A
RARE VINTAGE BUTTONS MGM ADVERT MOVIE HERALD IN FAIR SHAPE MEASURING
UNFOLDED 6X9 INCHES FEATURING JACKIE COOGAN WHEN HE WAS A CHILD ACTOR.
John
Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor
and comedian who began his movie career as a child actor in silent
films.
Charlie
Chaplin's film classic The Kid (1921) made him one of the first child
stars in the history of Hollywood. He later 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, the California Child Actors Bill, widely known as the Coogan
Act. Coogan continued to act throughout his life, later earning renewed
fame in middle age portraying bumbling Uncle Fester in the 1960s
television series The Addams Family.
Jackie
Coogan, who in 1919 became the first major child star in American movie
history as the sad-eyed foundling in ''The Kid,'' died after a heart
attack yesterday at the Santa Monica (Calif.) Hospital. He was 69 years
old and lived in Palm Springs, Calif.
Mr.
Coogan, who charmed a later generation as Uncle Fester on the television
series ''The Addams Family,'' was taken to the hospital's emergency
room shortly before noon, said a hospital spokesman, Mary Isaacs. He
died two hours later.
For several years in the
1920's, he was the most famous boy in America. In one popularity poll,
he topped Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks.
''I
had the flu in New York, and it pushed the President of the United
States off the front pages,'' he said in an interview in 1972.
After
making his stage debut at the age of 16 months, he earned between $2
million and $4 million before he was out of short pants. Spotted by
Chaplin
At the age of 4, he was spotted on a
Hollywood vaudeville stage by Charlie Chaplin, who gave him a $75-a-week
role in ''The Kid.'' When the film was finished, he received a $5,000
bonus. Then came ''Peck's Bad Boy'' at $1,000 a week, followed by a
$500,000 Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer contract with a clause guaranteeing him 60
percent of the profits from such pictures as ''Tom Sawyer'' and
''Huckleberry Finn.''
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John
Leslie Coogan Jr. was born in Los Angeles, and by the time he was 13 he
had been to New York 18 times, most often traveling in his private
railroad car.
''Normal boy?'' he said in the
1972 interview. ''How would I know what a normal boy would do? When I
was 7, we bought a big house at the corner of Wilshire and Western and
put in one of the earliest swimming pools in Southern California.
''Being
who I was, I had the best swimming instructor - Duke Kahanamoku - the
year after he won the Olympics. I surfed from Baja California to San
Francisco when there were only 9 or 10 surfers on the entire Pacific
Coast. I drank milk from my own ranch. Other boys went to see Babe Ruth.
Babe Ruth came to see me.'' Death of Father
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But
his life unraveled months before his 21st birthday. After a day of dove
hunting in Mexico, the car his father was driving was forced off the
road. The young actor was badly bruised, and his father and three other
passengers were killed.
Mr. Coogan said later that the rest of his life would have been different if his father had survived. The reason was money.
Of
the millions he had made as a child star, all he had ever received was a
weekly allowance of $6.25. When he turned 21, his mother, Lillian, and
Arthur Bernstein, the family lawyer whom she had married, announced that
they would not turn any of it over to him. ''The law is on our side,
and Jackie Coogan will not get a cent from his past earnings,'' Mr.
Bernstein declared at a news conference.
After a
childhood of virtually unquestioning obedience, Mr. Coogan agonized for
two years before deciding to file suit to recover the money.
'Blackballed by the Studios'
''It was the
lowest point of my life,'' he said in 1972, ''because my stepfather was
related to many people, and I was blackballed by the studios.''
His
anxiety was compounded by the disintegration of his first marriage, to a
young starlet named Betty Grable. Eighteen months later, when the
lawsuit was settled, he was left with only $35,000 - but with the
knowledge that such a situation could not recur.
''Forty-eight
hours after I filed my suit, they rushed a new law through the
Legislature,'' he said. The measure said that all juvenile actors'
earnings had to be deposited in court-administered trust funds.
Mr.
