He allegedly held the rope at a lynching.
He was married for a time to Betty Grable.
As a child star he earned upwards of $4 million but saw virtually none of it.
He was 12 when his trademark pageboy was shorn in the 1927 movie Johnny Get Your Hair Cut.
During World War II he allegedly was busted in rank for being caught in an off-limits cathouse in Burma.
His daughter once said Uncle Fester was the only character part he really loved.
When Charlie Chaplin at 83 returned to the United States in 1972 after years of exile to receive an honorary Academy Award, he was met at the airport by Coogan. The two men reportedly broke down crying, and Chaplin said, “There is no one else in the world I would rather see than you.”
Sources: Findadeath.com * Wikipedia
The Jury Box 
“caught in an off-limits Burmese cathouse.” Was the Army grading these places?
Steve, apparently they were! The cathouse in question reportedly had been placed off-limits to GIs. The tale was related by the son of the MP who broke up the party, as it were.
In the 60’s one of my brothers was in the Army, in Germany. His job was to go from one Army eating facility to another, traveling far and wide, to see if the mess halls were up to snuff, on cleanliness and such. It was mostly an opportunity to drive around Germany and drink a lot of beer.
I’ve always thought that had to be the ultimate gig in the service (especially during Viet Nam!), but Cathouse Grader in Burma may well have been even better.
In other developments: Mark, The old comments at Irish Elk have reappeared. Just before your launch of Jury Box, the stuff in your comment boxes vanished (at least as the site appeared to me). The presentation of the comments is different, but the old text has been restored. Interesting…
Steve, that is interesting about the comments at Irish Elk. I had gone so far as to kick in the $12 or whatever it was to continue the comments after the free Haloscan was merged into the new paying service, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the new software to work with my old grandfathered blogger template. Now it seems the comments do work. Go figure.
I think I will keep hanging out here nonetheless because this site is a good bit easier to work. But the old Elk is still in working condition if need be.
I have to admit that I had no idea that Jackie-Coogan-child-actor was the same guy as Uncle Fester!