Frank Coghlan, Jr.

Frank Coghlan Jr. (March 15, 1916 – September 7, 2009), also known as Junior Coghlan, was an American actor who later became a career officer in the United States Navy and a naval aviator. He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974.

During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a popular child and juvenile actor, appearing in films with Pola Negri, Jack Dempsey, William Haines, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, William Boyd and Bette Davis. Although he appeared in early Our Gang comedies, he is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial and first comic book superhero film, Adventures of Captain Marvel.

Coghlan later served 23 years as an aviator and officer in the U.S. Navy, from 1942 to 1965. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to acting and appeared in television, films, and commercials. He published an autobiography in 1992

In 1927, Coghlan appeared in the baseball comedy Slide, Kelly, Slide, playing an orphan who became a mascot and inspiration for an ace baseball pitcher, played by William Haines.

By 1928, Coghlan was such a well-known star that the Los Angeles Times reported on his schooling as well as his film projects. By age 11, Coghlan was asking to play grownup roles. A newspaper article at the time reported that Coghlan, "like every other young and red-blooded American, desires to arrive at manhood as soon as possible. Long trousers is what he wants, but the motion picture claims him and demands that he stay in knee breeches."

Coghlan's final film on his four-year DeMille-Pathe contract was 1929's military academy drama Square Shoulders. Conceived as a silent film, Square Shoulders was transformed into a "talkie" by the expedient of adding sound to the final reel. Only the silent version is known to survive.

A 1929 newspaper story on Coghlan noted that the twelve-year-old actor was "recognized by the motion picture public as the leading juvenile screen player in the world."

Talking pictures With the arrival of the talking pictures, Coghlan continued to be one of the most popular juvenile actors. In the classic 1931 gangster film The Public Enemy, Coghlan played the role of James Cagney's character, Tom Powers, as a boy. In the 1931 screen version of Booth Tarkington's Penrod and Sam, Coghlan starred as Sam, with Leon Janney playing Penrod.

In 1932, Coghlan appeared in the Bette Davis drama Hell's House. Davis played the girlfriend of Pat O'Brien's bootlegger character. Coghlan played the role of Shorty, a sickly boy who was sent to a state industrial school where children were forced to work at hard labor, ending up in solitary confinement.

Coghlan had another starring role in the 1932 film serial The Last of the Mohicans, based on the James Fenimore Cooper novel. Coghlan played the part of Uncas, the sachem of the Mohegan tribe who through an alliance with the English made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe.

He helped launch the career of Shirley Temple, appearing in a series of short films with her in 1933 and 1934. In the shorts, Coghlan played Sonny Rogers, a star baseball player and high school class president. Temple played Coghlan's pesky younger sister, Mary Lou. The Coghlan-Temple titles included Merrily Yours, What's to Do?, Pardon My Pups, and Managed Money.

Coghlan also had large roles in other features through the mid 1930s, including Kentucky Blue Streak, a 1935 crime drama about a jockey who was wrongfully imprisoned and escapes to ride in the Kentucky Derby; The Little Red Schoolhouse, a 1936 drama in which Coghlan plays the lead role, a 17-year-old who runs away to New York City; and Red Lights Ahead, a 1936 comedy in which he plays the son of an eccentric father who invests in a gold mining scheme.

In 1939, Coghlan starred in Blazing Barriers, one of the last roles in which he was billed as Junior Coghlan. He played a young hoodlum from the city who hides out at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the mountains. A newspaper story described the physical challenges that faced Coghlan in the role: "If you think being a screen star is a lot of fun, just ask Frank 'Junior' Coghlan."

Gone with the Wind By the late 1930s, Junior Coghlan was no longer a child actor and parts became harder to find. He played an uncredited role as a "collapsing" Confederate soldier in the 1939 classic Gone with the Wind. In his scene, Coghlan spoke the line "Put me down, put me down, damn ya', I can walk" as he was being carried off the battlefield. The 12 episodes of the Adventures of Captain Marvel serial "marked the first time a comic book superhero was depicted on the big screen." The article noted that Coghlan "may be reaching his finest hour" as the continuing popularity of "Captain Marvel" kept Coghlan busy. Coghlan noted at the time:

Coghlan achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was often assigned as a liaison and technical advisor on motion pictures, including PT 109, The Caine Mutiny, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Mister Roberts, and In Harm's Way starring John Wayne.

By the time he retired in 1965, Coghlan had accumulated over 4500 hours of flight time and had flown during World War II and the Korean War and had been to Vietnam. At the time, he lived in Sepulveda in the San Fernando Valley (the area is now known as North Hills) with his wife, Betty, and their five children (sons Michael and Patrick and daughters Libby, Cathy, and Judy). In 1974, he had a cameo role as a zoo employee in 'The Braggart' episode of Shazam!, a live-action CBS television series based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel.

In 1992, Coghlan wrote an autobiography that was published under the title They Still Call Me Junior. Coghlan died at the age of 93 at his home at an assisted living facility in Saugus, California, in September 2009. He was survived by a son, three daughters, three stepchildren, and six grandchildren.