Coogan became a stage actor in 1937 and estimated in 1966 that he had
appeared in 35 silent films, 100 talkies and 850 television programs,
including more than 65 episodes of ''The Addams Family.'' His Uncle
Fester character in that series would stuff a light bulb in his mouth
and make it glow. A Landing in Burma
In World
War II, Mr. Coogan joined the Army as a flight officer and was the first
glider pilot to land Allied troops behind the Japanese lines in Burma.
''If
you think the natives were surprised when our gliders landed,'' he
said, ''you should have seen them when we opened up the mouth of one and
drove out a jeep.'' He was later awarded the Air Medal for meritorious
service.
After his divorce from Miss Grable, he
married another actress, Flower Parry, in 1941. They were divorced two
years later, and in 1946 he married Ann McCormick, from whom he was
divorced in 1951. The following year, he married Dorothea Lamphere, a
dancer, who was at his bedside when he died.
In
addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Anthony, of Los
Angeles, and Chris, of Palm Springs; two daughters, Joan, of Los
Angeles, and Leslie Franklin of Malibu, and two grandchildren.
Silent
movie child star Jackie Coogan was born John Leslie Coogan Jr. on
October 26th, 1914 in Los Angeles, California to a show business family.
His father, John H. Coogan, had been born in Syracuse and worked in an
apothecary and then in vaudeville as an actor and dancer, and his mother
had been a child star on the stage. Shortly after Jackie's birth the
Coogans went east and it was in New York that Jackie made his first real
appearance in the theater, at the age of four years. At age five he
began touring with his family in vaudeville shows.
Charles
Chaplin had long been planning a movie project called "The Kid", but
had kept postponing his film because he could not find the right child
actor to star opposite him. A friend of Chaplin's knew of his ambition
and thought of Jackie for the role. He brought Charlie down to the hotel
where the Coogans were staying and introduced young Jackie to him.
Chaplin was impressed and knew right away he had found the perfect
youngster for his movie. To test Jackie, Chaplin gave him a small role
in his film "A Day's Pleasure" (1919), which proved that he had star
quality. They then began filming Chaplin's "The Kid" (1921), a memorable
film in which the Little Tramp rescues and raises a street urchin named
Jackie, eventually losing him. The movie effectively combined both
pathos and humor and was a great success for Charlie and Jackie. Jackie
went on to play a child in a number of popular films in the 1920's, such
as "Peck's Bad Boy" (1921), "Oliver Twist" (1922) opposite Lon Chaney,
and "The Rag Man" (1925 - recently restored and re-scored for Turner
Classic Movies), and he continued to tour with his father on the stage.
Although there were other child stars performing in films in the 1920's,
Jackie's career and stardom were the most heavily promoted during the
decade. Magazines of the day depicted Jackie touring the world with his
father, Jackie at birthday parties, Jackie posing in front of his
expensive toys, his cars, his homes, etc. At the height of his career in
the 1920's, he was one of the most highly paid performers in Hollywood,
earning millions for the studios which hired him, including First
National, Lesser, Universal, M-G-M, and for his own production company
set up by his parents, called Jackie Coogan Productions.
Child star Jackie Coogan - goldensilents.com
By
1927, at the age of 13, Jackie Coogan had grown up on the screen and
his career was starting to wind down as he aged and other child stars
took hold of the public's fancy. He made sound versions of "Tom Sawyer"
(1930) and 'Huckleberry Finn" (1931), but these movies were not as
popular as his earlier films during the silent era. His personal family
life was about to be thrust into turmoil as well. His parents divorced
and his mother re-married Arthur Bernstein, who became Jackie's business
manager. In 1936, Jackie's father died, along with his best friend, in a
terrible automobile accident. Jackie had been in the car and was
injured, but recovered. When he came of age he naturally wanted the
money which he had earned making films as a child star, but his mother
and his step-father refused his request. Jackie filed suit against them
for the four million dollars that he had earned during those years.
Under California Law at the time he had no rights to the money he made
as a child, and he was eventually awarded only $126,000 in 1939! The
public was outraged when they learned of the situation, and the
California Legislature was pressured to pass the "Coogan Act", which
would set up a trust fund for any child actor to protect his earnings.
