Eugene Jackson
Encyclopedia
Eugene W. Jackson, II was an American former child actor
who was a regular of the Our Gang
short series during the silent Pathé
era.
fruit
.
He played the character Humidor, in one of Mary Pickford
's most successful films, Little Annie Rooney
(1925). A very large (10 Sheet) film poster of the cast of Little Annie Rooney
, including Jackson, hangs in the lobby of the Mary Pickford Theatre of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
in Hollywood.
He also starred in Hearts in Dixie
(1929), one of the first all-talkie, big-studio productions to boast a predominately African-American cast. He was the first African-American child to have a speaking part in a major motion picture.
In television, Eugene W. Jackson II was a recurring character on Julia
, the first network sitcom to have a female African-American lead, Diahann Carroll. Eugene played Julia's uncle.
The Eugene W. Jackson II's last major feature film was The Addams Family
(1991) with Anjelica Huston
, Raul Julia
, and Christopher Lloyd
. He played a one-armed musician.
Jackson's son, Eugene (Gene) W. Jackson III, has also worked in Hollywood most of his life. He played the key character Gabriel in the Civil War
drama Shenandoah
, opposite James Stewart
. He played a musician in the marching band in Porgy and Bess with Sammy Davis Jr.. In television, he started as a film loader and later a camera assistant on classic programs such as Emergency!
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man
, and as a camera operator on Mork and Mindy
, as well as the more recent Evening Shade
, Hearts Afire
, Hunter, Cheers
, Hill Street Blues
, Seinfeld
, According To Jim
, and Girlfriends
.
in Compton, California
on October 26, 2001. He was 84.
He wrote an autobiography in 1999, that contains many pictures taken during his long career in show business.
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
who was a regular of the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
short series during the silent Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
era.
Career
When he joined the gang, Jackson, replaced the series' first black member, Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison. Jackson was nicknamed Pineapple because of his haircut's similarity to the shape of the pineapplePineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
.
He played the character Humidor, in one of Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
's most successful films, Little Annie Rooney
Little Annie Rooney
Little Annie Rooney was a comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero. King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had scored a huge hit with Little Orphan Annie.Although the King...
(1925). A very large (10 Sheet) film poster of the cast of Little Annie Rooney
Little Annie Rooney
Little Annie Rooney was a comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero. King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had scored a huge hit with Little Orphan Annie.Although the King...
, including Jackson, hangs in the lobby of the Mary Pickford Theatre of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
in Hollywood.
He also starred in Hearts in Dixie
Hearts in Dixie (film)
Hearts in Dixie , is one of the first all-talkie, big-studio production to boast a predominantly African-American cast.-Synopsis:Hearts in Dixie unfolds as a series of sketches of life among American blacks. It featured characters with dignity, who took action on their own, and who were not slaves...
(1929), one of the first all-talkie, big-studio productions to boast a predominately African-American cast. He was the first African-American child to have a speaking part in a major motion picture.
In television, Eugene W. Jackson II was a recurring character on Julia
Julia (TV series)
Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann...
, the first network sitcom to have a female African-American lead, Diahann Carroll. Eugene played Julia's uncle.
The Eugene W. Jackson II's last major feature film was The Addams Family
The Addams Family (film)
The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams....
(1991) with Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
, Raul Julia
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
, and Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
. He played a one-armed musician.
Jackson's son, Eugene (Gene) W. Jackson III, has also worked in Hollywood most of his life. He played the key character Gabriel in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
drama Shenandoah
Shenandoah (film)
Shenandoah is a 1965 American Civil War film starring James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and Katharine Ross. The picture was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Though set during the American Civil War, the film's strong antiwar and humanitarian themes resonated with audiences...
, opposite James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
. He played a musician in the marching band in Porgy and Bess with Sammy Davis Jr.. In television, he started as a film loader and later a camera assistant on classic programs such as Emergency!
Emergency!
Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
, and as a camera operator on Mork and Mindy
Mork and Mindy
Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...
, as well as the more recent Evening Shade
Evening Shade
Evening Shade was an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from 1990 to 1994. The series starred Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural Evening Shade, Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a long...
, Hearts Afire
Hearts Afire
Hearts Afire is a sitcom that aired from September 14, 1992 to February 1, 1995 on CBS. It starred John Ritter and Markie Post, with Post portraying a journalist and Ritter playing a senator's aide....
, Hunter, Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, According To Jim
According to Jim
According to Jim is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children. It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001 to June 2, 2009.-Synopsis:Jim is an abrasive but lovable suburban father...
, and Girlfriends
Girlfriends
Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008...
.
Death
Jackson died of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Compton, California
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
on October 26, 2001. He was 84.
He wrote an autobiography in 1999, that contains many pictures taken during his long career in show business.