexico in early May. With his father at the wheel, the car was forced off the mountain highway near Pine Valley by an oncoming vehicle and rolled down an embankment. Coogan Bill Main article : California Child Actor 's Bill `` Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein will never be serious contenders for the title of Mr. and Mrs. America. '' -- New York Herald Tribune As a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to $4 million. When he turned 21 in October 1935, his fortune was believed to be well intact. His assets had been conservatively managed by his father, who had died in the car accident less than six months earlier. However, Coogan found that the entire amount had been spent by his mother and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, on fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry, and expensive cars. Bernstein had been a financial advisor for the family and married Coogan 's mother in late 1936. Coogan 's mother and stepfather claimed Jackie enjoyed himself and simply thought he was playing before the camera. She insisted, `` No promises were ever made to give Jackie anything '', and claimed he `` was a bad boy ''. Coogan sued them in 1938, but after his legal expenses, he received just $126,000 of the $250,000 remaining of his earnings. When he fell on hard times and asked Charlie Chaplin for assistance, Chaplin handed him $1,000 without hesitating. The legal battle focused attention on child actors and resulted in the 1939 enactment of the California Child Actor 's Bill, often referred to as the `` Coogan Law '' or the `` Coogan Act ''. It required that a child actor 's employer set aside 15 % of the earnings in a trust ( called a Coogan account ), and specified the actor 's schooling, work hours, and time - off. Charity work Coogan worked with Near East relief, he toured across the United States and Europe in 1924 on a `` Children 's Crusade '' as part of his fundraising drive, which provided more than $1 million in clothing, food, and other contributions ( worth more than $13 million in 2012 dollars ). He was honored by officials in the United States, Greece, and Rome, where he had an audience with Pope Pius XI. A Roman Catholic, Coogan was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills. Later years Film Coogan appeared with then - wife Betty Grable in College Swing, a 1938 musical comedy starring George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye and Bob Hope. Radio In 1940, Coogan played the role of `` a playboy Broadway producer '' in the Society Girl program on CBS radio. He also starred in his own program, Forever Ernest, on CBS from April 29, 1946, to July 22, 1946. World War II Coogan enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that December, he requested a transfer to Army Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. Graduating the Advanced Glider School with the Glider Pilot aeronautical rating and the rank of Flight Officer, 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 March 5, 1944, landing them at night in a small jungle clearing 100 miles ( 160 km ) behind Japanese lines in the Burma Campaign. Coogan in a publicity shot for The Addams Family TV series Television After the war, Coogan returned to acting, taking mostly character roles and appearing on television. From 1952 to 1953, he played Stoney Crockett on the syndicated series Cowboy G - Men. He guest - starred on NBC 's The Martha Raye Show. He appeared too, as Corbett, in two episodes of NBC 's The Outlaws with Barton MacLane, which aired from 1960 -- 1962. In the 1960 -- 1961 season, he guest - starred in the episode `` The Damaged Dolls '' of the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan. In 1961, he guest - starred in an episode of The Americans, an NBC series about family divisions stemming from the Civil War. He also appeared in episode 37, titled `` Barney on the Rebound '', of The Andy Griffith Show, which aired October 31, 1961. He had a regular role in a 1962 -- 63 NBC series, McKeever and the Colonel. He finally found his most famous television role as Uncle Fester in ABC 's The Addams Family ( 1964 -- 1966 ). He appeared as a police officer in the Elvis Presley comedy Girl Happy in 1965. He appeared four times on the Perry Mason series, including the role of political activist Gus Sawyer in the 1963 episode, `` The Case of the Witless Witness '', and TV