Junior Coghlan
Date of Birth: 15th March 1916
Details of Death: 7th September 2009
Country of Birth: USA
Biography
The son of a physician father and an actress mother, Frank Coghlan Jr. began his acting career at the age of 3, earning $3 a day. John Holmstrom rightly describes him as "just about the most likeable boy actor of the late silent screen" ("The Moving Picture Boy", p. 71). One of his most moving performances was in the superlative "Square Shoulders" (1929), where he played a young boy who idolises his absent father, not realising that his father is a derelict and a thief. Coghlan continued his career as a highly personable youth in talking pictures. Then, just as his career was beginning to fade, he was cast in the lead role of Billy Batson in the 1941 serial "The Adventures of Captain Marvel" (a role remembered for the wonder-working invocation 'Shazam!'). The serial was to become one of the most popular big-screen serials ever. In World War II Coghlan joined the US Navy as a Naval Aviator, and stayed with the Navy for the next 23 years. After retiring in 1965, he returned to acting, appearing in dozens of films, television programmes and commercials. But he will undoubtedly be best remembered as the gentle, doe-eyed, freckle-faced boy who was one of the truly great boy actors of the early period of Hollywood cinema.
Notes
- The filmography on this page only shows Coghlan's credits up to 1939.
- For more information about Junior Coghlan, read his autobiography "They Still Call Me Junior" (McFarland & Co., 1993).

Filmography
- Daredevil Jack (1920)
- Mid-Channel (1920)
- To Please One Woman (1920)
- The Poverty of Riches (1921)
- Bobbed Hair (1922) (as Lamont Child)
- Bow Wow (1922) (as Boy - uncredited)
- Rookies (1922)
- A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923) (as Boy - uncredited)
- Cause for Divorce (1923) (as Tommie Parker)
- Garrison's Finish (1923)
- Giants vs. Yanks (1923)
- Law of the Lawless (1923)
- Little Old New York (1923)
- Our Alley (1923)
- The Darling of New York (1923) (as The Ross Kid)
- The Fourth Musketeer (1923)
- The Spanish Dancer (1923)
- Winning His Way (1924) (as Orphan)
- Call a Cab (1925) (as Little Brother)
- The Great Circus Mystery (1925)
- The Great Love (1925) (as Patrick)
- The Road to Yesterday (1925) (as Boy Scout - uncredited)
- Her Man o' War (1926) (as Peterkin Schultz)
- Mike (1926) (as Boy)
- The Last Frontier (1926) (as Buddy)
- The Open Switch (1926)
- The Skyrocket (1926) (as Mickey)
- A Harp in Hock (1927) (as Tommy Shannon)
- Rubber Tires (1927) (as Charley Stack)
- Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) (as Mickey Martin)
- The Country Doctor (1927) (as Sard Jones)
- The Yankee Clipper (1927) (as Mickey Murphy)
- Let 'er Go, Gallegher (1928) (as Johnny Gallegher)
(aka Gallegher) - Marked Money (1928) (as Boy)
- Players at Play (1929) (as Himself)
- Square Shoulders (1929) (as John W. 'Tad' Collins Jr.)
- River's End (1930) (as Mickey O'Toole)
- The Girl Said No (1930) (as Eddie Ward)
- Chasing Trouble (1931)
- How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 5: 'The Medium Irons' (1931) (as Junior - uncredited)
- It Pays to Advertise (1931) (as Office Boy)
- Penrod and Sam (1931) (as Sam Williams)
- The Public Enemy (1931) (as Tom as a Boy - uncredited)
- Gentleman for a Day (1932) (as Ragged Urchin - uncredited)
- Hell's House (1932) (as Shorty)
- Man Wanted (1932) (as Youngster in Store)
- The Last of the Mohicans (1932) (as Uncas)
Roles when Junior Coghlan was older than 15
- Drum Taps (1933) (as Eric Cartwright)
- In the Money (1933) (as Dick Higginbottom)
- Merrily Yours (1933) (as James 'Sonny' Rogers)
- Racetrack (1933) (as Jackie Curtis)
- This Day and Age (1933) (as Student - uncredited)
- What's to Do? (1933) (as Sonny Rogers)
- Managed Money (1934) (as Sonny Rogers)
- Pardon My Pups (1934) (as Sonny Rogers)
- Alibi Ike (1935) (as Jimmy the Newsboy - uncredited)
- Happiness C.O.D. (1935) (as Larry Sherridan)
- It Never Rains (1935)
- Stranded (1935) (as Page - uncredited)
- The Blue Streak (1935) (as Johnny Bradley)
- The Little Big Top (1935)
- Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) (as Eddie Brill)
- The Little Red Schoolhouse (1936) (as Frank 'Frankie' Burke)
- Make Way for a Lady (1936) (as Billy Hopkins)
- Melody in May (1936) (as Tommy Bradshaw)
- Red Lights Ahead (1936) (as Willie Wallace)
- Blazing Barriers (1937) (as Tommy McGrath)
- Let Them Live (1937) (as Bellhop - uncredited)
- Saturday's Heroes (1937) (as Sumner, Football Player - uncredited)
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) (as Boy in Pool Room - uncredited)
- His Exciting Night (1938) (as Office Boy - uncredited)
- Service de Luxe (1938) (as Bellhop)
- Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) (as Al, Boy Working Lathe - uncredited)
- Boys' Reformatory (1939) (as Eddie O'Meara)
- Day-Time Wife (1939) (as Office Boy - uncredited)
- Dust Be My Destiny (1939) (as Newsboy - uncredited)
- East Side of Heaven (1939) (as Messenger Boy - uncredited)
- Golden Gloves (1939) (as Bellhop - uncredited)
- Gone with the Wind (1939) (as Collapsing Soldier - uncredited)
- Here I Am a Stranger (1939) (as Office Boy - uncredited)
- It's a Wonderful World (1939) (as Elevator Boy - uncredited)
- Meet Dr. Christian (1939) (as Bud)
- Off the Record (1939) (as Boy - uncredited)
(aka Unfit to Print) - Scouts to the Rescue (1939) (as Ken, a Boy Scout)
- Second Fiddle (1939) (as Studio Call Boy - uncredited)
- The Flying Irishman (1939) (as Teenager Taking Photograph - uncredited)
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) (as Boy in Montage Sequence - uncredited)
- Unfit to Print (1939) (as Copyboy - uncredited)
Page Last Modified: 29th April 2018
Page Added: 26th February 2018
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