The Ultimate Betrayal
Following the death of his father, Coogan’s mother, Lillian, married Arthur Bernstein, a former financial advisor to the family. Together, they took control of the Coogan empire.
When Jackie turned 21 in 1935 (the age of majority at the time), he assumed he would finally gain access to the wealth he had spent his entire childhood building. Instead, he found out the money was systematically being drained. Lillian and Arthur were living like royalty. They purchased massive estates in Southern California, bought a fleet of luxury cars including multiple Rolls-Royces, draped themselves in expensive furs and diamonds, and made disastrous investments.
When Coogan, desperate and virtually destitute, finally took them to court in 1938, Lillian Coogan’s legal defense was a chilling reflection of how society viewed children. She argued:
“No promises were ever made to give Jackie anything. Every dollar a kid earns before he is 21 belongs to his parents.”
The Harsh Reality of 1930s Law
As horrifying as Lillian Coogan’s statement sounds, she was legally correct. In the 1930s, the law viewed children essentially as the property of their parents. Any labor yielded by the child, and any money they earned, was the financial property of their legal guardians. There were no built-in protections to ensure that a child prodigy or actor would ever see the fruits of their own labor.
After a grueling and highly publicized legal battle, Coogan won his case, but the victory was entirely hollow. The fortune had already been squandered. Out of the millions he had earned, Coogan recovered only about $126,000.
The Birth of the Coogan Act
The public outrage surrounding Coogan’s betrayal forced lawmakers to act. In 1939, the state of California passed the Child Actor’s Bill, universally known as the Coogan Act.
The Stolen Fortune of Jackie Coogan: The Tragedy That Changed Hollywood Forever