Jackie Coogan as Fester in The Addams Family
Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family" in 1964
Jackie
Coogan married four times and had four children. In 1937, he married
actress Betty Grable, but the marriage lasted only three years. During
World War Two Jackie served in the Army, then returned to Hollywood
after the war. He worked in small budget movies, playing mostly bit
parts. In the 1950's he began to find acting work on television. Almost
broke by the 1960's, he suddenly hit his stride again, starring in two
comedy television series, "McKeever and the Colonel", which ran from
1962-63, and the classic "The Addams Family", which ran from 1964-1966,
in which he played funny, baldheaded Uncle Fester. In 1972 Jackie was
reunited with his old friend Charlie Chaplin, who returned to the United
States to accept an honorary Oscar. Jackie and a small crowd of well
wishers met Charlie at the airport, and the frail Chaplin, upon
recognizing Jackie, broke down, hugged him and whispered to him, "I
think I would rather see you than anybody else." Jackie Coogan would
continue making acting appearances in a number of television shows,
commercials, and in a handful of movies, until his death from a heart
attack on March 1st, 1984 in Santa Monica, California. ~ Copyright ©
2004 goldensilents.com
Jackie Coogan's Silent Films
Buttons (1927) .... Buttons
Bugle Call, The (1927) .... Billy Randolph
Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (1927) .... Johnny O'Day
Old Clothes (1925) .... Timothy Kelly
Silent movie star Jackie Coogan - Golden Silents
Rag Man, The (1925) .... Tim Kelly
Hello Frisco (1924)
Little Robinson Crusoe (1924) .... Mickey Hogan
... aka Robinson Crusoe Jr. (1924)
Boy of Flanders, A (1924) .... Nello
Long Live the King (1923) .... Crown Prince Otto
Circus Days (1923) .... Toby Tyler
Daddy (1923) .... Jackie Savelli/Jackie Holden
Trouble (1922) .... Danny, the Kid
... aka Trouble, Keep Smiling (1922) (USA)
Oliver Twist (1922) .... Oliver Twist
My Boy (1921) .... Jackie Blair
Peck's Bad Boy (1921) .... 'Peck's Bad Boy' (Henry Peck)
Kid, The (1921) .... The Kid
Day's Pleasure, A (1919) .... Smallest Boy
... aka Ford Story, A (1919) (USA)
Skinner's Baby (1917) (uncredited) .... The Baby
John
Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor
and comedian who began his movie career as a child actor in silent
films.[2]
Charlie Chaplin's film classic The
Kid (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the history of
Hollywood. He later 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, the California Child
Actors Bill, widely known as the Coogan Act.[3] Coogan continued to act
throughout his life, later earning renewed fame in middle age portraying
bumbling Uncle Fester in the 1960s television series The Addams Family.
Contents
1 Early life and early career
1.1 Coogan Bill
1.2 Charity work
2 Later years
2.1 Film
2.2 Radio
2.3 World War II
2.4 Television
3 Marriages and children
4 Death
5 Filmography
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Early life and early career
Coogan as a child actor with Charlie Chaplin in The Kid (1921)
Coogan
was born as John Leslie Coogan in 1914 in Los Angeles, California, to
John Henry Coogan Jr. and Lillian Rita (Dolliver) Coogan.[1][4] He began
performing as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited
role in the 1917 film Skinner's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in
the Orpheum Theatre, a vaudeville house in Los Angeles, on the stage
doing the shimmy, a dance popular at the time. Coogan's father was also
an actor, as was Jackie's younger brother, Robert Coogan.
Coogan
was a natural mimic and delighted Chaplin with his abilities. Chaplin
cast him in a small role in A Day's Pleasure (1919). He was the
abandoned child raised by Chaplin in The Kid (1921) and the following
year played the title role in Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd.
Coogan was one of the first stars to be heavily merchandised. Peanut
butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines were among
the Coogan-themed merchandise on sale. Coogan was tutored until the age
of 10, when he entered Urban Military Academy and other prep schools. He
attended several colleges, as well as the University of Southern
California. In 1932, he dropped out of Santa Clara University because of
poor grades.
