JACKIE COOGAN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jackie Coogan was born on October 26th, 1914 in Los Angeles, California with the birth name John Leslie Coogan Jr.  His parents were John Henry Coogan and Lillian Rita Dolliver.  As a young infant he was already performing in vaudeville as well as films such as in the movie, "Skinner Baby" (1917).  When he was in the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California Charlie Chaplin discovered him and felt Coogan had a natural talent.
 
He did not attend regular public school as a child, instead he was tutored up until the age of ten and then entered the Urban Military Academy as well as a number of other Prep Schools.  He then went onto to various colleges such as the University of Southern California as well as Santa Clara University where he dropped out because he grades were so low. 
 
In 1935, just before he turned twenty one, his father was killed in a car crash that he was involved in, but survived.
 
He was such a popular and talented child star that during his childhood acting years he earned a substantial amount of money estimated to be between 3 and 4 million dollars, however his mother and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein took advantage of his finances and spent all of his money on living an extravagant lifestyle.   

In 1938, Coogan sued his family, but after so much money spent on legal fees he only walked away with $126,000 and luckily had Charlie Chaplin to help him out financially.  Due to this legal battle, attention was brought to all child actors and an enactment was put into place called the California Child Actor's Bill, also known as the Coogan Bill or Coogan Act.  This bill states that any child actor must have a Coogan Act where at least 15% of their earnings go into a trust acct that only they can access. 
 
When World War II broke out, Jackie Coogan enlisted in the United States Army and then transferred to the United States Army Air Force after the attacks on Pearl Harbor.  He became a glider pilot and was made a flight officer.
 
When the War came to an end, Coogan returned back to his acting career and focused on television.  He worked no the series, "Cowboy G-Men" (1952-1953) and guest starred on, "The Martha Raye Show", "The Outlaws" (1960-1962) and "Damaged Dolls" (1961).  Along with making several appearances on a variety of programs he also had a regular role on the television program, "McKeever and the Colonel" (1962-1963).  His most popular and well known role was when he was cast as Uncle Fester in ABC's, "The Addams Family" (1964-1966).
 
Throughout the rest of the 1960's, Coogan continued to make appearances mostly on television in such shows as, "The Brady Bunch", "I Dream of Jeanie" and "The Partridge Family".  He finally retired from acting in the mid 1970's.  

Jackie Coogan married a number of times throughout his life.  First to actress Betty Grable from 1937 through 1939.  He then married Flower Parry from 1941 through 1943.  His third marriage was to Ann McCormack from 1946 through 1951.  Coogan then married his fourth wife, Dorothea Odetta in 1952 and they remained together until he passed away on March 1st, 1984 in Santa Monica, California from a heart attack.  He was survived by a total of three children, originally he had four children, but his one son was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Coogan is interred in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 
 
 
Filmography

1984 The Prey 
1982 The Escape Artist 
1980 Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype
1980 The Kids Who Knew Too Much 
1980 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1980 Human Experiments
1978 Flying High
1977 Halloween with the New Addams Family
1977 Lanigan's Rabbi
1976 Sherlock Holmes in New York 
1976 Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood 
1975 McCoy
1975 The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery
1975 Police Story
1975 Lucy Gets Lucky 
1975 The Specialists 
1974 Gunsmoke
1974 Dirty Sally
1971-1974 McMillan & Wife
1974 The Phantom of Hollywood 
1971-1974 Ironside
1970-1973 The Partridge Family
1973 Here's Lucy 
1973 The Addams Family
1973 Cahill U.S. Marshal 
1973 Barnaby Jones
1973 The Brian Keith Show
1973 Jigsaw
1969-1973 Hawaii Five-O
1973 Marcus Welby, M.D. 
1971-1972 Alias Smith and Jones 
1970-1972 Love, American Style
1972 Emergency!
1972 Cool Million
1972 The New Scooby-Doo Movies
1971-1972 The Brady Bunch
1972 Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1972 Adam-12
1971 The Jimmy Stewart Show
1971 The New Andy Griffith Show
1970 The Name of the Game
1970 Julia
1970 Barefoot in the Park
1970 Matt Lincoln 
1957-1970 The Red Skelton Hour
1969 I Dream of Jeannie
1969 Marlowe 
1967-1969 The Wild Wild West
1968 The Outsider
1968 The Shakiest Gun in the West
1963-1968 The Lucy Show 
1968 Rogue's Gallery 
1967 Family Affair
1966 Clown Alley 
1966 The Virginian
1966 Vacation Playhouse
1966 A Fine Madness 
1961-1966 Perry Mason
1964-1966 The Addams Family
1965 Girl Happy 
1965 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! 
1964 Burke's Law 
1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre 
1962-1963 McKeever & the Colonel
1963 The Dick Powell Theatre 
1962 When the Girls Take Over 
1962 Follow the Sun
1960-1962 Outlaws
1961 The Andy Griffith Show
1961 Holiday Lodge
1961 The Americans
1961 The Best of the Post
1960-1961 Shirley Temple Theatre
1960 The Brothers Brannagan 
1960 Klondike
1960 Lock Up
1960 The Tab Hunter Show
1960 Sex Kittens Go to College 
1960 Mr. Lucky
1960 The Ann Sothern Show
1959 The Loretta Young Show 
1959 Hawaiian Eye
1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1959 The Lineup
1959 The Big Operator
1959 The Beat Generation
1959 G.E. True Theater
1959 Peter Gunn
1959 Night of the Quarter Moon
1958 No Place to Land
1958 The Space Children
1958 High School Confidential! 
1958 Studio One in Hollywood
1958 Lonelyhearts
1956-1957 Playhouse 90
1957 Eighteen and Anxious 
1957 The Joker Is Wild 
1957 The Buster Keaton Story 
1957 The People's Choice
1956 Matinee Theatre
1956 The Proud Ones
1955 Damon Runyon Theater
1955 So This Is Hollywood
1955 Escape from Terror
1953 The Actress 
1953 Mesa of Lost Women 
1952-1953 Cowboy G-Men
1952 Racket Squad
1952 Outlaw Women 
1951 Skipalong Rosenbloom
1949 The Benny Rubin Show 
1948 French Leave 
1947 Kilroy Was Here
1939 Sky Patrol 
1939 Million Dollar Legs
1938 College Swing 
1936 Love in September
1935 Home on the Range
1931 Huckleberry Finn 
1930 Tom Sawyer
1927 Buttons 
1927 The Bugle Call 
1927 Johnny Get Your Hair Cut 
1925 Old Clothes 
1925 The Rag Man 
1924 Little Robinson Crusoe 
1924 A Boy of Flanders 
1923 Long Live the King
1923 Circus Days
1923 Daddy 
1922 Oliver Twist 
1922 Trouble 
1922 Nice and Friendly 
1921 My Boy
1921 Peck's Bad Boy
1921 The Kid 
1919 A Day's Pleasure 
1917 Skinner's Baby