Jackie Coogan
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.
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Acted in
Child Star
2024
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Showbiz Kids
2020
as Self (archive footage)
Jackie Coogan: The First Child Star
2015
as Self (archive footage)
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
2004
as Dr. Aranya (archive footage)
Chaplin Today: 'The Kid'
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000
as Self (archive footage)
The Prey
1983
as Lester Tile
Unknown Chaplin
1983
as Self
The Escape Artist
1982
as Magic Shop Owner
Hollywood’s Children
1982
as Self
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype
1980
as Sgt. Fleacollar
The Kids Who Knew Too Much
1980
as Mr. Klein
Hollywood
1980
as Self
Human Experiments
1979
as Sheriff Tibbs
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
1979
as Self
Flying High
1978
Halloween with the New Addams Family
1977
as Uncle Fester
Sherlock Holmes in New York
1976
as Haymarket Hotel Proprietor
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
as Stagehand 1
The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery
1975
as Detective Chief Anderson
Lucy Gets Lucky
1975
as Gus Mitchell
The Specialists
1975
as Roger
Movin' On
1974
The Phantom of Hollywood
1974
as Jonathan
The Addams Family
1973
as Uncle Fester (voice)
Cahill: United States Marshal
1973
as Charlie Smith
Police Story
1973
Barnaby Jones
1973
as Phil Rooney
Cool Million
1972
as Merrill Cossack
The Brian Keith Show
1972
The New Scooby-Doo Movies
1972
as Uncle Fester (voice)
Emergency!
1972
McMillan and Wife
1971
McMillan and Wife
1971
as Howard Sparks
The Jimmy Stewart Show
1971
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
as Zigler
The New Andy Griffith Show
1971
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Love, American Style
1969
as Uncle Harold
Love, American Style
1969
as Motel Owner
The Brady Bunch
1969
Marlowe
1969
as Grant W. Hicks
Here's Lucy
1968
as Kermit Bosworth
Adam-12
1968
as Harry Rustin
Hawaii Five-O
1968
as Horace Sibley
Hawaii Five-O
1968
as Jerry Howe
Hawaii Five-O
1968
as Frank
The Outsider
1968
as Rusty
The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968
as Matthew Basch
Rogue's Gallery
1968
as Funeral Director
Ironside
1967
Ironside
1967
as Buster Logan
Ironside
1967
as Sam McGoff
Clown Alley
1966
as Clown
Family Affair
1966
A Fine Madness
1966
as Mr. Fitzgerald
I Dream of Jeannie
1965
as Suleiman
The Wild Wild West
1965
The Wild Wild West
1965
as Mayor Cecil Pudney
Girl Happy
1965
as Sgt. Benson
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
1965
as Father Ryan
The Addams Family
1964
as Uncle Fester
Burke's Law
1963
as Bert Crowley
Vacation Playhouse
1963
as Finnegan
The Lucy Show
1962
as Lieutenant Ruggles
McKeever and the Colonel
1962
as Sgt. Barnes
The Virginian
1962
as Bodey
When the Girls Take Over
1962
as Captain Toussaint
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961
as Self (archive footage)
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as George Stevens
Outlaws
1960
Sex Kittens Go to College
1960
as Wildcat MacPherson
Mr. Lucky
1959
Hawaiian Eye
1959
as Mack Stanley
Lock-Up
1959
The Big Operator
1959
as Ed Brannell
The Beat Generation
1959
as Jake Baron
Lonelyhearts
1959
as Ned Gates
Night of the Quarter Moon
1959
as Desk Sergeant Bragan
77 Sunset Strip
1958
as Baldy Mike Hannigan (uncredited)
No Place to Land
1958
as Swede
Peter Gunn
1958
The Space Children
1958
as Hank Johnson
High School Confidential!
1958
as Mr. A
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
as Marshal Rogers
Eighteen and Anxious
1957
as Harold 'Eager' Beaver
The Joker is Wild
1957
as Swifty Morgan
Perry Mason
1957
as Elwood P. 'Gunner' Grimes
Perry Mason
1957
as Pete Desmond
Perry Mason
1957
as Gus Sawyer
Perry Mason
1957
as Ron Litten
The Buster Keaton Story
1957
as Elmer Case
Forbidden Area
1956
as The Cook
The Proud Ones
1956
as Man on Make (uncredited)
Matinee Theater
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as George Bay
Gunsmoke
1955
as Marshal Stoudenaire
Escape from Terror
1955
as Agent Petrov
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Mr. Klein
The Actress
1953
as Inopportune (uncredited)
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Woody Woods
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Snuff Carter
Mesa of Lost Women
1953
as Dr Aranya
General Electric Theater
1953
as Marshal Stubb Snider
Cowboy G-Men
1952
Outlaw Women
1952
as Piute Bill
Varieties on Parade
1951
as Himself
Skipalong Rosenbloom
1951
as Buck Lovelace
Studio One
1948
as Jeffers
French Leave
1948
as Pappy Reagan
Kilroy Was Here
1947
as Pappy Collins
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942
as Self (archive footage)
Sky Patrol
1939
as Carter Meade
Million Dollar Legs
1939
as Russ Simpson
College Swing
1938
as Jackie
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936
as Self
Love in September
1936
as Jackie
Home on the Range
1935
as Jack Hatfield
Huckleberry Finn
1931
as Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
1930
as Tom Sawyer
Estrellados
1930
as Self (Guest Appearance at Premiere)
Free and Easy
1930
as Jackie Coogan - at Premiere (uncredited)
The Circus: Premiere
1928
as Self
Buttons
1927
as Buttons
Character Studies
1927
as Self (uncredited)
The Bugle Call
1927
as Billy Randolph
Johnny Get Your Hair Cut
1927
as Johnny O'Day
Old Clothes
1925
as Timothy Kelly
The Rag Man
1925
as Tim Kelly
Hello, 'Frisco
1924
as Jackie Coogan
Little Robinson Crusoe
1924
as Mickey Hogan
A Boy of Flanders
1924
as Nello
Meet Jackie Coogan
1924
as Himself
Long Live the King
1923
as Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto
Circus Days
1923
as Toby Tyler
Daddy
1923
as Jackie Savelli / Jackie Holden
Oliver Twist
1922
as Oliver Twist
Seeing Stars
1922
as Self
Trouble
1922
as Danny, the Kid
Nice and Friendly
1922
as Boy
My Boy
1921
as Jackie Blair
Peck's Bad Boy
1921
as Henry Peck
The Kid
1921
as The Kid
A Day's Pleasure
1919
as Smallest Boy (uncredited)
Skinner's Baby
1917
as The Baby (uncredited)