In November 1933, 22-year-old
Brooke Hart, a close friend of Coogan from Santa Clara University and
heir to a successful department store in San Jose, was kidnapped as he
drove his car out of a parking lot. After several demands for a $40,000
ransom were delivered to the family, police arrested Thomas Thurmond and
Jack Holmes in San Jose. Thurmond admitted that he and Holmes had
murdered Hart the same day he was kidnapped. Both killers were
transferred to a jail in downtown San Jose. A mob broke into the jail,
and Thurmond and Holmes were hanged from a tree in a nearby park, with
the unapologetic approval of the state's governor. Coogan was reported
to be present and to have held the lynching rope.[5]
In
1935, 20-year-old Coogan was the sole survivor of a car crash in
eastern San Diego County that killed his father; his best friend,
19-year-old actor Junior Durkin;[6] their ranch foreman, Charles Jones;
and actor and writer Robert J. Horner. The party was returning from a
day of dove hunting over the border in Mexico in early May. With his
father at the wheel, the car was forced off the mountain highway near
Pine Valley by an oncoming vehicle and rolled down an
embankment.[7][8][9]
Coogan Bill
Main article: California Child Actor's Bill
“ Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein will never be serious contenders for the title of Mr. and Mrs. America. ”
— New York Herald Tribune, 1938[10]
As
a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to $4 million. When he
turned 21 in October 1935, his fortune was believed to be well intact.
His assets had been conservatively managed by his father, who had died
in the car accident five months earlier.[11]
However,
Coogan found that the entire amount had been spent by his mother and
stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, on fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry,
and expensive cars. Bernstein had been a financial advisor for the
family and married Coogan's mother in late 1936.[12] Coogan's mother and
stepfather claimed Jackie enjoyed himself and simply thought he was
playing before the camera. She insisted, "No promises were ever made to
give Jackie anything",[10] and claimed he "was a bad boy".[13] Coogan
sued them in 1938,[12] but after his legal expenses, he received just
$126,000 of the $250,000 remaining of his earnings. When he fell on hard
times and asked Charlie Chaplin for assistance, Chaplin handed him
$1,000 without hesitating.[14]
The legal battle
focused attention on child actors and resulted in the 1939 enactment of
the California Child Actor's Bill, often referred to as the "Coogan
Law" or the "Coogan Act". It required that a child actor's employer set
aside 15% of the earnings in a trust (called a Coogan account), and
specified the actor's schooling, work hours, and time off.[15]
Charity work
Coogan
worked with Near East relief, he toured across the United States and
Europe in 1924 on a "Children's Crusade" as part of his fundraising
drive, which provided more than $1 million in clothing, food, and other
contributions (worth more than $13 million in 2012 dollars). He was
honored by officials in the United States and Greece where he had an
audience with Pope Pius XI.[16]
A Roman Catholic, Coogan was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills.[17]
Later years
Film
Coogan
appeared with then-wife Betty Grable in College Swing, a 1938 musical
comedy starring George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye and Bob Hope.
Radio
In
1940, Coogan played the role of "a playboy Broadway producer" in the
Society Girl program on CBS radio.[18] He also starred in his own
program, Forever Ernest, on CBS from April 29, 1946, to July 22,
1946.[19]
World War II
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,[20] he volunteered for hazardous duty with the
1st Air Commando Group.[21]
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.[22][23]
Coogan in a publicity shot as the character Uncle Fester for The Addams Family TV series
Television
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
1960 series The Outlaws. In the 1960–1961 season, he guest-starred in
the episode "The Damaged Dolls" of the 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.[24]
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 middle 1970s. Coogan also appeared
in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode titled, "Sing a Song of
Murder" (04/01/1973).
