Actor Jackie Cooper -- Dead At 88 |

Actor Jackie Cooper -- Dead At 88

I haven't thought about him in years, and had no idea he was still alive, but I always liked his work.

He may have been the last living silent film star, because talkies have been around for 82 years. (Cooper started making films when he was three.) Since not many of us are familiar with the silent Lloyd Hamilton films which were once considered comic masterpieces, baby boomers probably remember Cooper best from the Our Gang reruns of our youth. (You may know them as The Little Rascals, with Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, etc.)

When I was a little kid, starting about kindergarten age, my grandfather and I would watch his two favorite shows every day. One was "Topper" and the other was Cooper's program, "The People's Choice." Given that the show was about a basset hound whose thoughts were heard by the audience, and given that I appreciated its wit, there is ample reason to conclude that my poor taste began very early in life.