Person of the Week: Jackie Cooper

Whether you think of Jackie Cooper as the cherub-faced lad from Our Gang, from 1931’s The Champ or as Perry White in the 1970’s and 1980’s Superman films, you are familiar with one of the most dedicated individuals in the entertainment industry.


Cooper was born in 1922 to a rather theatrical family His grandmother often sought work as an extra in films and would frequently bring a very young Jackie along with her in hopes of getting noticed. I don’t know if she got noticed, but Jackie did. By 1929, he’d already had small roles in feature films and, at the age of seven was signed to a contract with Hal Roach Studios for a small recurring role in Our Gang. Cooper proved popular with audiences, and by 1930, his Our Gang role had expanded considerably, making him one of the main characters.

In 1931, he was loaned to Paramount Pictures to star in Skippy—a role which won him an Academy Award nomination. He holds the record for being the youngest person (age 9) to ever be nominated for an Oscar. He also holds the distinction of being the individual with the earliest Academy Award nomination who is still living.

Cooper’s success in Paramount’s Skippy led Hal Roach to sell his contract to Metro Goldwyn Mayer. At Metro, Cooper was given the chance to star in several important feature films—often alongside Wallace Beery. These include: The Champ, The Bowery and Treasure Island. While Cooper and Beery had an obvious on-screen chemistry, it didn’t extend into reality. Beery was often resentful of the child star’s success and, according to Cooper, treated him quite poorly.

As is often the case with child actors, as Cooper grew up, he had difficulty finding roles as an adolescent. After serving in the Second World War, Cooper found a niche in television—starring in popular early 1950’s television programs such as The People’s Choice and Hennessy. Cooper found television to be a good fit for him and, at a point, answered a calling that led him behind the camera. From 1964-1969, Cooper served as Vice President of Program Development for Screen Gems (a television division of Columbia Pictures) and was responsible for the packaging and creation of shows such as Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Gidget.

However, his love at acting never left him. While working as a director on hit sitcoms such as M*A*S*H, he still found the time to make appearances in several programs. He returned to the screen in the Superman films of the late 1970’s alongside Christopher Reeve.

Though he retired in 1989, Cooper has still directed several television programs. He prefers, however, to spend his time training and racing horses.

For his many decades of excellent work and the dozens of years of entertainment he’s offered us, Jackie Coopier is our “Person of the Week.” Enjoy this clip of Mr. Cooper as Socrates “Soc” Miller with Patricia Breslin as “Mandy Peoples” (she may also be familiar to you as “Miriam Webster” from Homicidal) and Cleo, the talking basset hound (voiced by Mary Jane Croft) in the People’s Choice.