Eugene Jackson

American actor (1916–2001)

Sue Jackson

(m. 1946)

Eugene W. Jackson II (December 25, 1916 – October 26, 2001) was an American child actor who was a regular of the Our Gang short series during the silent Pathé era.

Career

When he joined the gang, Jackson replaced the series' first black cast member, Ernie Morrison who was billed in the series as Sunshine Sammy, Jackson's characters nickname was "Pineapple" because of his haircut's similarity to the shape of the pineapple fruit.^[1]

He played the character "Humidor" in one of Mary Pickford's most successful films, Little Annie Rooney (1925). A large 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.

Jackson also starred in Hearts in Dixie (1929), one of the first all-talking, 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.^[2]

In television, Jackson was a recurring character on Julia, the first network sitcom to have a female African-American lead, Diahann Carroll. Jackson played Julia's uncle.

Jackson's last major feature film was The Addams Family (1991) with Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd.^[3] He played a one-armed musician.

Jackson wrote an autobiography in 1999 that contains pictures from his career in show business.^[4]

Death

Jackson died of a heart attack in Compton, California on October 26, 2001.^[5] He was 84.^[6]

Partial filmography

Penrod and Sam (1923) - Verman
Her Reputation (1923) - Boy pushed into pond
Boy of Mine (1923) - Little Boy (uncredited)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924) - Child (uncredited)
Little Annie Rooney (1925) - Humidor (uncredited)
Flirty Four-Flushers (1926, Short) - Boy Eating Watermelon (uncredited)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) - Child (uncredited)
Little Mickey Grogan (1927) - Dancing Black Boy (uncredited)
Hearts in Dixie (1929) - Chinquapin
Dixiana (1930) - Cupid - Plantation House Boy (uncredited)
Cimarron (1931) - Isaiah
Sporting Blood (1931) - Sam "Sammy"
Sporting Chance (1931) - Horseshoe
Secret Service (1931) - Israel Polk
Ladies Crave Excitement (1935) - Lightcrust - Horse Groom (uncredited)
Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935) - Eightball
Red River Valley (1936) - Iodine
The Lonely Trail (1936) - Harmonica Player / Dancer
Hearts in Bondage (1936) - Sam (uncredited)
Guns and Guitars (1936) - Eightball
Midnight Court (1937) - Garfield Brown (uncredited)
It Can't Last Forever (1937) - Jackson Brothers Act (uncredited)
Blonde Trouble (1937) - Bootblack (uncredited)
Wine, Women and Horses (1937) - Eight Ball
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) - Black Stable Boy (uncredited)
The Buccaneer (1938) - James Smith, a Servant
Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1938) - Hotel Page Boy (uncredited)
Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938) - Boy (uncredited)
Kentucky (1938) - Jimmy (uncredited)
Rhythm Rodeo (1938) - Tap Dancer
The Lady's from Kentucky (1939) - Winfield (uncredited)
Reform School (1939) - Pete
Boy Friend (1939) - Porter (uncredited)
Television Spy (1939) - Tommy (uncredited)
The Honeymoon's Over (1939) - Parking Man (uncredited)
Seventeen (1940) - Attendant (uncredited)
Sporting Blood (1940) - Sam - Lockwood's Horse Groom (uncredited)
Melody and Moonlight (1940) - Dancer (uncredited)
Golden Hoofs (1941) - Curly (uncredited)
Unfinished Business (1941) - Bootblack (uncredited)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942) - Dr. Jepson's Black Servant (uncredited)
Take My Life (1942) - Bill, Harlem Tuff-Kid Gang Member
Reveille with Beverly (1943) - Franklin Delano Lincoln Van Buren Jones (uncredited)
What's Buzzin', Cousin? (1943) - Bellboy (uncredited)
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) - Stable Hand - Tony (uncredited)
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949) - Stablehand (uncredited)
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) - Bootblack (uncredited)
Artists and Models (1955) - Street Saxophonist (uncredited)
Jeanne Eagels (1957) - Piccaninny (uncredited)
The Long, Hot Summer (1958) - Waiter (uncredited)
King Creole (1958) - Saxophonist in Blue Shade (uncredited)
North by Northwest (1959) - Security Guard at auction (uncredited)
The Gene Krupa Story (1959) - Saxophone Player (uncredited)
The Apartment (1960) - Office Worker (uncredited)
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) - Commuter at Airport (uncredited)
Critic's Choice (1963) - Audience Member (uncredited)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) - Congregation Member (uncredited)
Looking for Love (1964) - Office Worker (uncredited)
Your Cheatin' Heart (1964) - Theatre Patron (uncredited)
Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) - Newsboy (uncredited)
Shenandoah (1965) - Gabriel
Wild in the Streets (1968) - Congressman (uncredited)
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) - Waiter Aboard Train (uncredited)
Chandler (1971) - Shoe Shine Boy
The Carey Treatment (1972) - Doctor (uncredited)
Black Girl (1972) - Parishioner (uncredited)
Coffy (1973) - Man at Rally (uncredited)
40 Carats (1973) - Party Dancer (uncredited)
Cleopatra Jones (1973) - Henry
The Day of the Locust (1975) - Doorman (uncredited)
All the President's Men (1976) - Reporter (uncredited)
Sparkle (1976) - Hotel Bellboy (uncredited)
Treasure of Matecumbe (1976) - Man Dancing in the Street (uncredited)
Five Days from Home (1978) - Inmate (uncredited)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Inmate #7
American Gigolo (1980) - Bootblack
Off the Wall (1983) - Old Black Man
Swing Shift (1984) - Bartender at Kelly's
Life Stinks (1991) - Office Janitor (uncredited)
The Addams Family (1991) - One-Armed Bass Player

References

^ "Eugene Jackson" Archived 2017-03-24 at the Wayback Machine Wildest Westerns. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
^ See Jackson autobiography in Note 2 below
^ "The Addams Family Movie (1991)" AddamsFamily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
^ Jackson, Eugene W. II with Gwendolyn Sides St. Julian, Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson: His Own Story. Jefferson, North Carolina, U.S.A. McFarland & Co Inc Pub. 1999, 1st Edition. 0786405333 Hard Cover. Ill.: Photo Illustrated. 6.5 x 9.5 hard cover book. White lettering on the pink spine with a black-and-white photo illustrated cover. Join Eugene Jackson as he shares his life story - a story that preserves the history of vaudeville and early Hollywood, and chronicles the African American experience in twentieth-century entertainment. 223 pages.
^ "Eugene Jackson, 84; Child Actor Starred in 'Our Gang'" Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
^ "Eugene Jackson, 84, Known For 'Our Gang' Films" New York Times. Retrieved 2017-03-23.