He was born 104 years ago today: Jackie Coogan.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Can't leave out the birthdays. Wouldn't be right.

Jackie Coogan



Jackie Coogan with Charlie Chaplin in The Kid (1921)

Born John Leslie Coogan October 26, 1914, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died March 1, 1984, (aged 69) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States 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 ribbon.svg Air Medal

John Leslie 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.

Early life and early career



Coogan in 1920
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Later years
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Television
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He finally found his most famous television role as Uncle Fester in ABC's The Addams Family (1964–1966).

Ohhhhhhhhh, Uncle Fester!

1921:

Mid-'60s:

[Freddie]

1. He was also Betty Grable's first husband

He was brilliant as Uncle Fester.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "Did anybody ever tell you you had the most beautiful legs in the world?"

A comedy? What?

[LakeSuperiorView]

8. Animal! It's me, Harry! Harry Shapiro!

[KCDebbie]

2. Uncle Fester? Really? I thought he was one of the

Little Rascals!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Are you thinking of Jackie Cooper? From Our Gang?

I always get Jackie Cooper and Jackie Coogan mixed up.

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 Academy Award nomination.
....

Start of acting career

Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who would bring him along in hopes of aiding her own attempts to get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name of "Leonard".

He graduated to bit parts in feature films such as Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Sunny Side Up. His director in these two films, David Butler, recommended the boy to director Leo McCarey, who arranged an audition for the Our Gang comedy series produced by Hal Roach. Cooper joined the series in the short Boxing Gloves in 1929, signing to a three-year contract. He initially was only a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 he had done so well with the transition to sound films that he had become one of the Gang's major characters. He was the main character in the episodes The First Seven Years, When the Wind Blows, and others. His most notable Our Gang shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe, which included the trilogy of shorts Teacher's Pet, School's Out, and Love Business.



Cooper, then a member of Our Gang, flirts with schoolteacher Miss Crabtree in School's Out, 1930

[Floyd R. Turbo]

5. His autobiography "Please Don't Shoot My Dog" was an interesting read. Especially how he found his

father.

[KCDebbie]

6. That's him! He was one of the Our Gang crew...

[Aristus]

7. Coogan's parents were absolute monsters.

When he found out that they had squandered the fortune he had earned as a child actor, they told him: "It was our money, not yours. You had no right to any of it." Those aren't the exact words, but pretty close.

What horrible human beings...