Jackie Cooper (September 15, 1922) is an American actor, TV director, TV producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to transition to an adult career. As of 2009, Cooper's Oscar-nominated performance in Skippy is the earliest nomination (1931) for an Academy Award for Best Actor in which the nominee is still living.
Cooper was born John Cooper, Jr. in Los Angeles, California. Cooper was an illegitimate child, and his father, John Coo...
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Jackie Cooper (September 15, 1922) is an American actor, TV director, TV producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to transition to an adult career. As of 2009, Cooper's Oscar-nominated performance in Skippy is the earliest nomination (1931) for an Academy Award for Best Actor in which the nominee is still living.
Cooper was born John Cooper, Jr. in Los Angeles, California. Cooper was an illegitimate child, and his father, John Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow (née Polito), was a stage pianist and former child actress. Cooper's maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, was a screenwriter, and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman Taurog. Cooper's stepfather was C. J. Bigelow, a studio production manager. His mother was Italian American (her family's surname was changed from "Polito" to "Leonard") and his father was Jewish.
Cooper first appeared in the short Boxing Gloves in 1929, one of...
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