The Fable of Phaedrus & Jackie

We are much more than a noun or verb or adjective.​

​​​​Read the full story ⬇︎

I wasn’t even a year old yet when Jackie died (and I certainly wasn’t around in the first century when Phaedrus wrote his third scroll of fables) but this is how I like to think it all happened:

​
Upon his return to Rome—after eight years exile in his homeland (and three days after the execution of Sejanus)—Phaedrus looked back on his life; not just to the years in exile, but his years as slave to Augustus, his life in Rome as a freedman, and the childhood he never knew in Thrace.
 

Orphaned during the Thracian rebellion in 15 BC, Phaedrus was brought to Rome as a slave when he was nearly four-years old. For most of Phaedrus’ life, much remained out of his control, but he found a sense of control in writing fables—expressing in story what he could not say explicitly.
 
​
He sat down to write the first fable for his next scroll:
​

“The Old Woman and the Jar”

​An Old Woman happened upon a Jar. From within its dignified shell, though drained to the dregs, there arose a delightful aroma of the once glorious wine. After stealing a hearty whiff of lees, she declared:
 
"O delicious soul! How virtuous you must have been, when the remains of you are such!" [1, 2]

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Finishing his fable, Phaedrus sat by the ancient fire and stared into the flames—allowing his thoughts to hang motionless upon the air.
 

“Hello? Is there anybody in there?”

 
Hearing only solemn silence, Phaedrus immersed himself in its muted refrain, allowing what is (and was) to always be. Relaxing deeper and deeper into the remembrance of who he has been since the beginning of time (deep beneath the rolling waves) Phaedrus slowly (ever so slowly) began to hear a familiar voice—a distant echo willowing across the sands of time.

 
“I didn't become what I am by accident. I had an upbringing like no other.”

 
After spending the afternoon watching episodes of The Addams Family, Jackie Coogan’s eyes had grown heavy—and was now half-asleep in his chair, looking both inward and outward simultaneously. While his soul wandered, the VHS tapes kept rolling:

 
UNCLE FESTER: I held the same job for 37 years.
 

HORACE: Selling?

​ 
UNCLE FESTER: No, public relations. My father paid me to keep out of public. Of course, when he died, I retired.[3]

 
He no longer needed to see the scenes with his eyes. After all, from 1964-1966, he himself played the role of Uncle Fester—a role that redefined the later years of his life as an entertainer.
 

Hearing that last scene play out, Jackie was reminded of his first major role, as the title character in  the 1921 film The Kid. In muted elegance, the film told the story of an abandoned child who never knew his mother or father and was instead raised by a kind-hearted Tramp. The film propelled Jackie to stardom, earning him millions of dollars as the first Hollywood child star.
 

“And it was all because of the shimmy,” Jackie laughed to himself.

 
Indeed, it was as if by fate: on the night that his father signed him up to perform his little dance at the Orpheum, Charlie Chaplin happened to be in the audience, and immediately recognized Jackie as The Kid he was looking for.
​
UNCLE FESTER: I feel so good being my own boss, I think I'll take the rest of the day off.[4]
​

The Kid went on to play many more roles, including the title characters in Oliver Twist and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—but during his life, Jackie was more than just an Entertainer—he also played the role of Humanitarian.
 

In the wake of the Arminian Genocide during World War I, thousands of orphans in Thrace were in desperate need of relief, and Jackie’s father—wanting to help his son recognize the common duty of all mankind to one another—embarked the pair on a nationwide tour, using Jackie’s fame to raise humanitarian funds.[5]

 
At the end of the American tour, Jackie boarded the SS Leviathan for a voyage across the Atlantic to Europe. In London and Paris, The Kid was met by enthusiastic cheers; and in Rome, he had a private audience with Pope Pius XI, who bestowed upon him his papal blessing.[6] By the time he reached Athens, Jackie was met by 7,000 orphans, and personally handed over $1 million worth of relief to the masses.[7]

 
UNCLE FESTER: Oh, I love adventure! As long as there's money involved.[8]
​

​But Jackie was more than a Humanitarian and Entertainer—he also played the role of Patriot.
 

