Jackie Cooper

John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Oscar nomination.[1] At age nine, he was also the youngest performer to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, an honor that he received for the film *Skippy* (1931).[2] For nearly 50 years, Cooper remained the youngest Oscar nominee in any category. Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who took him to her auditions hoping it would help her get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name of "Leonard".

Cooper graduated to bit parts in feature films such as *Fox Movietone Follies of 1929* and *Sunny Side Up*. His director in those films, David Butler, recommended Cooper to director Leo McCarey, who arranged an audition for the *Our Gang* comedy series produced by Hal Roach. In 1929, Cooper signed a three-year contract after joining the series in the short *Boxing Gloves*. He initially was to be a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 his success in transitioning to sound films enabled him to become one of *Our Gang*'s major characters. He was the main character in the episodes *The First Seven Years* and *When the Wind Blows*. His most notable *Our Gang* shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe. His *Our Gang* shorts included *Teacher's Pet*, *School's Out*, and *Love Business*.[4]

Cooper, under contract to Hal Roach Studios, was loaned in the spring of 1931 to Paramount to star in *Skippy,* directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog. For his work in *Skippy* Cooper was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, the youngest actor, at age nine, to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor. Although Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for Cooper's services, Roach paid Cooper only his standard salary of $50 per week.[4]

The film catapulted young Cooper to superstardom. *Our Gang* producer Hal Roach sold Jackie's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. Cooper began a long onscreen relationship with actor Wallace Beery in such films as *The Champ* (1931), *The Bowery* (1933), *The Choices of Andy Purcell* (1933), *Treasure Island* (1934), and *O'Shaughnessy's Boy* (1935). A legion of film critics and fans have lauded the relationship between the two as an example of classic movie magic[*disambiguation needed*]. However, in his autobiography, Cooper wrote that Beery was "a big disappointment" and accused Beery of upstaging him and attempting to undermine his performances out of what Cooper presumed was jealousy.[4]

Cooper played the title role in the first two Henry Aldrich films, *What a Life* (1939) and *Life with Henry* (1941).

Once he reached adolescence, Cooper had problems finding roles. He served in the US Navy during World War II, becoming a Captain and receiving the Legion of Merit.[8] He starred in two popular television sitcoms, NBC's *The People's Choice* with Patricia Breslin and CBS's *Hennesey* with Abby Dalton. In 1954, he guest-starred on the NBC legal drama *Justice*. Later, he appeared on ABC's *The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom*, guest-starred with Tennessee Ernie Ford on NBC's *The Ford Show* playing the role of America's "Uranium King", and as Charles A. Steen in "I Found 60 Million Dollars" on the *Armstrong Circle Theatre*.[9]

In 1950, he was cast in a production of *Mr. Roberts* in Boston, Massachusetts in the role of Ensign Pulver. From 1964 to 1969, Cooper was vice president of program development at the Columbia Pictures Screen Gems TV division. He was responsible for packaging series, such as *Bewitched,* and selling them to the networks. Cooper acted only twice during this period, in 1964 when he appeared in Rod Serling's *The Twilight Zone* episode "Caesar and Me", and in the 1968 made-for-television film *Shadow on the Land*.[9]

Cooper left Columbia in 1969 and began appearing in character roles. In the fourth season of *Hawaii Five-O*, he played a doctor who murders his wife and bribes an innocent man to take the rap in *The Burning Ice*. He appeared as a murderous political candidate in *Candidate for Crime* starring Peter Falk as *Columbo* in 1973, and in the short-lived 1975 ABC series *Mobile One,* a Jack Webb/Mark VII Limited production. He guest-starred in a 1978 two-part episode of *The Rockford Files: The House on Willis Avenue*. Cooper’s work as director on episodes of *M\*A\*S\*H* and *The White Shadow* earned him Emmy awards.[10]

Cooper found renewed fame in the 1970s and 1980s as *Daily Planet* editor Perry White in the *Superman* film series, starring Christopher Reeve. Cooper got the role after Keenan Wynn, who was originally cast as White, became unavailable after suffering a heart attack.[11] In the commentary track for *Superman*, director Richard Donner reveals that Cooper, who had auditioned for the part of Otis, Lex Luthor's henchman, received the role because he had a passport and was available to shoot in England on short notice.

Cooper's final film role was as Ace Morgan in the 1987 film *Surrender*, starring Sally Field, Michael Caine, and Steve Guttenberg.[9]