Marriages and children
Coogan
was married four times, and had four children. His first three
marriages to actresses were short-lived.[3] He and Betty Grable were
engaged in 1935 and married on November 20, 1937,[25] [26][27] and they
divorced less than two years later on October 11, 1939. Eighteen months
later on August 10, 1941, he married Flower Parry (d.1981). They had one
son, John Anthony Coogan (writer/producer of 3D digital and film), born
March 4, 1942, in Los Angeles; they divorced on June 29, 1943.[28]
Coogan married his third wife, Ann McCormack, on December 26,
1946;[29][30] a daughter, Joann Dolliver Coogan, was born April 2,
1948,[31] in Los Angeles. They divorced on September 20,
1951.[32][33][34]
Dorothea Odetta Hanson, also
known as Dorothea Lamphere, best known as Dodie, was a dancer and became
Coogan's fourth wife in April 1952, and they were together over 30
years until his death. She died in 1999. They had two children together,
a daughter, Leslie Diane Coogan, born November 24, 1953 in Los Angeles,
and a son, Christopher Fenton Coogan, born July 9, 1967 in Riverside
County, California, who died in a motorcycle accident in Palm Springs,
California on June 29, 1990.[35][36]
Leslie
Coogan has a son, actor Keith Coogan, who was born Keith Eric Mitchell
on January 13, 1970. He began acting in 1975, and changed his name in
1986, two years after his grandfather's death. His roles include the
oldest son in Adventures in Babysitting and Don't Tell Mom the
Babysitter's Dead.
Footage of Jackie with his grandson Keith can be seen in the 1982 documentary Hollywood's Children.
Death
Grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California
Coogan's
health in later years was seriously impaired by his chain smoking and
alcoholism.[37] After suffering from heart and kidney ailments, Coogan
died of heart failure on March 1, 1984, at age 69, in Santa Monica,
California.[38] He had previously suffered several strokes and had been
undergoing kidney dialysis when his blood pressure dropped. Coogan was
taken to Santa Monica Hospital, where he died from cardiac arrest.[3]
At
his request, Coogan's funeral was open to the public and he was buried
at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.[39][40] His star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame is located at 1654 Vine Street, just south of Hollywood
Boulevard.[41]
This is the family of Jackie Coogan, the child actor. His
family settled in Onondaga County, NY (principally Syracuse) in
the early part of the 19th century. Initially, the family
worked for the railroad. Jackie's grandfather, John Henry
Coogan, was one of the first to chose another profession -
druggist.
Jackie's father was John Henry Coogan, JR, a vaudeville
performer. Together with his wife, Lillian Dolliver, he
attempted to enter the new Hollywood movie business (c.1910).
John Leslie Coogan (Jackie) was born in 1914. Even as a baby,
he accompanied his parents on several movie sets. Charlie
Chaplin was responsible for casting Jackie in his first major
movie - 'The Kid' (1921).
After many movies as a child actor, Jackie entered adult life
with a startling realization - that his parents had squandered
his entire movie fortune! Following a highly publicized lawsuit
against his mother, Jackie was only able to regain a paltry
amount for all his years as a star. Lawmakers immediately set
to work to ensure that such a thing could never happen again,
creating the Child Actors Bill (the so-called 'Coogan Law') to
protect the careers of child stars and their money.
Jackie was a glider pilot in World War II and later appeared in
movies and on TV as an adult (most famously as Uncle Fester on
'The Addams Family'). He died in 1984.
This family has also been found as CAGAN and COOKEN.
The
term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child
acting on stage or in motion pictures or television, but also to an
adult who began their acting career as a child. To avoid confusion, the
latter is also called a former child actor. Closely associated is
teenage actor or teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a
teenager.
Many
child actors find themselves struggling to adapt as they become adults,
mainly due to typecasting. Lindsay Lohan and Macaulay Culkin are two
particular famous child actors who eventually experienced much
difficulty with the fame they acquired at a young age. Many child actors
also become successful adult actors as well, a prime example of this
being Jodie Foster, who was 14 years old in the film Taxi Driver in 1976
and went on to become an adult star in the 1991 film The Silence of the
Lambs.
