Jackie Cooper
Encyclopedia
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination. At age 9, he was also the youngest performer to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role—an honor that he received for the film Skippy (1931). For nearly 50 years, Cooper remained the youngest Oscar nominee in any category, until he was surpassed by Justin Henry
's nomination, at age 8, in the Supporting Actor category for Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979).
. Cooper's stepfather was C.J. Bigelow, a studio production manager. His mother was Italian American
(her family's surname was changed from "Polito" to "Leonard"); Cooper was told by his family that his father was Jewish (the two never reunited after he had left the family) and a rabbi presided at his interment.
Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who would bring him along in hopes of aiding her own attempts to get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton
comedies under the name of "Leonard".
He graduated to bit parts in feature films such as Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
and Sunny Side Up. His director in these two films, David Butler, recommended the boy to director Leo McCarey
, who arranged an audition for the Our Gang
comedy series produced by Hal Roach
. Cooper joined the series in the short Boxing Gloves
in 1929, signing to a three-year contract. He initially was only a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 he had done so well with the transition to sound films that he had become one of the Gang's major characters. He was the main character in the episodes The First Seven Years
, When the Wind Blows
, and others. His most notable Our Gang shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe
, which included the trilogy of shorts Teacher's Pet, School's Out
, and Love Business
.
According to his autobiography, Cooper, under contract to Hal Roach
Studios, was loaned in the spring of 1931 to Paramount
to star in Skippy (directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
— the youngest actor ever (at the age of 9) to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor. Although Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for Cooper's services, Cooper received only his standard Roach salary of $50 per week.
The movie catapulted young Cooper to super-stardom. Our Gang producer Hal Roach
sold Jackie's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
in mid-1931, as he felt the youngster would have a better future in features. He began a long on-screen relationship with actor Wallace Beery
in such films as The Champ
(1931), The Bowery
(1933), The Choices of Andy Purcell (1933), Treasure Island
(1934), and O'Shaughnessy's Boy
(1935). A legion of film critics and fans have lauded the relationship between the two as an example of classic movie magic. However, in his autobiography Cooper wrote that Beery was "a big disappointment", and accused him of upstaging and other attempts to undermine the boy's performances out of what Cooper presumed was jealousy.
Not conventionally handsome as he approached adulthood, Cooper had the typical child-actor problems finding roles as an adolescent, and he served in World War II
, so his career was at a nadir
when he starred in two popular television sitcoms, NBC
's The People’s Choice
with Patricia Breslin
and CBS
's Hennesey
with Abby Dalton
. In 1954, he guest starred on the NBC legal drama Justice
. Later, he appeared on ABC
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
, and also guest starred with Tennessee Ernie Ford
on The Ford Show
and played the role of America's Uranium King, Charles A. Steen in I Found 60 Million Dollars on the Armstrong Circle Theater.
In 1950, he appeared in Mr. Roberts in Boston, Massachusetts, as Ensign Pulver.
From 1964 to 1969, Cooper was vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures Screen Gems
TV division. He was responsible for packaging series (such as Bewitched
) and other projects and selling them to the networks. He reportedly cast Sally Field
as Gidget
. Cooper acted only once during this period, in the 1968 TV-movie Shadow on the Land.
Cooper left Columbia in 1969 and started yet another phase of his career, one in which he would act occasionally in key character roles. He appeared in Candidate for Crime starring Peter Falk
as Columbo
in 1973 and the short-lived 1975 ABC series Mobile One
, a Jack Webb
/Mark VII Limited
production, but mostly he devoted more and more of his time to directing dozens of episodic TV and other projects. His work as director on episodes of M*A*S*H and The White Shadow
earned him Emmy awards.
Cooper found renewed fame in the 1970s and 1980s as Daily Planet
editor Perry White
in the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve
. In the commentary track for Superman, director Richard Donner
reveals that Cooper got the role because he had a passport, and thus was able to be on set in a few hours, after Keenan Wynn
, who was originally cast, suffered a heart attack.
Cooper's final film role was as Ace Morgan in the 1987 film Surrender, starring Sally Field
, Michael Caine
, and Steve Guttenberg
.
Cooper's autobiography, Please Don't Shoot My Dog, was published in 1982. The title comes from director Norman Taurog's threat to shoot young Jackie's dog if he could not cry in Skippy. Cooper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, at 1501 Vine Street.
Cooper announced his retirement in 1989, although he was still directing episodes of the syndicated series Superboy
. He began spending more time training and racing horses at Hollywood Park and outside San Diego during the Del Mar racing season. He lived in Beverly Hills from 1955 to his death. He occasionally returned to the soundstage for retrospective and documentary programs about Hollywood in which he had toiled for the entire sound period to-date, and even some silent films.
