Jackie Coogan wasn’t the only child star of the silent era
but he was the most popular by far. After all, he was discovered and launched
on that career by Charlie Chaplin, who gave him the title role in his
sentimental 1921 gem The Kid. After
that, Coogan was off and running, as indicated in this trade ad from one year
later. Note the special mention of the young star’s father, who is best
remembered today for squandering his son’s fortune. That led to passage of the
Coogan Law, intended to protect the earnings of minors. His contemporary Diana
Serra Cary (known in the 1920s as Baby Peggy) wrote an excellent, and
empathetic, biography, Jackie Coogan: The
World’s Boy King. It’s well worth reading.
