Jackie Cooper (September 15, 1922 –May 3, 2011) was an American actor. He is best known for his role of Perry White in the Christopher Reeves Superman films (1978–1987). He with the Navy in the South Pacific toward the end of World War II and then, quietly and without publicity or fanfare, compiled one of the most distinguished peacetime military careers of anyone in his profession. In 1961, as his weekly TV series Hennesey (1959) was enhancing naval recruiting efforts, accepted a commission as a line officer in the Naval Reserve with duties in recruitment, training films, and public relations. Holder of a multi-engine pilot license, he later co-piloted jet planes for the Navy, which made him an Honorary Aviator authorized to wear wings of gold-at the time only the third so honored in naval aviation history. By 1976 he 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 that 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.) Holds Letters of Commendation from six secretaries of the Navy. Was honorary chairman of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation and a charter member of VIVA, the effort to return POW-MIAs from Vietnam. Upon retirement in 1982, he was decorated with the Legion of Merit by Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr.. Other than Stewart, no performer in his industry has achieved a higher uniformed rank in the U.S. military. (Glenn Ford was also a Naval Reserve captain, and director and Captain John Ford was awarded honorary flag rank upon his 1951 retirement from the Naval Reserve).

Filmography

• 2021The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1
• 2006Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut — Perry White
• 1995Inside the Dream Factory
• 1994The Our Gang Story — Jackie (archive footage)
• Capital News — John C. Dodd
• Superboy — Director
• Supercarrier — Director
• Jake and the Fatman — Director
• Ohara — Director
• Spies — Director
• 1987Superman IV: The Quest for Peace — Perry White
• 1987Surrender — Ace Morgan
• 1987The Ladies — Producer, Director
• The Law & Harry McGraw — Director
• 1986Classic Comedy Teams — Our Gang(archive footage)
• Sledge Hammer! — Director
• 1986The Deacon Street Deer — Director
• 1985Izzy & Moe — Director
• Glitter — Director
• Murder, She Wrote — Carl Schulman / Neil Fletcher
• 1984No Earthly Reason — J. Nash Hawkins
• 1984The Night They Saved Christmas — Director
• 1984Ticket to Hollywood — Narrator
• 1983Superman III — Perry White
• Cagney & Lacey — Director
• 1982Moonlight — Director
• 1982Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story — Director
• St. Elsewhere — David Domedion
• 1981Leave 'Em Laughing — Director
• 1981Rascal Dazzle — Jackie (archive footage)
• Magnum, P.I. — Director
• 1980Marathon — Director
• 1980Rodeo Girl — Director
• 1980Superman II — Perry White
• 1980White Mama — Director
• Paris — Director
• 1979Sex and the Single Parent — Director
• Trapper John, M.D. — Director
• 1978Having Babies III — Director
• 1978Perfect Gentlemen — Director
• 1978Rainbow — Director
• 1978Superman — Perry White
• The White Shadow — Director
• The Feather And Father Gang — Director
• Holmes & Yo-Yo — Creator
• Quincy, M.E. — Director
• 1975Journey into Fear — Eric Hurst
• Mobile One — Peter Campbell
• 1975Mobile Two — Peter Campbell
• 1975The Invisible Man — Walter Carlson
• 1974Chosen Survivors — Raymond Couzins
• 1974The Day the Earth Moved — Steve Barker
• The Dean Martin Comedy World — Host
• The Rockford Files — Capt. Highland, Garth McGregor, Director
• 1973Big John Morrison — John Morrison
• Kojak — Frank Mulvaney
• Police Story
• Ghost Story — Dumpy Doyle
• Hec Ramsey
• M*A*S*H — Director
• 1972Of Men and Women
• 1972Stand Up and Be Counted — Doctor, Director
• 1972The Astronaut — Kurt Anderson
• Columbo — Nelson Hayward
• It Was a Very Good Year
• Mantrap
• 1971Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring — Ed Miller
• McMillan & Wife — Director
• 1971The Love Machine — Danton Miller
• McCloud — Winn Hollis
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show — Director
• Hawaii Five-O — Dr. Alexander Southmore
• 1968Shadow on the Land — Lt. Col. Andy Davis
• Ironside
• The F.B.I. — Harlan Slade
• 1964Calhoun — Everett Calhoun
• The Great Adventure — Lt. Dickson
• Ensign O'Toole — Director
• 1961Everything's Ducky — Lt. J.S. Parmell - Psychiatrist
• The Dick Powell Show — Judd Rogers, John Reardon, Self - Host
• The Gertrude Berg Show
• Hennesey — Lt. Charles 'Chick' Hennesey, MD, Director
• The Twilight Zone — Jonathan West / Caesar (voice)
• Pursuit
• Telephone Time
• To Tell the Truth
• MGM Parade — Dink in 'The Champ' (archive footage)
• The People's Choice — Socrates 'Sock' Miller
• Justice
• Producers' Showcase
