Jackie Coogan

Biography

John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984), known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. In the interim, he 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. Coogan enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that December, he requested a transfer to Army Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. Graduating the Advanced Glider School with the Glider Pilot aeronautical rating and the rank of Flight Officer, he volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December 1943, the unit was sent to India. He flew British troops, the Chindits, under General Orde Wingate on March 5, 1944, landing them at night in a small jungle clearing 100 miles (160 km) behind Japanese lines in the Burma Campaign. After the war, Coogan returned to acting, taking mostly character roles and appearing on television. From 1952 to 1953, he played Stoney Crockett on the syndicated series Cowboy G-Men. He guest-starred on NBC's The Martha Raye Show. He appeared, too, as Corbett in two episodes of NBC's The Outlaws with Barton MacLane, which aired from 1960–1962. In the 1960–1961 season, he guest-starred in the episode "The Damaged Dolls" of the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan. In 1961, he guest-starred in an episode of The Americans, an NBC series about family divisions stemming from the Civil War. He also appeared in episode 37, titled "Barney on the Rebound", of The Andy Griffith Show, which aired October 31, 1961. He had a regular role in a 1962–63 NBC series, McKeever and the Colonel. He finally found his most famous television role as Uncle Fester in ABC's The Addams Family (1964–1966). He appeared as a police officer in the Elvis Presley comedy Girl Happy in 1965. He appeared four times on the Perry Mason series, including the role of political activist Gus Sawyer in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Witless Witness", and TV prop man Pete Desmond in the final episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", in 1966. He was a guest several times on The Red Skelton Show, appeared twice on The Brady Bunch ("The Fender Benders" and "Double Parked"), I Dream of Jeannie (as Jeannie's uncle, Suleiman – Maharaja of Basenji), Family Affair, Here's Lucy, and The Brian Keith Show, and continued to guest-star on television (including multiple appearances on The Partridge Family, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, and McMillan and Wife) until his retirement in the mid 1970s. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jackie Coogan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Grant W. Hicks

Marlowe

Self (Guest Appearance at Premiere)

Estrellados

The Kid

The Kid

Matthew Basch

The Shakiest Gun in the West

Dr Aranya

Mesa of Lost Women

Haymarket Hotel Proprietor

Sherlock Holmes in New York

Jake Baron

The Beat Generation

Mr. A

High School Confidential!

The Baby (uncredited)

Skinner's Baby

Johnny O'Day

Johnny Get Your Hair Cut

Jackie

Love in September

Inopportune (uncredited)

The Actress

Agent Petrov

Flugten til Danmark

Elmer Case

The Buster Keaton Story

Clown

Clown Alley

Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist

Boy

Nice and Friendly

Jackie Blair

My Boy

Sheriff Tibbs

Human Experiments

Self

When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion

Self (archive footage)

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

Piute Bill

Outlaw Women

Sgt. Fleacollar

Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype

Ned Gates

Lonelyhearts

Tim Kelly

The Rag Man

Henry Peck

Peck's Bad Boy

Hank Johnson

The Space Children

Jackie

College Swing

Self

Seeing Stars

Funeral Director

Rogue's Gallery

Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer

Captain Toussaint

When the Girls Take Over

Ed Brannell

The Big Operator

Self

Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs

Desk Sergeant Bragan

Night of the Quarter Moon

Self (archive footage)

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

The Cook

Forbidden Area

Charlie Smith

Cahill: United States Marshal

Self

The Circus: Premiere

Roger

The Specialists

Tom Sawyer

Huckleberry Finn

Swede

No Place to Land

Wildcat MacPherson

Sex Kittens Go to College

Swifty Morgan

The Joker is Wild

Jackie Coogan - at Premiere (uncredited)

Free and Easy

Carter Meade

Sky Patrol

Jonathan

The Phantom of Hollywood

Lester Tile

The Prey

Russ Simpson

Million Dollar Legs

Pappy Reagan

French Leave

Himself

Meet Jackie Coogan

Uncle Fester

Halloween with the New Addams Family

Smallest Boy (uncredited)

A Day's Pleasure

Harold 'Eager' Beaver

Eighteen and Anxious

Magic Shop Owner

The Escape Artist

Buck Lovelace

Skipalong Rosenbloom

Nello

A Boy of Flanders

Self (uncredited)

Character Studies

Detective Chief Anderson

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery

Himself

Varieties on Parade

Mr. Fitzgerald

A Fine Madness

Gus Mitchell

Lucy Gets Lucky

Timothy Kelly

Old Clothes

Jack Hatfield

Home on the Range

Pappy Collins

Kilroy Was Here

Billy Randolph

The Bugle Call

Jackie Coogan

Hello, 'Frisco

Sgt. Benson

Girl Happy

Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto

Long Live the King

Father Ryan

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!

Self (archive footage)

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

Danny, the Kid

Trouble

Toby Tyler

Circus Days

Jackie Savelli / Jackie Holden

Daddy

Man on Make (uncredited)

The Proud Ones

Self (archive footage)

Chaplin Today: 'The Kid'

Buttons

Buttons

Self

Hollywood’s Children

Mickey Hogan

Little Robinson Crusoe

Self (archive footage)

Jackie Coogan: The First Child Star

Stagehand 1

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

Mr. Klein

The Kids Who Knew Too Much

Uncle Fester (Voice)

Scooby-Doo Meets The Addams Family

Self (archive footage)

The Real Charlie Chaplin

Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies

Uncle Fester (archive footage)

The Addams Family Album

Hanus Wicks

The Star Wagon

Coach Sanderford

Where's Charley?