Jackie Cooper

Jackie Cooper, born John Cooper Jr. on September 15, 1922, in Los Angeles, California, was an American actor, television director, and U.S. Navy officer whose career spanned more than six decades. He died on May 3, 2011. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow, was a stage pianist of Italian American heritage, and his father, John George Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. His maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, worked as a screenwriter, and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman Taurog. His stepfather, C. J. Bigelow, was a studio production manager.

Cooper's screen career began in early childhood when his grandmother brought him along to her own auditions for extra work. By age three he was appearing in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name Leonard, and he subsequently had bit parts in Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Sunny Side Up. Director David Butler recommended him to Leo McCarey, who arranged an audition for the Our Gang comedy series produced by Hal Roach. Cooper joined the series in 1929 with the short Boxing Gloves, signing a three-year contract. He began as a supporting player but became one of the ensemble's central figures by early 1930, replacing Harry Spear. His performances exploring his character's infatuation with schoolteacher Miss Crabtree, portrayed by June Marlowe, across the shorts Teacher's Pet, School's Out, and Love Business were among his most recognized work in the series.

While still under contract to Hal Roach Studios, Cooper was loaned to Paramount in 1931 to star in Skippy, directed by his uncle Norman Taurog. The role earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, making him at age nine the youngest person ever nominated in that category and the only child to receive the distinction. Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for his services, though Cooper himself received his standard weekly salary of $50. Roach subsequently sold Cooper's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he appeared alongside Wallace Beery in The Champ in 1931, in The Bowery in 1933 with George Raft, Fay Wray, and Pert Kelton, in the 1934 adaptation of Treasure Island with Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, and Nigel Bruce, and in O'Shaughnessy's Boy in 1935. In his autobiography, Cooper accused Beery of deliberately upstaging him and attempting to undermine his performances out of jealousy.

Through the late 1930s Cooper continued in adolescent roles, including the lead in the first two Henry Aldrich films, What a Life in 1939 and Life with Henry in 1941. The 1941 musical Ziegfeld Girl placed him alongside James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner. He was paired twice with Jackie Coogan in Kilroy Was Here in 1947 and French Leave in 1948.

Cooper served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and remained in the Naval Reserve until 1982, retiring at the rank of captain and receiving the Legion of Merit. During the period from 1949 to 1954, he also established a presence on Broadway, appearing in three productions. He starred in King of Hearts and Remains to Be Seen and appeared in Magnolia Alley. In 1950, separate from his Broadway work, he was cast in a Boston production of Mr. Roberts in the role of Ensign Pulver.

On television, Cooper starred as Socrates "Sock" Miller in NBC's The People's Choice alongside Patricia Breslin, which ran from 1955 to 1958, and then played the title character in CBS's Hennessy opposite Abby Dalton from 1959 to 1962. He guest-starred on the NBC legal drama Justice in 1954, appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and guest-starred with Tennessee Ernie Ford on NBC's The Ford Show. He also appeared in the Armstrong Circle Theatre episode "I Found 60 Million Dollars" as Charles A. Steen. In 1964 he appeared in the Twilight Zone episode "Caesar and Me," written by Rod Serling, and in 1968 in the television film Shadow on the Land. He appeared in a 1973 episode of Columbo, a 1974 episode of Kojak, the 1975 ABC series Mobile One, and a 1978 two-part episode of The Rockford Files titled "The House on Willis Avenue."

From 1964 to 1969, Cooper served as vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures' Screen Gems television division, where he was responsible for packaging series including Bewitched and selling them to networks. After leaving Columbia in 1969, he continued acting and directing. His directing work on episodes of M*A*S*H and The White Shadow earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards.

In the Superman film series running from 1978 to 1987, Cooper played Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White, a role he assumed after Keenan Wynn, originally cast in the part, became unavailable following a heart attack. His final film appearance was as Ace Morgan in the 1987 comedy Surrender, starring Sally Field, Michael Caine, and Steve Guttenberg. Cooper announced his retirement in 1989, and his final television appearance came in 1992 in two episodes of Capital News, in which he played John C. Dodd.

Outside of his entertainment career, Cooper participated in automobile racing, including record-breaking class D car events at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and several SCCA road racing competitions. He was named honorary starter for the 1976 Winston 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama. He published his autobiography, Please Don't Shoot My Dog, in 1982, the title referencing an incident during the filming of Skippy in which director Norman Taurog ordered a security guard to pretend to shoot Cooper's dog in order to provoke a genuine crying response on camera. Cooper was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1507 Vine Street.

Cooper was married to June Horne from 1944 to 1949; they had a son, John "Jack" Cooper III, born in 1946. He was subsequently married to Hildy Parks from 1950 to 1951. His third marriage, to Barbara Rae Kraus in 1954, lasted until her death in 2009. He and Kraus had three children: Russell, born in 1956, Julie, born in 1957, and Cristina, born in 1959. Julie and Cristina died in 1997 and 2009, respectively.