When World War II broke out, Jackie enlisted in the Army, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to the Army Air Forces where he volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group and flew under the command of General Orde Wingate transporting troops into the jungle behind Japanese lines in Burma. As a 2nd Lieutenant, Jackie went on to became a highly decorated war hero—earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Gliderpilot Wing.[9]
 
​
UNCLE FESTER: All right! If that's what it takes, I'll get it! You'll see! I'll be a big success![10]
​

But Jackie Coogan was more than just a Humanitarian, Patriot, and Entertainer—he also played the role of husband to Betty Grable, Flower Parry, Ann McCormack, and Dodie Lamphere. And for Betty, Flower, and Ann, he also played the role of ex-husband, too. For Dodie, though, the fourth time was the charm.
 

MORTICIA: What woman could possibly ask for more than Uncle Fester himself?
 
​
UNCLE FESTER: Oh, yeah. Well, you got me there.[4]
​

 
But perhaps the most poignant role of all was the one he played that afternoon in May of ‘35, as he was returning from a dove hunting trip with his father and some friends on the El Centro Highway:
 

Jackie sat in the rumble seat with Junior Durkin—who had played Huckleberry Finn opposite Jackie’s Tom Sawyer. As his father navigated a hairpin turn, an oncoming car swerved into their lane, forcing them off the road. Thinking fast, Jackie crouched down and grabbed hold of the footrest, just as the car jumped a ditch and careened down a 45-foot embankment.[11]
 

“I crouched down in the seat as the car turned end over end twice,” he recalled, as if it was still actively happening. “Then I straightened up and jumped out. I saw the automobile turn over two or three more times.” [12]
 

Of all the roles Jacke played throughout his lifetime, this role was perhaps the most challenging of all: sole survivor.[13]

​
UNCLE FESTER: Oh, Lurch, I'm in terrible shape.
 
LURCH: So I seeeee.[14]
​

 
Jackie and his father were close. Extremely close. And when he died, it was like a piece of him had died too—but what he didn’t know is how it would also lead to being blacklisted from Hollywood.


As a child, Jackie’s father took care of his income, but with his father’s death, the responsibility fell to his mother, who squandered the fortune. When he came of age and didn’t receive the millions of dollars he had earned as an actor, Jackie sued—but his step-father had powerful friends in the industry, and he convinced producers and directors not to work with him, effectively ending Jackie’s career.


UNCLE FESTER: Oh, not my suit of armor please, I need it to feel secure.


MORTICIA: Uncle Fester, the whole family has given until it hurts.

​
UNCLE FESTER: Well, I like to hurt as much as anybody, but don't ask me to give my armor up.[15]
​

In his half-asleep state, Jackie couldn’t remember if what he was hearing was Uncle Fester in a Hollywood studio, himself in the midst of losing his career and fortune, or the Daemon of Socrates as he sat in the exile in Tomis.
 

GOMEZ: All right, you lily-livered goldbrick, are you gonna lie sniveling on that nice, warm bed of nails or are you gonna get up and fight like an Addams? 
 

UNCLE FESTER: Well, if it's all the same with you, I'd rather lie here and snivel.[16]
 

Forced to give up acting, Jackie turned to other pursuits, but nothing of real substance.
 

“Heck, I even got into the appliance business at one point,” he remembered with a laugh. “But even then, I was still playing a character.”
 

Everything changed, though, in ‘64—when he was invited to play the role of Uncle Fester.
 

“Uncle Fester brought me back,” he thought to himself like a smiling Janus, looking both inward and outward. The role was a major identity shift for Jackie, completely rejuvenating his acting career in the later part of his life.
 
​
UNCLE FESTER: You know, no artist is famous until his death. Maybe we can arrange it?[17]
 

Jackie sat up all night staring into the ancient fire, reliving his every experience. His time as Uncle Fester. Flying behind enemy lines in Burma. His wife (and many ex-wives). The exile from Hollywood. The death of his father. Their journey to Greece to help the orphans. His role as The Kid.
 

