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Jackie
Coogan
1914-1984
Film
Jackie was born into a family of vaudevillians
where his father was a dancer and his mother was a child star.
Jackie  was
on stage by the age of four and touring with the family by
five years old. Charlie Chapman spotted him and in 1921 they
made the movie The Kid which was very successful.
By 1923, at age 9, he was one of the highest paid stars in
Hollywood. His last memorable films were Tom Sawyer (1930)
and Huckleberry Finn (1931). His estimated earnings
over this time were $4 million. In 1935 he sued his parents
to get the money he had earned from his career and was only
awarded $126,000. The public uproar resulted in the "Child
Actors Bill" or "The Coogan Act" in California,
which would set up a trust fund for any child actor and protect
his earnings. He may be remembered today as Uncle Fester in
the popular TV series The Adams Family which ran from 1964-1966.
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