"Superman" Actor Jackie Cooper Passes Away

Known for his role as the man who played Clark Kent's newspaper boss in the first four "Superman" films, Jackie Cooper passed away at a hospital in Beverly Hills on Tuesday (May 3).

Losing a battle to a brief illness at the age of 88, Cooper was a former child star - being one of a select few to garner a Best Actor/Actress Oscar nomination before his 18th birthday for his role in 1931's "Skippy".

Jackie, who had a long and fruitful theatrical career, also appeared in "Treasure Island" as Jim Hawkins and 1940's "The Return of Frank James" before turning his attention to TV as a regular and, in his later years, directing dramas like "M*A*S*H*" and "The White Shadow".

As for his signature career effort, Cooper is best known by movie fans as Perry White, the edit or of the Daily Sentinel, where Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent worked in 1978's Superman and its three sequels.

Also serving his country, Cooper was a member of the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific towards the end of World War Two and became a leading naval recruitment officer in the Naval Reserve.