Contents
1 Regulation
1.1 California
1.2 United Kingdom
2 Issues
2.1 Ownership of earnings
2.2 Competitive pressure
3 Post-success troubles
4 Post-childhood success
4.1 Other careers
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Regulation
In
the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the
governing labor union, if any, and state laws. Some projects film in
remote locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect
the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited by California,
for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British
Columbia. US federal law "specifically exempted minors working in the
Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws." Any
regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state laws.
California
Due
to the large presence of the entertainment industry in California, it
has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a
minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before
accepting any paid performing work. Compulsory education laws mandate
that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child
is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school,
private school or even home school. The child does his/her schoolwork
under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set.
United Kingdom
In
the United Kingdom, a child actor is defined as someone under school
leaving age.[1] Before a child can work, they require a performance
license from their Local Education Authority as well as a licensed
chaperone; a parent can only chaperone their own child, unless they are a
licensed chaperone, and a chaperone's duties include acting in loco
parentis and record arrival and departure time from the work place, the
time a child is working, their breaks and the amount of tutoring.[1][2] A
child requires three hours minimum of tutoring daily and a lesson must
be a minimum of 30 minutes to count towards the total and with regards
to 16 and 17-year-olds in further education, considerations are made in
regards to their studies.[3]
There
are regulations and guidance to safeguard all actors under the age of
18; OFCOM guidance states a child's health and safety, wellbeing and
welfare is paramount in television production and factors such as their
age, maturity and life experiences can affect their performance.[4]
OFCOM also advises that broadcasters undertake risk assesmsents,
consider seeking expert advice and follow best practise.[4]
Issues
Ownership of earnings
Before
the 1930s, many child actors never got to see the money they earned
because they were not in charge of this money. Jackie Coogan earned
millions of dollars from working as a child actor only to see most of it
squandered by his parents. In 1939, California weighed in on this
controversy and enacted the Coogan Bill which requires a portion of the
earnings of a child to be preserved in a special savings account called a
blocked trust.[5] A trust that is not actively monitored can also be
problematic however as in the case of Gary Coleman who after working
from 1974, later sued his adoptive parents and former business advisor
for $3.8 million over misappropriation of his trust fund.[6][7]
Competitive pressure
Some
people[who?] also criticize the parents of child actors for allowing
their children to work, believing that more "normal" activities should
be the staple during the childhood years. Others[who?] observe that
competition is present in all areas of a child's life—from sports to
student newspaper to orchestra and band—and believe that the work ethic
instilled or the talent developed accrues to the child's
benefit.[citation needed]
The
child actor may experience unique and negative pressures when working
under tight production schedules. Large projects which depend for their
success on the ability of the child to deliver an effective performance
add to the pressure.[citation needed]
Ethel
Merman, who several times worked in long-running stage productions with
child actors, disliked what she eventually saw as their
overprofessionalization - "acting more like midgets than children" - and
disapproved of parents pushing adulthood on them.[8]
Post-success troubles
The
failure to retain stardom and success and the exposure at a young age
to fame has caused many child actors to lead adult lives plagued by
legal troubles, bankruptcy and drug abuse.
Examples
include child cast members of the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes
Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, and Dana Plato. Plato went on to pose for
Playboy magazine and was featured in several softcore pornography films.
She was arrested twice for armed robbery and forging prescriptions, and
died in May 1999 from an overdose of prescription medication, deemed
suicide. Coleman famously sued his parents for misuse of his trust fund
and, although awarded over $1,000,000, filed for bankruptcy in 1999.
After many charges of assault throughout the next years, Coleman died in
May 2010. Bridges was plagued with many legal troubles as well as an
addiction to cocaine. After breaking this habit, he became an anti-drug
activist and traveled across the U.S., touring schools and warning about
the dangers of drug abuse. He has since made several cameo appearances
on multiple television programs.
