Car Seat Covers

Coogan, you may not have known, married Betty Grable, flew gliders for the Air Force in WW2 in Burma, and was Uncle Fester.

As a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to $4 million, but the money was taken by his mother, Lilian, and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, for extravagances such as fur coats, diamonds, and cars. Coogan sued them in 1938 (aged 23), but after legal expenses, he only received $126,000 of the approximately $250,000 remaining. When Coogan fell on hard times, Charlie Chaplin gave him some financial support.

The legal battle brought attention to child actors and resulted in the state of California enacting the California Child Actor's Bill, sometimes known as the Coogan Bill or the Coogan Act. This requires that the child's employer set aside 15% of the child's earnings in a trust, and codifies such issues as schooling, work hours and time-off. Coogan's mother and stepfather claimed the child was having fun and thought he was playing. However, virtually every child star from Baby Peggy on has stated that they were keenly aware that what they were doing was work.

Coogan took up the cause of the Armenians, Greeks, and others made destitute during the horrors of the First World War, working along with Near East Relief. He toured across the United States and Europe in 1924 on a "Children's Crusade" as part of a fundraising drive, which ended up providing more than $1,000,000 in clothing, food, and other contributions (worth more than $13 million adjusted for 2010 dollars). Coogan was honored by officials in the US, Greece, and Rome, where he met with the Pope. info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Coogan

Photo from http://caughtatthecurb.blogspot.com/2011/04/movie-stars-and-their-cars.html#more

Digging out his Ferrari 250 gt

In a Ferrari Mondail at Santa Barbara

The son of the Dominican Republic's ambassador to France, he was fluent in 3 languages but conversant in 2 more, raced Ferraris, played polo well, dated the most famous women in the world of which some were royalty, and pulled it all of because he was that damn charming and suave. He even enjoyed the time when he was being chased by the FBI because they thought that he was some sort of a spy for the Dominican dictatorship due to his high-style life and mysteries. According to those FBI files, he was the muse for Ian Fleming to create the James Bond character.

Think Errol Flynn in his prime with aspirations to a global scale of bedding women with million dollar bank accounts, partying with world leaders, and enjoying the life of the rich and famous. He pulled it off in part because the dictator of the Dominican Republic was his first (of 5 marriages) father in law and titled him with "Inspector of Embassies" so he had travel and international access to any country. Diplomatic immunity too.

He schtupted Zsa Zsa Gabor, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Kim Novak, and Eva Perón... but married 5 times and 2 were relative billionaires Barbara Hutton inherited the Woolworth fortune, and Doris Duke "world's richest girl" (you oughta read her bio, stunning life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Duke )

She was so rich it was said she paid his wife, Danielle Darrieux, $1 million to agree to an uncontested divorce. Because of her great wealth, Duke's marriage to Rubirosa attracted the attention of the U.S. State Department, which cautioned her against using her money to promote political agendas, and they pointed out that in case of her death, a foreign government could gain too much leverage. Thus Rubirosa had to sign a pre-nuptial agreement; during the marriage, though, she gave Rubirosa several million dollars in gifts, including a stable of polo ponies, sports cars, a converted B-25 bomber, and, in the divorce settlement, a 17th-century house in Paris. She had affairs with Gen. Patton and Errol Flynn.

Read more at http://www.observer.com/node/37662 or http://vanguardink.com/2010/06/05/45th-anniversary-of-porfirio-rubirosas-death/

thanks to reader JohnDandy who guessed that this guy was the one to gift Rita Hayworth with the Ghia bodied Cadillac (it was some prince who did that)