• The Elgin Hour
• General Electric Theater — Jeremy Bates
• Medallion Theatre
• Revlon Mirror Theatre
• The Motorola Television Hour
• The United States Steel Hour
• Cowboy G-Men
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Bob Heywood, Bill Harlow / Joe Toyah
• Tales of Tomorrow
• Danger
• Lux Video Theatre — Orrin Dudley, Dave Carter
• Robert Montgomery Presents — Peter Graves, Pvt. Oscar Purkey, Milton 'Mezz' Mezzrow, Maurice Gaines, Willy Benton
• Starlight Theatre
• Your Show of Shows
• Suspense — Williams, Murderer, Dan Crowley
• The Clock
• 1948French Leave — Skitch Kilroy
• Studio One — Dave Tuttle, Blackie Scantling
• Texaco Star Theater
• The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Bubbo
• 1947Kilroy Was Here — John J. Kilroy
• 1947Stork Bites Man — Ernest (Ernie) C. Brown
• 1943Where Are Your Children? — Danny Cheston
• 1942Men of Texas — Robert Houston Scott
• 1942Soaring Stars — Pilot
• 1942Syncopation — Johnny Schumacher
• 1942The Navy Comes Through — Joe 'Babe' Duttson
• 1941Glamour Boy — Tiny Barlow
• 1941Her First Beau — Chuck Harris
• 1941Life with Henry — Henry Aldrich
• 1941Ziegfeld Girl — Jerry Regan
• 1940Gallant Sons — Byron Newbold
• 1940Rodeo Dough — Jackie Cooper
• 1940Seventeen — William Sylvanus Baxter
• 1940The Return of Frank James — Clem
• 1939Hollywood Cavalcade — Burglar
• 1939Scouts to the Rescue — Bruce Scott
• 1939Streets of New York — James Michael 'Jimmy' Keenan
• 1939The Big Guy — Jimmy Hutchins
• 1939The Spirit of Culver — Tom Allen
• 1939Two Bright Boys — Rory O'Donnell
• 1939What a Life — Henry Aldrich
• 1938Bear Facts — Bear
• 1938Boy of the Streets — Chuck Brennan
• 1938Gangster's Boy — Larry Kelly
• 1938Newsboys' Home — Rifle Edwards
• 1938That Certain Age — Kenneth Warren
• 1938White Banners — Peter Trimble
• 1936The Devil Is a Sissy — 'Buck' Murphy
• 1936Tough Guy — Frederick Martindale Vincent III
• 1935Dinky — Dinky Daniels
• 1935O'Shaughnessy's Boy — Joseph "Stubby" O'Shaughnessy
• 1934Hollywood on Parade No. B-1
• 1934Peck's Bad Boy — Bill Peck
• 1934Treasure Island — Jim Hawkins
• 1933Broadway to Hollywood — Ted Hackett Jr. as Child
• 1933Lone Cowboy — Scooter O'Neal
• 1933The Bowery — Swipes McGurk
• 1932Divorce In The Family — Terry Parker
• 1932When a Feller Needs a Friend — Edward Haverford 'Eddie' Randall
• 1931Bargain Day — Jackie
• 1931Helping Grandma — Jackie
• 1931Little Daddy — Jackie
• 1931Love Business — Jackie Cooper
• 1931Skippy — Skippy Skinner
• 1931Sooky — Skippy
• 1931The Champ — Dink Purcell
• 1931Young Donovan's Kid — Midge Murray
• 1930A Tough Winter — Jackie
• 1930Bear Shooters — Jackie
• 1930Los cazadores de osos — Juanito
• 1930Pups Is Pups — Jackie
• 1930School's Out — Jackie Cooper
• 1930Shivering Shakespeare — Jackie
• 1930Teacher's Pet — Jackie
• 1930Temps d'Hiver — Jackie
• 1930The First Seven Years — Jackie
• 1930The Ghosts — Juanito
• 1930When the Wind Blows — Jackie
• 1929Bouncing Babies — Kid listening to Farina (uncredited)
• 1929Boxing Gloves — Jackie
• 1929Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 — Little Boy in 'That's You, Baby' Number (uncredited)
• 1929Moan & Groan, Inc. — Jackie
• 1929Sunny Side Up — Jerry McGinnis (uncredited)
• The Little Rascals — Jackie

Appearances as themselves (29)

• 2006Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman — Self
• 2006You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman — Self
• 2004Judy Garland: By Myself — Self - Actor (voice)
• 2001Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir — Self
• 2000Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood — Self
• 1997Sports on the Silver Screen — Self (archive footage)
• 1995The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies — Self
• 1993Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie — Self
• 1989When We Were Young: Growing Up on the Silver Screen — Self
• 1985The Making of 'Superman III' — Self
• 1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1983The Making of 'Superman II' — Self
• 1982Hollywood’s Children — Self (archive footage)
• 1982The Making of 'Superman: The Movie' — Self
• 1976Hooray for Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
• 1975Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? — Self (archive footage)
• The Danny Kaye Show — Self
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• 1962The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show — Self
• The Steve Allen Show — Self - Guest, Self - Singer
• The George Gobel Show — Self
• The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self
• What's My Line? — Self
• 1941Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1 — Self
• 1932Hollywood on Parade No. A-3 — Self
• 1931The Christmas Party — Himself