prop man Pete Desmond in the final episode, `` The Case of the Final Fadeout '', in 1966. He was a guest several times on The Red Skelton Show, appeared twice on The Brady Bunch ( `` The Fender Benders '' and `` Double Parked '' ), I Dream of Jeannie ( as Jeannie 's uncle, Suleiman -- Maharaja of Basenji ), Family Affair, Here 's Lucy and The Brian Keith Show, and continued to guest - star on television ( including multiple appearances on The Partridge Family, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five - O, and McMillan and Wife ) until his retirement in the middle 1970s. Marriages and children Coogan was married four times, and had four children. His first three marriages to actresses were short - lived. He and Betty Grable were engaged in 1935 and married on November 20, 1937, and they divorced less than two years later on October 11, 1939. Eighteen months later on August 10, 1941, he married Flower Parry. They had one son, John Anthony Coogan ( writer / producer of 3D digital and film ), born March 4, 1942, in Los Angeles ; they divorced on June 29, 1943. Coogan married his third wife, Ann McCormack, on December 26, 1946 ; a daughter, Joann Dolliver Coogan, was born April 2, 1948, in Los Angeles. They divorced on September 20, 1951. Dorothea Odetta Hanson, also known as Dorothea Lamphere, best known as Dodie, was a dancer and became Coogan 's fourth wife in April 1952 and they were together over thirty years, until his death. They had two children together, a daughter, Leslie Diane Coogan, born November 24, 1953, in Los Angeles, and a son, Christopher Fenton Coogan, born July 9, 1967, in Riverside County, who died in a motorcycle accident in Palm Springs on June 29, 1990. Leslie Coogan has a son, actor Keith Coogan, who was born Keith Eric Mitchell on January 13, 1970, being three years younger than his uncle Christopher. He began acting in 1975, and changed his name in 1986, two years after his grandfather 's death. His roles include the oldest son in Adventures in Babysitting. Footage of Jackie with his grandson, Keith can be seen in the 1982 documentary Hollywood 's Children. Death Grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California After suffering from heart and kidney ailments, Coogan succumbed to heart failure on March 1, 1984, at age 69 in Santa Monica, California. He had previously suffered several strokes and been undergoing kidney dialysis when his blood pressure dropped. Coogan was taken to Santa Monica Hospital, where he had a cardiac arrest. At his request, Coogan 's funeral was open to the public and he was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located on the 1700 block of Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Boulevard. Filmography Skinner 's Baby ( 1917 ) as The Baby ( uncredited ) A Day 's Pleasure ( 1919 ) as Smallest Boy ( uncredited ) The Kid ( 1921 ) as The Child Peck 's Bad Boy ( 1921 ) as Henry Peck AKA ' Peck 's Bad Boy ' My Boy ( 1921 ) as The Boy Nice and Friendly ( 1922 ) as Boy Trouble ( 1922 ) as Danny, the Kid Oliver Twist ( 1922 ) as Oliver Twist Daddy ( 1923 ) as Jackie Savelli / Jackie Holden Circus Days ( 1923 ) as Toby Tyler Long Live the King ( 1923 ) as Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto A Boy of Flanders ( 1924 ) as Nello Hello, ' Frisco ( 1924 ) as Himself Little Robinson Crusoe ( 1924 ) as Mickey Hogan The Rag Man ( 1925 ) as Tim Kelly Old Clothes ( 1925 ) as Timothy Kelly Johnny Get Your Hair Cut ( 1927 ) as Johnny O'Day The Bugle Call ( 1927 ) as Billy Randolph Buttons ( 1927 ) as Buttons Free and Easy ( 1930 ) as Jackie Coogan - at Premiere ( uncredited ) Tom Sawyer ( 1930 ) as Tom Sawyer Huckleberry Finn ( 1931 ) as Tom Sawyer Skippy ( 1931 ) Home on the Range ( 1935 ) as Jack Hatfield College Swing ( 1938 ) as Jackie Million Dollar Legs ( 1939 ) as Russ Simpson Sky Patrol ( 1939 ) as Carter Meade Queen of Broadway ( 1942 ) Kilroy Was Here ( 1947 ) as Pappy Collins French Leave ( 1948 ) as Pappy Reagan Skipalong Rosenbloom ( 1951 ) as Buck Lovelace Varieties on Parade ( 1951 ) as Himself Outlaw Women ( 1952 ) as Piute Bill Cowboy G - Men ( 1952 -- 1953 TV Series ) as Stoney Crockett Mesa of Lost Women ( 1953 ) as Dr. Aranya The Actress ( 1953 ) as Inopportune ( uncredited ) Escape from Terror ( 1955 ) as Agent Petrov The Proud Ones ( 1956 ) as Man on Make ( uncredited ) The Buster Keaton Story ( 1957 ) as Elmer Case The Joker Is Wild ( 1957 ) as Swifty Morgan Eighteen and Anxious ( 1957 ) as Harold ' Eager ' Beaver Lonelyhearts ( 1958 ) as Ned Gates High School Confidential ! ( 1958 ) as Mr. ' Mr. A ' August The Space Children ( 1958 ) as Hank Johnson No Place to Land ( 1958 ) as Swede Night of the Quarter Moon ( 1959 ) as Desk Sergeant Bragan The Beat Generation ( 1959 ) as Jake Baron The Big Operator ( 1959 ) as Ed Brannell Sex Kittens Go to College ( 1960 ) as Wildcat MacPherson When the Girls Take Over ( 1962 ) as Capt. Toussaint The Addams Family ( 1964 -- 1966 TV series ) as Uncle Fester John Goldfarb, Please Come Home ( 1965 ) as Father Ryan Girl Happy ( 1965 ) as Sgt. Benson A Fine Madness ( 1966 ) as Mr. Fitzgerald The Shakiest Gun in the West ( 1968 ) as Matthew Basch Rogue 's Gallery ( 1968 ) as Funeral Director Marlowe ( 1969 ) as Grant W. Hicks Cahill U.S. Marshal ( 1973 ) as Charlie The Phantom of Hollywood ( 1974 ) as Jonathan The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery ( 1975 ) as Detective Chief Anderson Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood ( 1976 ) as Stagehand 1 Human Experiments ( 1979 ) as Sheriff Tibbs Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype ( 1980 ) as Sgt. Fleacollar The Escape Artist ( 1982 ) as Magic Shop Owner The Prey ( 1984 ) as Lester Tile ( final film role ) References ^ Jump up to : `` Research ''. Coogan Research Group. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Barron, James ( 2 March 1984 ). `` Jackie Coogan, Child Star of Films, dies at 69 ''. The New York Times. NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. ^ Jump up to : `` Former child star Jackie Coogan dies ''. Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. Associated Press. March 4, 1984. p. 17B. Jump up ^ `` Coogan Research Group ''. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Farrell, Harry ( 1993 ). Swift justice : murder and vengeance in a California town. New York : Saint Martin 's Press Inc. pp. 165, 255. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Final rites held for young actor ''. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. May 8, 1935. p. 2. Jump up ^ `` Four killed in auto accident ''. Bend Bulletin. Oregon. United Press. May 6, 1935. p. 1. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan hurt, four killed in accident ''. Milwaukee Journal. ( photo ). May 5, 1935. p. 3. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan tells court of fatal crash ''. Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. April 6, 1936. p. 1, Final. ^ Jump up to : `` The Strange Case of -- Jackie Coogan 's $4,000,000 ''. Life. 25 April 1938. p. 50. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Shaffer, Rosalind ( October 25, 1935 ). `` Jackie Coogan 21 tomorrow ; gets fortune ''. Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1. ^ Jump up to : `` Jackie Coogan sues mother ''. Prescott Evening Courier. Arizona. Associated Press. April 12, 1938. p. 1. Jump up ^ `` Newspictures of the Week ( photograph ) ''. Life. 2 May 1938. p. 16. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Robinson, David ( 1985 ). Chaplin : His Life and Art. New York : McGraw Hill. ISBN 978 - 0070531819. Jump up ^ `` Coogan Law ''. SAG - AFTRA. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Babkenian, Vicken ( 7 January 2011 ). `` Hollywood 's First Celebrity Humanitarian that America Forgot ''. Armenian Weekly. Watertown, MA. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Our History ''. Church of the Good Shepherd. 1998. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Thursday 's Highlights '' ( PDF ). Radio and Television Mirror. 13 ( 5 ) : 50. March 1940. Retrieved 24 February 2015. Jump up ^ Dunning, John ( 1998 ). On the Air : The Encyclopedia of Old - Time Radio ( Revised ed. ). New York, NY : Oxford University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 507678 - 3. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan now Air Force officer ''. Free Lance - Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Associated Press. January 19, 1943. p. 2. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan, air commando ''. Sunday Morning Star. Wilmington, Delaware. United Press. March 19, 1943. p. 1. Jump up ^ Martin, Frank L. ( March 29, 1944 ). `` Jackie Coogan taken for god in Burma ''. Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press. p. 7. Jump up ^ Webster, Donovan ( 2003 ). The Burma Road : The Epic Story of the China - Burma - India Theater in World War II. Harper Collins. p. 187. ISBN 0 - 06 - 074638 - 6. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Girl Happy ( 1965 ) ''. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coggan plans to marry actress ''. Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. December 3, 1935. p. 8. Jump up ^ `` Betty Grable, Jackie Coogan marry on coast ''. Sunday Spartanburg Herald - Journal. South Carolina. Associated Press. November 21, 1937. p. 2. Jump up ^ `` Time off for marriage ''. Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. November 22, 1937. p. 9. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan is divorced by Flower Perry ''. St. Petersburg Times. Florida. INS. June 30, 1943. p. 9. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan on honeymoon with third wife ''. Sarasota Herald - Tribune. Florida. Associated Press. December 27, 1946. p. 4. Jump up ^ `` WEDDING CAKE FOR THE COOGANS ''. Oxnard Press Courier. 2 Jan 1947. p. 20. Jump up ^ `` Coogan Is Father For Second Time ''. Berkeley Daily Gazette. 3 Apr 1948. p. 2. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogans Call It Quits After 4 Years of Marriage ''. Long Beach Independent. 7 Mar 1950. p. 22. Jump up ^ `` Coogans Drop Divorce Plans ''. Long Beach Independent. 24 Mar 1950. p. 28. Jump up ^ `` The Kid and ' Da Mkk ' Having Trouble Again ''. Long Beach Independent. 23 Aug 1950. p. 21. Jump up ^ `` Christopher Coogan ; Youngest Son of Actor ''. Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. 7 July 1990. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Christopher Coogan, son of actor, dead at 22 ''. Ocala Star - Banner. Florida. July 3, 1990. p. 4B. Jump up ^ Aaker, Everett ( 1997 ). Television Western Players of the Fifties : A Biographical Encyclopedia of All Regular Cast Members in Western Series, 1949 -- 1959. McFarland. p. 141. ISBN 0 - 7864 - 0284 - 9. Jump up ^ `` Public funeral set for Jackie Coogan ''. Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. Associated Press. March 3, 1984. p. 5. Jump up ^ `` Friends remember Jackie Coogan ''. Bangor Daily News. Maine. Associated Press. March 6, 1984. p. 20. Jump up ^ `` Jackie Coogan ''. projects.latimes.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014. Further reading 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. Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy : An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 65 -- 67. Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors : Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914 - 1985. Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 37 -- 40. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jackie Coogan. Jackie Coogan on IMDb Jackie Coogan at the TCM Movie Database Jackie Coogan at Find a Grave Photographs of Jackie Coogan Jackie Coogan 's Million - Dollar Crusade at the Near East Relief Digital Museum VIAF : 48315069 LCCN : n88100818 ISNI : 0000 0001 2131 6272 GND : 12489366X SUDOC : 139523839 BNF : cb140325277 ( data ) BNE : XX4722818 IATH : w6nh75cj Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jackie_Coogan&oldid=809183752 '' Categories : 1914 births 1984 deaths Male actors from Los Angeles American male child actors American male comedians American male film actors American military personnel of World War II American male silent film actors American male television actors Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Male actors from the Greater Los Angeles Area Vaudeville performers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II 20th - century American male actors American Roman Catholics Comedians from California Hidden categories : Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters Infobox person using religion Articles with hCards Turner Classic Movies person ID not in Wikidata Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Беларуская Български Català Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Galego Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latina Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English کوردی Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 7 November 2017, at 16 : 50. 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Question: who was the actor that played uncle fester on addams family
Answer: John Leslie "Jackie" Coogan