Justin Henry
Justin Henry is a former child actor, who since 2000 has been a new media business professional. He appeared in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer, his first role, in a performance that earned him a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the youngest actor to ever be nominated in any...
's nomination, at age 8, in the Supporting Actor category for Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son...
(1979).
Early life
Cooper was born John Cooper, Jr., in Los Angeles, California. Cooper's father, John Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow (née Polito), was a stage pianist and former child actress. Cooper's maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, was a screenwriter, and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman TaurogNorman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director, and screenwriter.Between 1920 and 1968, Taurog directed over 140 films, and directed Elvis Presley in more movies than any other director...
. Cooper's stepfather was C.J. Bigelow, a studio production manager. His mother was Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
(her family's surname was changed from "Polito" to "Leonard"); Cooper was told by his family that his father was Jewish (the two never reunited after he had left the family) and a rabbi presided at his interment.
Start of acting career
Lloyd Hamilton
Lloyd Vernon Hamilton was a major silent film star. Hamilton is best remembered as the stocky half of silent comedy's "Ham and Bud" , and later, his own series of short comedies...
comedies under the name of "Leonard".
He graduated to bit parts in feature films such as Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 was a black-and-white and color American musical film released by Fox Film Corporation.-Preservation status:...
and Sunny Side Up. His director in these two films, David Butler, recommended the boy to director Leo McCarey
Leo McCarey
Thomas Leo McCarey was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. During his lifetime he was involved in nearly 200 movies, especially comedies...
, who arranged an audition for the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy series produced by Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
. Cooper joined the series in the short Boxing Gloves
Boxing Gloves (film)
Boxing Gloves is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan under the pseudonym "Anthony Mack". Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 9, 1929, it was the 90th Our Gang short to be released.-Plot:Joe's and Chubby's friendship is...
in 1929, signing to a three-year contract. He initially was only a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 he had done so well with the transition to sound films that he had become one of the Gang's major characters. He was the main character in the episodes The First Seven Years
The First Seven Years
The First Seven Years is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 96th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
, When the Wind Blows
When the Wind Blows (1930 film)
When the Wind Blows is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by James W. Horne. It was the 97th Our Gang short to be released.-Plot:It is a windy spring night. A man tells Kennedy the cop that it is a fine night for a murder or robbery...
, and others. His most notable Our Gang shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe
June Marlowe
June Marlowe , was an American actress, who appeared in six Our Gang short subjects as the lovely schoolteacher Miss Crabtree.-Career:...
, which included the trilogy of shorts Teacher's Pet, School's Out
School's Out (1930 film)
School's Out is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 102nd Our Gang short to be released.-Plot:...
, and Love Business
Love Business
Love Business is a 1931 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 104th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
.
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
Studios, was loaned in the spring of 1931 to Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
to star in Skippy (directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
— the youngest actor ever (at the age of 9) to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor. Although Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for Cooper's services, Cooper received only his standard Roach salary of $50 per week.
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
sold Jackie's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in mid-1931, as he felt the youngster would have a better future in features. He began a long on-screen relationship with actor Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
in such films as The Champ
The Champ
The Champ is a 1931 American film written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper , and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.The...
(1931), The Bowery
The Bowery (1933 film)
The Bowery is a 1933 historical film about the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the turn of the century. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh and features Wallace Beery as saloon owner Chuck Connors, George Raft as Steve Brodie, the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and live, Jackie Cooper...
(1933), The Choices of Andy Purcell (1933), Treasure Island
Treasure Island (1934 film)
Treasure Island is a 1934 movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and...
(1934), and O'Shaughnessy's Boy
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
O'Shaughnessy's Boy is a 1935 film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. The movie was directed by Richard Boleslawski.-Cast:*Wallace Beery as Windy O'Shaughnessy*Jackie Cooper as Stubby O'Shaughnessy...
(1935). A legion of film critics and fans have lauded the relationship between the two as an example of classic movie magic. However, in his autobiography Cooper wrote that Beery was "a big disappointment", and accused him of upstaging and other attempts to undermine the boy's performances out of what Cooper presumed was jealousy.
