ACTOR · BORN 1914 · DIED 1984
Jackie Coogan
- Born
- 26 October 1914
- Died
- 1 March 1984
- Known for
- The Kid (1921), The Addams Family (1964), The Addams Family (1973)
25 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Jackie Coogan (26 October 1914 – 1 March 1984) was an actor best known for The Kid and The Addams Family.
25 Interesting Facts About Jackie Coogan
Interesting Facts (13)
- #001
His contract with Metro earned him $1 million a year. After the money troubles he had with his parents, he helped draft and pass the Coogan Bill, which protects child performers from such exploitation in the future.
- #002
Working with Near East Relief, Coogan helped raise $1,000,000 for Armenians and Greeks displaced during the First World War. In 1924 he toured the United States and Europe with a "Children's Crusade" as part of a fundraising campaign, which ultimately provided more than $1,000,000 in clothing, food and other contributions (worth more than $13 million adjusted to 2012 dollars). Coogan was honored by officials in the United States, Greece and Rome, where he met Pope Pius XI.
- #003
In The Addams Family (1992), a hardware store is named "Coogan's" in his honor.
- #004
Producer Sol Lesser admitted that the original master of Coogan's 1922 Oliver Twist (1922) was burned because of its silver nitrate content, worth $80.
- #005
In September 1924 he had a 15-minute meeting with Benito Mussolini, who gave him a signed photograph inscribed "Al Piccolo Grande" (To the Little Big One).
- #006
He began losing his hair at a very early age. He later joked that he was said to have lost some of it before "The Kid" was released.
- #007
In 1937, the performer Thaya Foster sued Coogan after she was injured in a traffic accident while touring with the large troupe he directed alongside Lila Lee. Lee and Lillian Tours, who toured with the act, testified on Foster's behalf at the trial. The California State Industrial Accident Commission ultimately ruled in January 1938 that Consolidated Radio Artists was responsible; Coogan, an employee of Consolidated like Foster, was not liable.
- #008
In November 1920, the six-year-old Coogan was hospitalized with a basal skull fracture after the car he was riding in became uncontrollable and struck a tree. All the other passengers escaped with minor scratches. Coogan's injury was thought to be life-threatening, but he was treated and discharged within a few days.
- #009
He retired from acting in 1980 after shooting "The Escape Artist." His last film to be released, "The Fury," had been shot in 1979.
- #010
Although his performances in "The Kid" and "Oliver Twist" were praised by critics, Coogan was considered miscast in most of the other films he made as a child actor.
- #011
His funeral service was held in the mausoleum chapel of Holy Cross Mortuary and he was then buried in its cemetery.
- #012
His career declined after the first sound versions of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn." "Senility hit him at 13" became a Hollywood joke at his expense.
- #013
In the Brazilian dubbing of the 1960s Addams Family TV series and cartoons, Uncle Fester was renamed "Tio Chico" because of his appearance, in particular his bald head, which resembled the bocce ball popularly known in Brazil as a "chico."
Behind the Scenes (5)
- #014
His contract with MGM in the 1920s earned him $500,000 plus 60% of the gross of films such as Tom Sawyer (1917) and Little Robinson Crusoe (1924).
- #015
Although he made peace 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."
- #016
Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku was his swimming instructor.
- #017
In the mid-1930s he took a 17-piece orchestra out on a one-night tour. He claimed to earn $12,000 a week.
- #018
Protests were staged 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 background.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #019
When he was cast as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (1964), Coogan was 49 years old and nearly broke. After the series ended in 1966, he was never out of work again, appearing in numerous television shows and films, most of them only small roles.
Career & Awards (1)
- #020
The moment Jackie Coogan was always proudest of was his reunion with Charles Chaplin in 1972. After twenty years of exile from the United States, Chaplin returned that March to receive the Handel Medallion in New York City and a special lifetime achievement Oscar in Hollywood. Coogan was one of the few people present when Chaplin arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. After greeting the other members of the party with perfunctory handshakes, Chaplin immediately recognized Coogan (whom he had not seen in decades), embraced him warmly and said, "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."
Life & Family (5)
- #021
In 1935, at the age of 21, he went through the traumatic experience of losing his father, Jack Coogan Sr., and his closest friend, the actor Junior Durkin, in a car crash in the California mountains. Durkin died almost instantly at the scene, and Coogan Sr., who was driving, died a few hours later in a local hospital. Despite serious injuries, Jackie was the only survivor of the crash. He would later call it the saddest day of his life.
- #022
Coogan joined the army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to the United States Army Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. After graduating from glider school he became a flight officer and volunteered for dangerous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December 1943 the unit was sent to India, where he flew British troops and dropped them 100 miles behind enemy lines in Burma at night on 5 March 1944.
- #023
He was a college classmate of kidnapping and murder victim Brooke Hart. Coogan was reported to have taken part in the famous lynching of Hart's killers.
- #024
For much of 1935 he was engaged to the up-and-coming star Toby Wing. The two broke up after Coogan, having discovered that his mother and stepfather had squandered his childhood fortune, fell into a complicated depression fueled by alcohol addiction.
- #025
In 1935 he became engaged to the striking actress Toby Wing. When approached for autographs while out with her, he often wrote backwards to impress her, which left the autograph seeker more or less confused. They eventually parted because of differences in their temperaments; he added that 1935 was probably the worst year of his life, given his father's death and his mother's refusal to pay over the money he had earned as a child.
Related pages
- Don Stroud — Jackie Coogan comes up in the facts on that page
- Sean Astin — Jackie Coogan comes up in the facts on that page
- Addams Family Values — Jackie Coogan comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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