Jackie Cooper Movies and Career Information

Jackie Cooper (born 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 2010, Cooper's Oscar-nominated performance in Skippy is the earliest nomination (1931) in any Academy Award category in which the nominee is still living. He is also the youngest performer to be nominated in a leading role in the Academy's entire history. 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 films as an extra with his grandmother, who would bring him along in hopes of aiding her own attempts to get extra work. At age three, Jackie