Selected filmography

Daredevil Jack (1920) - Young Boy Mid-Channel (1920) - Young Boy (uncredited) To Please One Woman (1920) The Poverty of Riches (1921) Bobbed Hair (1922) - Lamont Child Bow Wow (1922) - Child (uncredited) Garrison's Finish (1923) Our Alley (1923) The Fourth Musketeer (1923) - Secondary Child's Role Law of the Lawless (1923) Little Old New York (1923) A Woman of Paris (1923) - Boy (uncredited) Cause for Divorce (1923) - Tommie Parker The Spanish Dancer (1923) - (uncredited) The Darling of New York (1923) - The Ross Kid The Great Circus Mystery (1925) The Road to Yesterday (1925) - Boy Scout (uncredited) The Great Love (1925) - Patrick Mike (1926) - Boy The Skyrocket (1926) - Mickey (prologue) Whispering Smith (1926) The Last Frontier (1926) - Buddy Her Man o' War (1926) - Peterkin Schultz Rubber Tires (1927) - Charley Stack Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) - Mickey Martin The Yankee Clipper (1927) - Mickey The Country Doctor (1927) - Sard Jones A Harp in Hock (1927) - Tommy Shannon Let 'Er Go Gallegher (1928) - John 'Let 'Er Go' Gallegher Marked Money (1928) - Boy Square Shoulders (1929) - John W. 'Tad' Collins Jr. The Girl Said No (1930) - Eddie Ward River's End (1930) - Mickey O'Toole It Pays to Advertise (1931) - Office Boy The Public Enemy (1931) - Tom as a Boy (uncredited) Penrod and Sam (1931) - Sam Union Depot (1932) - Ragged Urchin (uncredited) Hell's House (1932) - Shorty Man Wanted (1932) - Youngster in Store The Last of the Mohicans (1932, Serial) - Uncas Drum Taps (1933) - Eric Cartwright Racetrack (1933) - Jackie Curtis This Day and Age (1933) - Student (uncredited) In the Money (1933) - Dick Higginbottom Kentucky Blue Streak (1935) - Johnny Bradley Alibi Ike (1935) - Jimmy - the Newsboy (uncredited) Stranded (1935) - Page (uncredited) Happiness C.O.D. (1935) - Larry Sherridan The Little Red Schoolhouse (1936) - Frank 'Frankie' Burke Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) - Eddie Brill Make Way for a Lady (1936) - Billy Hopkins Red Lights Ahead (1936) - Willie Wallace Let Them Live (1937) - Bellhop (uncredited) Blazing Barriers (1937) - Tommy McGrath Saturday's Heroes (1937) - Sumner - Football Player (uncredited) Service de Luxe (1938) - Bellhop His Exciting Night (1938) - Office Boy (uncredited) Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) - Boy in Pool Room (uncredited) Scouts to the Rescue (1939, Serial) - Ken - a Boy Scout Off the Record (1939) - Copyboy (uncredited) The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) - Boy in Montage (uncredited) The Flying Irishman (1939) - Teenager Taking Photograph (uncredited) East Side of Heaven (1939) - Messenger Boy (uncredited) Boys' Reformatory (1939) - Eddie O'Meara Ex-Champ (1939) - Bellhop (uncredited) It's a Wonderful World (1939) - Elevator Boy (uncredited) Second Fiddle (1939) - Studio Call Boy (uncredited) The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) - Al - Boy Working Lathe (uncredited) Dust Be My Destiny (1939) - Newsboy (uncredited) Here I Am a Stranger (1939) - Office Boy (uncredited) Meet Dr. Christian (1939) - Bud Day-Time Wife (1939) - Office Boy (uncredited) Gone with the Wind (1939) - Collapsing Soldier (uncredited) The Fighting 69th (1940) - Jimmy (uncredited) Double Alibi (1940) - Newspaper Switchboard Operator (uncredited) Free, Blonde and 21 (1940) - Sammy - Bellboy Star Dust (1940) - Telegraph Boy (uncredited) Those Were the Days! (1940) - Chick Struthers (uncredited) Golden Gloves (1940) - Kid Lester (uncredited) Yesterday's Heroes (1940) - Tiny (uncredited) Knute Rockne, All American (1940) - Messenger (uncredited) Remedy for Riches (1940) - Bud (uncredited) Murder Over New York (1940) - Frank O'Shaughnessy / Gilroy (uncredited) Love Thy Neighbor (1940) - Bellboy (uncredited) Honeymoon for Three (1941) - Boy Delivering Flowers (uncredited) The Man Who Lost Himself (1941) - Messenger Boy (uncredited) Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941, Serial) - Billy Batson Men of Boys Town (1941) - Frank, a Commissioner (uncredited) Out of the Fog (1941) - Newsboy (uncredited) Unfinished Business (1941) - Page Boy (uncredited) Henry Aldrich for President (1941) - Marvin Bagshaw Glamour Boy (1941) - Actor Uncle Joe (1941) - Dick Pardon My Stripes (1942) - College Boy (uncredited) Rings on Her Fingers (1942) - Page Boy (uncredited) To the Shores of Tripoli (1942) - Bellboy (uncredited) The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942) - 'Red', Boy at the Dance (uncredited) Lady in a Jam (1942) - Young Man (uncredited) Wings for the Eagle (1942) - Mail Boy with Telegram (uncredited) Footlight Serenade (1942) - Movie Theatre Usher (uncredited) Girl Trouble (1942) - Elevator Boy (uncredited) Youth on Parade (1942) - Student (uncredited) Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) - Red, One of the Gang (uncredited) Presenting Lily Mars (1943) - Elevator Boy (uncredited) Follow the Band (1943) - Bert This Is the Army (1943) - Soldier at Camp (uncredited) Corvette K-225 (1943) - Rating (uncredited) One More Tomorrow (1946) - Telegraph Boy (uncredited) When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965) - Man in Audience (uncredited) The Sand Pebbles (1966) - Bald Bespectacled Man at Red Kettle Bar (uncredited) The Love-Ins (1967) - Reporter in Park (uncredited) Valley of the Dolls (1967) - Reporter (uncredited) The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) - Man at Bar (uncredited) The Love God? (1969) - Reporter (uncredited)