Trivia

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 hadn't seen in decades), warmly embraced him, saying, "You know, I think I would rather see you than anybody else." Chaplin later told Coogan's wife, "You must never forget that your husband is a genius.".

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.

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.

When he was cast as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family (1964), Coogan was 49 years old and nearly broke. After the series ended in 1966, he never lacked work again, with numerous television and film appearances, although most of these were only small parts.

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,.

College friend of kidnapping/murder victim Brooke Hart. It was reported that Coogan participated in the notorious lynching of Hart's killers.

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.

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."

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 "Children's 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.

In The Addams Family (1992), a hardware shop was named "Coogan's" in his honor.

His 1920s contract with MGM earned him $500,000 plus 60% of the gross titles of such films as Tom Sawyer (1917) and Little Robinson Crusoe (1924).

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).

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.

Producer Sol Lesser admitted that the original master of Coogan's 1922 Oliver Twist (1922) was burned for its silver nitrate content--which was worth $80.

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 father's death and mother's refusal to pay out his childhood earnings.

Grandfather of actor Keith Coogan.

In September 1924 he had a 15-minute meeting with Benito Mussolini, who gave him an autographed photo inscribed "Al Piccolo Grande" (To the Little Great One).

Estimates vary but during his eight-year run of success as a child star, Coogan earned somewhere between $4 million-$8 million.

Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1654 Vine St.

Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku was his swimming instructor.

Older brother of Robert Coogan.

Ex-stepfather of Don Stroud.

His health was seriously damaged by years of chain smoking and heavy drinking.

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.

In 1937, he was sued by performer Thaya Foster when she and Lila Lee was injured in an automobile accident while on tour with big band that Coogan was conducting. Lee and Lillian Tours, also touring with the show, spoke on Foster's behalf during the trial. The California State Industrial Accident Board eventually found, in January, 1938, that the company Consolidated Radio Artists, was responsible; Coogan, who like Foster was an employee of Consolidated, was not liable.

He began losing his hair at a very early age. It was later jokingly said he had already lost some hair before "The Kid" was released.

In one popularity poll of the 1920s, he topped Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks, according to the New York Times.

Uncle of Jonathan Coogan.

His parents, Lillian and John Coogan were seasoned career vaudevillians who first presented Jackie to stage audiences at 16 months.

Retired from acting in 1980 after filming "The Escape Artist". His last released film "The Fury" had been filmed in 1979.

In November 1920, six-year-old Coogan was hospitalized with a basal fracture of the skull when an automobile in which he was a passenger became unmanageable and crashed into a tree. All the other passengers escaped with only slight injuries. Coogan's injury was thought to be life-threatening, but he was treated and released in a few days.

He starred in "Forever Ernest," a 1930s radio show, but it was canceled.

Interviewed in "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" by Stuart Oderman (BearManor Media).

Although his performances in "The Kid" and "Oliver Twist" were critically acclaimed, in many of the other films he starred in as a child actor Coogan was felt to be miscast.

There were demonstrations against his visit to Vienna in October 1924 because some people on the far right believed he was Jewish. He was in fact of Irish Catholic descent.

Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives., Volume One, 1981-1985," pp. 174-176. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

Biography in "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pp. 116. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387.

After early sound versions of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" his career waned. "Senility hit him at 13", Hollywood wags quipped.