1914-10-26 Los Angeles, California, USA
John Leslie Coogan, 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.
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The Real Charlie Chaplin | 2021-11-19 | |
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Jackie Coogan: The First Child Star | Self (archive footage) | 2015-08-07 |
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Chaplin Today: 'The Kid' | Self (archive footage) | 2003-03-02 |
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Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces | Self (archive footage) | 2000-10-24 |
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The Addams Family Album | Uncle Fester (archive footage) | 1992-11-19 |
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Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies | 1988-09-19 | |
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The Prey | Lester Tile | 1983-11-04 |
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The Escape Artist | Magic Shop Owner | 1982-05-28 |
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Hollywood’s Children | Self | 1982-02-24 |
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Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype | Sgt. Fleacollar | 1980-10-01 |
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The Kids Who Knew Too Much | Mr. Klein | 1980-04-29 |
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Human Experiments | Sheriff Tibbs | 1979-10-19 |
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When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion | Self | 1979-06-05 |
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Halloween with the New Addams Family | Uncle Fester | 1977-10-30 |
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Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Stagehand 1 | 1976-07-26 |
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Sherlock Holmes in New York | Haymarket Hotel Proprietor | 1976-10-18 |
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The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery | Detective Chief Anderson | 1975-03-07 |
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Lucy Gets Lucky | Gus Mitchell | 1975-03-01 |
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The Specialists | Roger | 1975-01-06 |
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The Phantom of Hollywood | Jonathan | 1974-02-12 |
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Cahill: United States Marshal | Charlie Smith | 1973-07-11 |
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Scooby-Doo Meets The Addams Family | Uncle Fester (Voice) | 1972-09-23 |
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Marlowe | Grant W. Hicks | 1969-09-19 |
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Rogue's Gallery | Funeral Director | 1968-01-01 |
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The Shakiest Gun in the West | Matthew Basch | 1968-07-10 |
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Clown Alley | Clown | 1966-11-09 |
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A Fine Madness | Mr. Fitzgerald | 1966-06-29 |
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Girl Happy | Sgt. Benson | 1965-04-14 |
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John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! | Father Ryan | 1965-03-24 |
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When the Girls Take Over | Captain Toussaint | 1962-04-30 |
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The Legend of Rudolph Valentino | Self (archive footage) | 1961-05-24 |
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Sex Kittens Go to College | Wildcat MacPherson | 1960-08-24 |
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The Big Operator | Ed Brannell | 1959-08-01 |
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The Beat Generation | Jake Baron | 1959-07-03 |
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Lonelyhearts | Ned Gates | 1959-03-04 |
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Night of the Quarter Moon | Desk Sergeant Bragan | 1959-03-04 |
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No Place to Land | Swede | 1958-10-03 |
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The Space Children | Hank Johnson | 1958-06-01 |
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High School Confidential! | Mr. A | 1958-05-30 |
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The Buster Keaton Story | Elmer Case | 1957-05-01 |
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Eighteen and Anxious | Harold 'Eager' Beaver | 1957-11-15 |
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The Joker is Wild | Swifty Morgan | 1957-09-26 |
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The Proud Ones | Man on Make (uncredited) | 1956-05-15 |
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Forbidden Area | The Cook | 1956-10-04 |
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Flugten til Danmark | Agent Petrov | 1955-04-01 |
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Mesa of Lost Women | Dr Aranya | 1953-06-17 |
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The Actress | Inopportune (uncredited) | 1953-09-25 |
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Outlaw Women | Piute Bill | 1952-04-28 |
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Skipalong Rosenbloom | Buck Lovelace | 1951-04-30 |
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Varieties on Parade | Himself | 1951-07-20 |
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French Leave | Pappy Reagan | 1948-04-10 |
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Kilroy Was Here | Pappy Collins | 1947-07-19 |
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Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) | Self (archive footage) | 1942-01-01 |
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Sky Patrol | Carter Meade | 1939-09-11 |
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Million Dollar Legs | Russ Simpson | 1939-07-13 |
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College Swing | Jackie | 1938-04-29 |
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Love in September | Jackie | 1936-03-06 |
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Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs | Self | 1936-08-05 |
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Home on the Range | Jack Hatfield | 1935-02-01 |
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Huckleberry Finn | Tom Sawyer | 1931-08-07 |
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Estrellados | Self (Guest Appearance at Premiere) | 1930-07-07 |
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Free and Easy | Jackie Coogan - at Premiere (uncredited) | 1930-03-22 |
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Tom Sawyer | Tom Sawyer | 1930-12-19 |
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The Circus: Premiere | Self | 1928-01-13 |
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Buttons | Buttons | 1927-12-24 |
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Johnny Get Your Hair Cut | Johnny O'Day | 1927-01-15 |
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Character Studies | Self (uncredited) | 1927-11-20 |
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The Bugle Call | Billy Randolph | 1927-08-06 |
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Old Clothes | Timothy Kelly | 1925-11-09 |
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The Rag Man | Tim Kelly | 1925-02-16 |
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Little Robinson Crusoe | Mickey Hogan | 1924-08-25 |
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Hello, 'Frisco | Jackie Coogan | 1924-09-28 |
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A Boy of Flanders | Nello | 1924-04-06 |
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Meet Jackie Coogan | Himself | 1924-01-01 |
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Long Live the King | Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto | 1923-11-26 |
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Daddy | Jackie Savelli / Jackie Holden | 1923-03-25 |
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Circus Days | Toby Tyler | 1923-07-30 |
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Nice and Friendly | Boy | 1922-01-01 |
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Seeing Stars | Self | 1922-10-29 |
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Oliver Twist | Oliver Twist | 1922-10-30 |
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Trouble | Danny, the Kid | 1922-08-07 |
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My Boy | Jackie Blair | 1921-12-01 |
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Peck's Bad Boy | Henry Peck | 1921-04-21 |
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The Kid | The Kid | 1921-01-21 |
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A Day's Pleasure | Smallest Boy (uncredited) | 1919-12-15 |
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Skinner's Baby | The Baby (uncredited) | 1917-08-06 |
