Please Don't Shoot My Dog: The Autobiography of Jackie Cooper

I read this at least twenty years ago and found myself thinking about one of the stories in it tonight. Jackie Cooper's dad deserted them when he was tiny. He became a movie star and decades later was driving across the state of Oklahoma in an expensive convertible with a cloth top. Oklahoma thunderstorms tore the top off of his car and he stopped in Tulsa and pulled into the first service station he saw. An old man working there recognized him and said "come with me." He led Jackie to a place out back of the station where there was an apartment up at the end of a flight of outdoor stairs. The old guy told him, "Up those stairs, in that apartment is your real dad. He's dying. And it would mean everything in the world to him if you would go up there and say hello." Cooper looked at the stairs and at the old guy who'd told him the dad who had deserted him was up there, shook his head no, turned on his heal and walked away. He said he never forgot the look of contempt on the old guy's face when he did that. I read that story in this book all those years ago and found myself thinking about it tonight. What are the odds that he would be compelled to pull into that service station in a city hundreds of miles from where he lived? Had to be millions to one. Cooper didn't say he regretted not going up those stairs and seeing his dad, but I think he probably did. Now that I'm older myself, I think he made a mistake--if you hold onto bitterness, what have you got? Just something to make yourself feel lousy. It seems like sometimes in life, some kind of higher destiny is involved. Well, if you liked that story you might like this book. I notice they're only asking a nickle. I still like Jackie Cooper, by the way. Nice talking to you.

This is a fast-reading autobiography that exposes the life of "America's Boy" in a nice way. His life as a movie star prevented him from having a normal boyhood, or making many friends in his life in show business (the Byzantine politics of Hollywood). All in all he led a normal life for an actor (read the details). When his career as a child actor ended he moved into Broadway acting, then as a director and business executive. But he was mostly unhappy and had a changing personal life. Chapter 1 tells about the time he stopped outside of Kansas City for a car repair. [An accident?] He had a chance to meet the father who abandoned his family when Jackie was 2 years old but turned away. Jackie didn't like to fly so he drove cross-country. Jackie got into films because his aunt married a film director; he had the talent. His uncle didn't comment for this book because they are estranged. This book wanders, it is not in historical order. Jackie joined the Navy during WW II and played drums in a band that entertained the front-line troops. The ladies liked Jackie and Jackie always reciprocated. Jackie drove in sports car rallies (he knew when to quit) and learned to fly an airplane. His career as a business executive and director shows his talents. Jackie tells about his varied experiences but doesn't name many names. But you can still learn about his six decades of life. There is no table of contents or index. Jackie really disliked Wallace Beery (p.54), "there was no warmth to the man". Then Beery must have been a great actor to portray his character in "The Champ". If Beery wasn't affectionate it may be an occupational disease of actors (see Jackie's own life). This book could not have been published before the 1970s (pp.97-100). You will have no illusions about Hollywood actors after reading this book. Why have child actors had a difficult future? Too much too soon distorts their perception of reality and expectations, given the fickleness of public opinion. The details about show business in the later chapters are educational. Chapter 42 tells of his fear of flying and how learning to fly an aircraft cured his fears. Jackie reveals two parallel facts. First, manufacturers are cutting corners in order to keep costs down (p.296). Second, these result in lower quality that is being ignored by Federal regulators who know of these problems (p.277). [If some foreign airline doesn't know of these hidden problems that can explain some air crashes.] Jackie lists the five basic causes of air crashes. Does this scare you or educate you?