David Coogan

Dave Coogan is an experienced military prosecutor and now an information privacy attorney. He assists public and private clients with data privacy litigation and investigational matters, as well as providing advice to comply with privacy regulations.

Over the past eight years, David Coogan has been teaching writing workshops to low-level offenders at Richmond City Jail (RCJ). This work has earned him recognition from VCU’s 40 Acts of Caring Award and the President’s Commission on Higher Education Community Engagement Honor Roll.

Early Life and Education

David Coogan was born in Los Angeles, California on October 26, 1914 to a vaudevillian father and actress mother. As a boy, he performed with his dad onstage until the age of 10.

Coogan attended Urban Military Academy and other prep schools, as well as Santa Clara University. Following graduation, he enrolled in law school.

He achieved international fame through his roles in films like Tom Sawyer (1930) and Huckleberry Finn (1931). Additionally, his portrayal of a child in Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid cemented his place as an iconic actor.

In 1999, Coogan founded Baby Cow Productions with Henry Normal and produced such celebrated new-wave comedies as The Mighty Boosh (BBC), Nighty Night, Julia Davis’ Human Remains, and Gavin and Stacey. Aside from his acting career, Coogan is also a writer and educator; he’s taught workshops in autobiography at Richmond City Jail since 2006.

Professional Career

Coogan is an accomplished actor and comedian, having starred in several television programs and films such as Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Around the World in 80 Days, Hamlet 2 (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008), The Other Guys (2010) and Ruby Sparks (2012).

He has directed numerous television movies, such as the 1994 mini-series Family. This film, which he co-wrote and directed, followed four members of a Dublin working-class family.

Since 1980, Coogan has been an influential force in the profit-for-members sector of superannuation, serving as treasurer, committee member, auditor and adviser. Additionally he holds board positions with both the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

Achievements and Honors

David Coogan has earned a number of impressive accomplishments and honors throughout his career. He was honored with the 40 Acts of Caring Award and featured on the President’s Commission on Higher Education Community Engagement Honor Roll.

He is currently an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, with specialties in rhetoric, the teaching of writing, and prison literature. Additionally, he is the author of Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail.

He is also the founder of Open Minds, a service-learning program that brings writing classes into Richmond City Jail. This initiative has had an immense impact on over fifty dozen inmates’ lives and been recognized by VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences through their Student Engagement Program and Career Enhancement Scholarships.

Personal Life

David Coogan has an impressive list of television and film roles, such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Other Guys and Night at the Museum movies. His most recent feature film is Greed (2019).

He began his career as a comic and impressionist, providing voice-overs for television advertisements and the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. Additionally, he has appeared in several one-off sketch shows on Granada TV and is part of the sketch troupe The Dead Good Show.

His most remarkable accomplishment to date, however, is his work as a prison instructor. In Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail, he chronicles the process of creating an engaging writing classroom within a Virginia prison.

Net Worth

Coogan’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $12 million. As a British comedian, he has appeared in multiple television series.

He began acting in films as a child, appearing in many classics such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) and This Time with Alan Partridge (1998). Additionally, he portrayed Stan Laurel in the biographical film Stan & Ollie (2018).

At the beginning of his career, Coogan embarked on a Children’s Crusade which raised $1 million for needy children’s food and clothing needs.

In 1923, Coogan inked a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and began making movies regularly. He quickly gained notoriety as one of the most beloved child actors of his era.