Adult years
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, so his career was at a nadir
Nadir
The nadir is the direction pointing directly below a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface there. Since the concept of being below is itself somewhat vague, scientists define the nadir in more rigorous...
when he starred in two popular television sitcoms, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The People’s Choice
The People's Choice (TV series)
The People's Choice is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1958, primarily sponsored by The Borden Company.It stars Jackie Cooper as Socrates "Sock" Miller, an ex-Marine and New City, California politician with a basset hound named "Cleo", whose thoughts , as she balefully...
with Patricia Breslin
Patricia Breslin
Patricia Rose Breslin was an American actress known for her guest roles in various television series in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early years:...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Hennesey
Hennesey
Hennesey is an American military sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1962. The series, which aired for three seasons, stars Jackie Cooper in the title role.-Synopsis:...
with Abby Dalton
Abby Dalton
Abby Dalton is an American actress.Born as Marlene Wasden in Las Vegas, Nevada, she has made numerous appearances on television, including the recurring role of "Julia Cumson" on Falcon Crest...
. In 1954, he guest starred on the NBC legal drama Justice
Justice (1954 TV series)
Justice is an NBC half-hour drama television series about attorneys of the Legal Aid Society of New York, which aired from April 8, 1954 to March 25, 1956. In the 1954-1955 season, Justice starred Dane Clark as Richard Adams and Gary Merrill as Jason Tyler. In the 1955-1956 season, William Prince...
. Later, he appeared on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is a half-hour variety show that aired on ABC from October 3, 1957 to June 23, 1960, starring the young singer Pat Boone and a host of top-name guest stars. The program was of course sponsored by Chevrolet...
, and also guest starred with Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
on The Ford Show
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
and played the role of America's Uranium King, Charles A. Steen in I Found 60 Million Dollars on the Armstrong Circle Theater.
In 1950, he appeared in Mr. Roberts in Boston, Massachusetts, as Ensign Pulver.
From 1964 to 1969, Cooper was vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
TV division. He was responsible for packaging series (such as Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
) and other projects and selling them to the networks. He reportedly cast Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
as Gidget
Gidget
Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl and midget"...
. Cooper acted only once during this period, in the 1968 TV-movie Shadow on the Land.
Cooper left Columbia in 1969 and started yet another phase of his career, one in which he would act occasionally in key character roles. He appeared in Candidate for Crime starring Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
as Columbo
Columbo
Columbo is an American crime fiction television film series, which starred Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. It was created by William Link and Richard Levinson. The show popularized the inverted detective story format...
in 1973 and the short-lived 1975 ABC series Mobile One
Mobile One (TV series)
Mobile One was an American television series that aired on the ABC network from September 12 to December 29, 1975. The show was a production of Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television....
, a Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
/Mark VII Limited
Mark VII Limited
Mark VII Limited was the production company of actor, producer, and director Jack Webb, and was active from 1951 to 1982. Many of its series were produced in association with Universal Television; most of them aired on the NBC television network in the U.S....
production, but mostly he devoted more and more of his time to directing dozens of episodic TV and other projects. His work as director on episodes of M*A*S*H and The White Shadow
The White Shadow
The White Shadow is an American drama television series that ran on the CBS network from November 27, 1978, to March 16, 1981.-Overview:...
earned him Emmy awards.
Cooper found renewed fame in the 1970s and 1980s as Daily Planet
Daily Planet
The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...
editor Perry White
Perry White
Perry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics. White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet.White maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards...
in the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
. In the commentary track for Superman, director Richard Donner
Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
reveals that Cooper got the role because he had a passport, and thus was able to be on set in a few hours, after Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
, who was originally cast, suffered a heart attack.
Cooper's final film role was as Ace Morgan in the 1987 film Surrender, starring Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, and Steve Guttenberg
Steve Guttenberg
Steven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg is an American actor and comedian. He became well known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit.-Early life:Guttenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, the...
.
Personal life
Cooper served in the United States Navy during World War II and remained active in the reserves for the next several decades, reaching the rank of Captain. He was married three times: first to June Horne from 1944 until 1949, with whom he had one son, John "Jack" Cooper III (born 1946). He was married to Hildy Parks from 1950 until 1951 and to Barbara Kraus from 1954 until her death in 2009. Cooper and Kraus had three children—Russell (born 1956), Julie (1957–1997) and Cristina (1959–2009).Cooper's autobiography, Please Don't Shoot My Dog, was published in 1982. The title comes from director Norman Taurog's threat to shoot young Jackie's dog if he could not cry in Skippy. Cooper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, at 1501 Vine Street.
Cooper announced his retirement in 1989, although he was still directing episodes of the syndicated series Superboy
Superboy (TV series)
Superboy is a half-hour live-action television series based on the fictional DC Comics comic book character Kal-El's early years as Superboy. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication...
. He began spending more time training and racing horses at Hollywood Park and outside San Diego during the Del Mar racing season. He lived in Beverly Hills from 1955 to his death. He occasionally returned to the soundstage for retrospective and documentary programs about Hollywood in which he had toiled for the entire sound period to-date, and even some silent films.