The
popular television sitcom Full House made child stars out of Jodie
Sweetin and the Olsen twins. After the show, Sweetin went on to develop
an addiction to methamphetamine, as well as alcoholism. She later
overcame this and wrote a memoir describing her experiences. Mary-Kate
Olsen, as well as Tracey Gold from the serial Growing Pains, both
developed eating disorders, for which they were treated with intensive
rehab. Anissa Jones, best known for appearing in the sitcom Family
Affair, overdosed on August 28, 1976 at age 18.
Jonathan
Brandis, who appeared in a number of films as a child and teenager,
committed suicide by hanging in November 2003 at the age of 27 due to
reasons possibly related to his lack of continued success into
adulthood. Likewise, Sawyer Sweeten, a child actor who portrayed
Geoffrey Barone on the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, took his
life in April 2015 at the age of 19, after a period of depression.
Drew
Barrymore was notorious for her illegal and public antics beginning
shortly after her first role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Barrymore
admits to smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time
she was 11, smoking marijuana at the age of 12, and snorting cocaine at
the age of 13. At the age of 14, she attempted suicide.
Another
popular example today of child actors with post-success troubles would
be Lindsay Lohan. Famous for her starring roles in The Parent Trap
(1998), Freaky Friday (2003), Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
(2004), Mean Girls (2004), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), Just My Luck
(2006) and Georgia Rule (2007), Lohan has since run into much trouble
with the law. In May 2007, Lohan was arrested on a charge of driving
under the influence of alcohol (DUI.) Lohan entered the Promises
Treatment Center rehabilitation facility where she stayed for 45 days.
In July of that year, less than two weeks out of rehab, Lohan was
arrested a second time on charges of possession of cocaine, driving
under the influence and driving with a suspended license. In August,
Lohan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine use and driving under the
influence and was sentenced to an alcohol education program, community
service, one day in jail, and was given three years probation. The same
month Lohan entered the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah
for a third stint at rehabilitation, staying for three months until her
discharge in October. In November, Lohan served 84 minutes in jail. A
sheriff spokesman cited overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of the
crime as reasons for the reduced sentence.
In
1990, actor and writer Paul Petersen founded a support group for child
actors, "A Minor Consideration", following the suicide of another former
child star, Rusty Hamer. The group seeks to improve working conditions
for child actors and to assist in the transition to adult life, whether
in acting or other professions.[9]
Post-childhood success
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Jodie Foster in 1974
There
are many instances of troubled adult lives due to the stressful
environment to which child actors are subjected. It is common to see a
child actor grow up in front of the camera, whether in films, television
shows or both. However, it is not uncommon to see child actors continue
their careers throughout as actors or in a different professional
field.
Jodie
Foster started acting at age three, becoming the quintessential child
actor during the 1970s with roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (1973)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy Malone
(1976), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), and Freaky
Friday (1976). A child prodigy, Foster received at age 13 her first
Academy Award nomination, and later took a sabbatical from films to
attend Yale University. She made a successful transition to adult roles,
winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress before the age of 30, and
starring in several successful and acclaimed films such as The Accused
(1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Maverick (1994),
Contact (1997), and The Brave One (2007), thus establishing herself as
one of the most accomplished and sought-after actresses of all-time. She
has also ventured into directing, and her directing credits include
films such as Little Man Tate (1991) and Money Monster (2016) and
television shows such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black and
Black Mirror.
Now
adults, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three leads
of the acclaimed Harry Potter film series (2001–11), starred in all the
installments in the series, and have since then continued to act in
film, television, and theater in their late twenties and early thirties.
Dakota
Fanning rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age
seven in the film I Am Sam (2001). Her performance earned her a Screen
Actors Guild Award nomination at age eight in 2002, making her the
youngest nominee in SAG history. She later appeared in major Hollywood
productions, in such acclaimed blockbuster films as Man on Fire (2004),
War of the Worlds (2005), Charlotte's Web (2006), Hounddog (2007), The
Secret Life of Bees (2008), Coraline (2009), The Twilight Saga film
series (2009–12), The Runaways (2010), and The Motel Life (2012).
Fanning's younger sister, Elle Fanning also rose to prominence as a
child actress, having appeared in many films since before she turned
three.
