Actor and director Jackie Cooper died 3 May 2011 after a brief illness. Born John Cooper, Jr., on 15 September 1922 in Los Angeles, California,
He started working as an extra in films at the age of 3, and joined the Our Gang film comedy team in the 1929 short Boxing Gloves (he was signed to a three-year contract). In 1931, he starred in Skippy (directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog), and won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He was the youngest actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. His uncle, who had been born in 1899, won the Oscar for Best Director for that picture, making him the youngest ever to win that award. As an actor, he may be best remembered for playing newspaper editor Perry White in Christopher Reeve’s four Superman movies.
As he reached adolescence, his “child actor” career was declining (though he continued to act on screen—his last appearances came in 1990, in the television series Capital News), and he joined the US Navy, serving in the South Pacific during World War II. Following the war, he returned to Hollywood, but maintained his military reservist status, and pursued the dual careers. He finally retired from the reserves in 1982 as a captain.
Cooper’s genre acting appearances include: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Superman III (1983), Superman II (1980), Superman (1978), Beasts (1976), The Invisible Man (1975), Chosen Survivors (1974), Circle of Fear (1972), Shadow on the Land (1968), Twilight Zone (1964), and Tales of Tomorrow (1952).
As his first acting career was winding down, he made the jump to directing, starting with episodes of the 1956 television series The People’s Choice. As a director, he won two Emmy Awards (for The White Shadow in 1979 and for M*A*S*H in 1974) and was nominated for two others (for Hennesey in 1961 and 1962). He also directed for The Adventures of Superboy (1988).
IMDB notes “By 1976 had attained the rank of Captain, and was in uniform aboard the carrier USS Constellation for the Bicentennial celebration on July 4. In 1980 the Navy proposed a period of active duty at the Pentagon which would have resulted in a promotion to Rear Admiral, bringing him even with Air Force Reserve Brigadier General James Stewart. Fresh on the heels of a second directing Emmy, he felt his absence would impact achieving a long-held goal of directing motion pictures, and reluctantly declined. (The opportunity in films never materialized.)”
Cooper was married three times (the first two ending in divorce). His third wife, Barbara Rae Kraus, whom he married in 1954, died in 2009. He is survived by four children.