Jackie Coogan’s story is one that has been told many times, though it rarely comes with a name attached to it. Over the course of nearly a century, it has become a cautionary tale for any kid that ever dreams of entering the world of show business or merely a juicy gossip that can be attached to any former child star deemed to have a problematic enough past. We’ve all heard it in one way or another — or, at least, we heard part of it. Jackie Coogan’s story is the one about the child actor whose parents spent all of his money, leaving him completely destitute. It’s also the story of the child actor that had to take his own parents to court in the hopes of recovering at least part of the fortune he made while working on screen.
Everyone knows that part of the story, though they hardly ever know who the story is about. Jackie Coogan’s name is frequently left out of the equation, as is his journey from an unknown little kid to Hollywood’s first actual child star in the Silent Era to a TV performer in the 1960s. Another part of the tale that is frequently forgotten is its epilogue, the part about how Coogan’s financial issues led to the passing of the California Child Actor's Bill, a law that protects other child stars from going through the same ordeal that he did. But, in order to understand how this happened, we first have to ask ourselves who is Jackie Coogan, how did he become famous, and how on Earth did he end up suing his own parents? And, most importantly, how did this lawsuit transform his name into a turning point in the history of child acting?
Who Was Jackie Coogan?
Coogan is by far one of the most famous children’s faces in movie history, though most people wouldn’t be able to tell his name just by looking at a picture of him. Yeah, there seems to be a trend going on there. However, most film-loving people would at least be able to identify Coogan for his most famous role: that of the titular kid in Charles Chaplin 1921 classic The Kid. The role of the little puppy-eyed orphan that joins Chaplin’s tramp in a series of shenanigans turned him into a literal poster child, decorating walls of arthouse theaters and cinephile homes all over the world. But, before that, appearing in The Kid transformed Coogan from a virtual unknown into the United States’ favorite boy.
Coogan began his acting career before he could even talk. His first film role was in the 1917 comedy Skinner’s Baby. He was a whopping one year and a half at the time. Following in his parents’ footsteps, little Jackie would go on to appear in small parts in movies and vaudeville theater until he was discovered by Chaplin at the age of six. Working in The Kid was a turning point in his career. From then on, he became the most famous boy in the US, possibly in the entire world. According to his New York Times 1984 obituary, he even beat heartthrobs Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino in a 1920s popularity poll. And, with roles such as the titular characters in1922's Oliver Twist and 1930's Tom Sawyer, it’s not hard to understand why.
Coogan’s popularity isn’t the only thing that increased after his run-in with Chaplin. His wealth also saw a considerable spike. After starring in The Kid and in the less remembered Peck’s Bad Boy, another 1921 comedy, this one directed by Sam Wood, Coogan got himself a $500,000 contract with MGM. The document also ensured him 60% of the profits of all the movies he starred in. At the tender age of eight, Coogan was making $22,000 a week. By his own account, when he was 7, he “bought a big house at the corner of Wilshire and Western and put in one of the earliest swimming pools in Southern California,” according to the obituary.
Jackie Coogan’s Lawsuit Inspired the California Child Actor Bill
Coogan managed to avoid the fate of many fellow child stars and remained acting well into his late teens. However, as he entered his 20s, his life took an unexpected turn. Just a few months before his 21st birthday, Coogan was involved in a car accident with his father on the way home from a trip to Mexico. Coogan’s father, known as Big Jack, died in the crash, alongside three other passengers. From that point on, young Jackie’s life was forever changed, and not just because of the grief and trauma that comes with losing a parent in such horrible circumstances.
Throughout his years of child acting, Coogan received only a weekly allowance of $6.25. As he was turning 21, he thought he would finally have a chance to put his hands on all of his hard-earned money. However, his mother, Lillian, thought differently, as did Arthur Bernstein, the family lawyer whom she married. This all took place between 1935 and 1936. In 1938, Coogan decided to take his mother and stepfather to court for a chance at getting his earnings back. But, as Arthur Bernstein put it at the time, the law was not on Coogan’s side.
Jackie Coogan never recovered his money. At the time of his lawsuit, there was no legal precedent for a former child actor fighting his own parents in court for financial abuse. Out of the fortune he had amassed, he was left with only $35,000 dollars to his name. However, all of this drama at least served to prevent other kids from going through the same trauma as him, including his own little brother, Robert Coogan, who made his acting debut in 1931, in Norman Taurog’s Skippy. One year after Jackie Coogan filed his lawsuit, the State of California passed the California Child Actor's Bill. Also known as the Coogan Act or the Coogan Law, the 1939 bill stops parents or legal guardians from having full access to a child performer’s earnings.
The original iteration of the Coogan Law, however, left much to be interpreted. There were many loopholes that could be exploited. For instance, Judy Garland’s mother was paid a large sum of money from her daughter’s paycheck in exchange for being her chaperone. Shirley Temple saw only $44,000 of the $3.4 million that she made as a child performer. And, more recently, in the 1990s, there was the whole Macaulay Culkin affair. Known primarily for his starring role in the first two installments of the Home Alone franchise, Culkin famously removed his parents’ names from his trust fund in the middle of an ugly custody battle when he was in his teens. Reportedly, Culkin's parents used a lot of their son's funds in their court battle for the kids.
The Coogan Law remained unchanged up until the year 2000. Nowadays, the bill states that 15% of everything a young actor - or model, or voice actor - makes must be set aside on a trust fund account that shall remain off limits until they turn 18. Furthermore, this sum must come from the performer’s gross income, not their net income, which protects it from being used to pay chaperones and managers that frequently take the shape of parents. Child actors in the state of New York are also governed by a similar law.
Jackie Coogan Kept on Acting Up Until His Death, in 1984
This isn’t to say that, after the revisions made to the Coogan Law, no child star has ever faced family troubles involving money. In her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy, for instance, recounts feeling responsible for her entire family’s financial well-being in between stories of verbal abuse and parent-endorsed eating disorder. In recent years, media experts have been sounding the alarm about the need for a new Coogan Law in order to protect underage social media and reality TV stars. Still, at least Coogan’s experience served to give future performers some form of legal protection.
Nevertheless, suing his mother and his stepfather took a toll on Coogan’s career. Since Bernstein was well-known among Hollywood folks, studios turned a cold shoulder on Coogan. From 1939 to 1947, he had no screen jobs and took to the stage to keep on acting. However, this would not be the end of Coogan’s fame. As television took over American homes and his lawsuit became old news, Jackie Coogan took back his rightful place in front of the cameras. In the 1960s, he became famous for a role that had nothing to do with the whip-smart kids he played in the 1920s and 1930s: Uncle Fester in the original Addams Family television series. He remained a working actor up until 1984, when Coogan died of a heart attack.
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