Miranda
Cosgrove, known mainly for her role on Drake & Josh as a child,
gained more attention for her role as a teenager in the show iCarly.
Since the end of the show she has been featured in other roles,
including as the voice of Margo in the Despicable Me franchise. Once she
was of age, she decided to pursue a college degree in film at the
University of Southern California.[10]
Shirley
Temple became a public figure and diplomat, beginning in the 1960s.
Some of her duties included representing the United Nations, and
becoming a U.S. ambassador in countries such as Ghana and
Czechoslovakia.[11]
Mary-Kate
Olsen was treated for an eating disorder, deemed anorexia, but her twin
sister remained less troubled. In an article with the magazine Marie
Claire, Mary-Kate expressed the bittersweet nature of the twins'
childhood. "I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to
them at all," she said. "I would never wish my upbringing on anyone...
but I wouldn't take it back for the world." The twins now have continued
success in the fashion industry with an estimated net worth of
approximately $100 million.
Drew
Barrymore started acting at age three. During her childhood she battled
with drugs, but today she continues to act in films. Natalie Portman
took a small break in acting to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology
from Harvard University before continuing her career as an actress.
Rider Strong, known as "Shawn Hunter" in Boy Meets World, was educated
at Columbia University and now runs a successful blog and published a
graphic novel.[12] Neil Patrick Harris got his acting start in Doogie
Howser, M.D. He continues to act in television, films and theater.
Jonathan
Lipnicki, known mostly for the Stuart Little films, now successfully
competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[12] Sara Gilbert is known for her role
on Roseanne and is now successful as a talk show host on The Talk. Also
from Rosanne, Michael Fishman continued to work in film, but behind the
scenes and has since been nominated for an Emmy for the work he did in
Sports Science. [12] Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert both made the
transition from a child actress to an adult actress with a rough patch
including depression. After a stay in a rehabilitation center, Dunst was
able to recover and continue her career. She proves that the pressures
of growing up under the spotlight may not come without
repercussions.[13]
Roddy
McDowall, who had a long and distinguished career including as the
regular star of the Planet of the Apes series; Micky Dolenz, who started
his career as a child star in the 1950s, grew up to be a musician of
the successful 1960s pop group The Monkees, which had its own successful
television show; Ron Howard, who, in addition to being the star of both
of the long running The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days television
series, became an Academy Award-winning director in adulthood; Elijah
Wood, who continued his career successfully into adulthood starring as
Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film series and starring as Ryan
Newman in the television series Wilfred. Other child actors who have
continued their careers into adulthood include Rose Marie, Hayley Mills,
Ann Jillian, Johnny Whitaker, Kathy Garver, Tim Matheson, Bonnie
Franklin, Melissa Gilbert, Danielle Brisebois, Erika Eleniak, Max
Pomeranc, Christina Ricci, Shelley Fabares, Candace Cameron Bure, Karron
Graves, Gaby Hoffmann, Hilary Duff, Molly Ringwald, Stacy Ferguson,
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lisa Whelchel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Soleil Moon
Frye, Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Stockwell, Fred Savage, Neil Patrick
Harris, Michelle Chia, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Aloysius Pang, Scarlett
Johansson, Raven-Symoné and other Academy Award winners and nominees
include; Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix,
Helen Hunt, Irene Cara, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Christian Bale,
Saoirse Ronan, Brie Larson, Lacey Chabert, Elizabeth Taylor, and
Leonardo DiCaprio.
Other careers
Many
actors' careers are short-lived and this is also true of child actors.
Many actors out of personal choice that start their careers as child
actors decide not to pursue the same careers as adults, Shirley Temple
became a public figure and diplomat. Peter Ostrum, appearing in his only
role, the title character of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory became a large-scale veterinarian surgeon. Whilst
Jenny Lewis, formerly of film Troop Beverly Hills in 1989, is a
well-known singer-songwriter indie rock musician.
In
Poland, child actor identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński
became very successful politicians, at one time Lech being President
and Jarosław the Prime Minister.
See also
List of child actors
Child labour
Child singer
Acting age
Child prodigy