Jackie Coogan

Veteran American actor John Leslie “Jackie” Coogan was born on 26^th October1914, in Los Angeles, California, USA.Leslie worked with various directors and in different genres of movies.He married four times. His first wife was Betty Grable (1937-39), an American actress, model, dancer and singer of his times. He then got hitched to Flower Parry (1941-43), who was also an actress. Next he tied the knot with Ann McCormack (1946-51), a singer and his last wife was Dorothea Lamphere (1952-1984).

The actor was the son of John Henry Coogan, Jr (who was an actor by profession) and Lillian Rita Coogan.As for his schooling, Coogan was home tutored till 10 years of his age. After that he went to Urban Military Academy for High School. For further studies, Coogan joined several colleges and went to Santa Clara University. He was dismissed from Santa Clara because of his poor performance.

Coogan’s career started when he was just an infant. He was part of many films and plays as a kid. In 1917, he appeared in the movie, ‘Skinner’s Baby’. He was also casted by Charlie Chaplin Charles Chaplin popularly known as Charlie Chaplin >> Read More... for the movie ‘A Day’s Pleasure’ (1919). He worked with Charlie in another movie called ‘The Kid’ (1921). He was also part of a musical comedy named ‘College Swing’ (1938) and ‘Oliver Twist’.During and post the period of 1950s, Coogan was mostly seen on television rather than movies. He worked for a show named Cowboy G-Men, playing Stoney Crockett. He even worked for an NBC series from 1962-63, named ‘McKeever and the Colonel’.

Coogan also guest-starred in many shows of this period, to name of a few- The Americans, The Brothers Brannagan: the damaged dolls, The Martha Raye Show, and others.His most-remembered performance was in a show by the ABC’s called ‘The Adam’s Family’ (1964 – 1966), where he played Uncle Fester.Jackie also did many shows for various productions, which have helped him reach the pinnacle of success.

Some of his other memorable appearances are in the Perry Mason Serial Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... series- ‘The Case of the Witless Witness’, ‘The Brandy Bunch’, ‘I Dream of Jeannie’, ‘Family Affair’, ‘The Wild Wild West’ and others.Coogan retired from the showbiz in the mid-1960s.In the year 1984, he suffered from kidney disorders and heart problems, which eventually led to his death on 1 March 1984, in Santa Monica California.