Actor and comedian Jackie Coogan is best known as Uncle Fester from the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. Less known is that he was a combat veteran of World War II.
An Exploited Child Star
Uncle Fester from The Addams Family was “creepy”, “kooky”, and “altogether ooky”. He was also a veteran of the Second World War who went on risky operations in Japanese-held jungles. Born John Leslie Coogan in Los Angeles in 1914, he got an early start in acting when his parents had him perform in movies and vaudeville while still an infant. While dancing on stage, he caught Charlie Chaplin’s eye, and the legendary comedian signed up the young actor.
Coogan starred alongside Charlie Chaplin in the 1921 hit movie The Kid, and hit it out of the park. He stole the show in a performance that transformed him into one of Hollywood’s first ever child stars. He became an even bigger star a year later, hitting it out of the park in 1922’s Oliver Twist. The kid should have been set up for life, but unfortunately, Coogan’s blew through his earnings, and he discovered he was broke when he reached adulthood. It was a heartbreaking scandal, and to avoid similar exploitation and protect child actors, the state legislature passed the California Child Actors Bill, commonly known as “The Coogan Act”.
Uncle Fester in WWII
As an adult, Coogan enlisted in the US Army in March, 1941. Coogan had some civilian flight training, so when America was thrust into WWII after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested and was granted a transfer to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). He was trained as a glider pilot, and graduated with the rank of flight officer. Coogan volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group, and was sent to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. He flew and inserted members of the Long Range Penetration Group, a specialized unit of British and Indian soldiers commonly known as the Chindits, for special operations behind enemy lines.
In one especially hazardous insertion, Coogan landed a glider full of Chindits at night, in the jungles of Burma, one hundred miles behind the front line, deep in enemy territory. After the war, he returned to acting, mostly TV character roles, before he finally landed on the Adams Family’s cast. Jackie Coogan passed away in 1984. His Addams Family colleague John Astin, who played the spooky family’s patriarch, Gomez, delivered the eulogy in a funeral that was open to the public and attended by fans.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
History Halls – Obi Wan Kenobi in World War II: Sir Alec Guinness in the Royal Navy
Vintage News – Jackie Coogan, From Child Start to WWII Flight Officer to Uncle Fester