But then something strange began to happen—Jackie also remembered what he had long since forgotten: A broken rocking chair. His father’s cry of sorrows. Archeology in Assyria. A wailing saxophone. A violin from his fiancée (and playing that very violin as the ship went down). Raising a sunken ship (and selling another for scraps). Admiring the portrait of a song in Chicago. Debating Socrates in Athens. Writing fables in Rome. Being thrown off a cliff in Delphi. All of these and more flew through Jackie’s mind; not like a movie screen, but in real time—experiencing them as they happened and as if they were actively still happening.


“Everything I've wanted to do, I've done,” he smiled in wonder, fully immersed in the flow of the experience machine.[18]


The next morning, Dodie found her husband slumped over in the chair—still alive but with the appearance of death. She rushed him to the hospital. To the rest of the world, Jackie was unconscious; but perhaps a better way to understand it is that the rest of the world was unconscious—unaware of a parallel universe hidden from view, because they looked at it straight on. By contrast, Jackie, by staring into the ancient fire with a Magic Eye, was able to look beyond the foreground of his own heart, releasing his soul from the constraints of mere paintings to witness a reality outside of time and space.

​
He died two hours later, with his beloved by his side.

​Final Thoughts
We often hold a singular sense of self:
 

This is who I am.

 
This is what I do.

 
This is how I identify.

 
But we are more than a mere word; much more than a noun or verb or adjective.

 
And we are much more than the sum of our experiences—whether we remember, forget, or ruminate.

​ 
This vessel cannot contain the fullness of Being; but if we listen and look within (beyond the foreground of our own heart) we just may feel it.

Note:
This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Magic Eye. keep an eye on the books page on this website, or on my author page Amazon. 
​

​Want More?
Jonas Cain, M.Ed. is a storyteller, magician, musician, and facilitator of fascination—uncovering joy through curiosity and wonder. Connect with Jonas to discover more: [email protected]

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SOURCES
​[1] Phaedrus; Riley, H.T. & Smart, C. (1887). "Fable I: The old woman and the cask." The fables of Phaedrus, Book 3. George Bell & Sons.

[2] Simondi, T. (2013, November 23). “The old woman and the wine-jar.” Aesop Fables. fablesofaesop.com/the-old-woman-and-the-wine-jar.html

[3] Nibley, S. Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, February 19). “Crisis in the Addams Family.” The Addams Family, S1 E24.

[4] Coons, H, Winkler, H. & Addams, C. (1965, March 26). “Morticia, the breadwinner.” The Addams Family, S1 E26.

[5] (1924, March 17). “Jackie Coogan to aid tots,” Los Angeles Times. p. A2.

[6] (1924, September 30). “Jackie Coogan gets audience with Pope.” The New York Times.

[7] Coogan, J. (1925). “My visit to Athens.” The New Near East, Near East Relief. p. 15.

[8] Coons, H, Winkler, H. & Addams, C. (1966, January 21). “The great treasure hunt.” The Addams Family, S2 E19.

[9] “Coogan, John Leslie ‘Jackie.’" (n.d.). Traces of War. www.tracesofwar.com/persons/62218/Coogan-John-Leslie-Jackie.htm

[10] Nibley, S.; Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, December 31). “Uncle Fester, tycoon.” The Addams Family, S2 E16.

[11] “Jackie Coogan blames ‘road hog’ for crash.” (1935, May 10). Recorder, No. 19.

[12] “Jackie Coogan hurt; auto plunge kills father; 3 others.” (5, May 1935) The Fresno Bee.

[13] Barron, J. (1984, March 2). Jackie Coogan, childstar of films, dies at 69.” The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1984/03/02/obituaries/jackie-coogan-child-star-of-films-dies-at-69.html

[14] Coons, H. & Winkler, H. (1964, January 14). Fester goes on a diet.” The Addams Family, S2 E18.

[15] Schwartz, E.  Brewer, J. (1965, April 16). “Morticia's favorite charity.” The Addams Family, S1 E29

[16] Nibley, S.; Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, February 19). “Crisis in the Addams family.” The Addams Family, S1 E24.

[17] Winkler, H.; Coons, H.;  Levy, D. & Addams, C. (1964, December 18). “Art in the Addams family.” The Addams Family, S1 E14.

[18] Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Basic Books.SOURCES
​[1] Phaedrus; Riley, H.T. & Smart, C. (1887). "Fable I: The old woman and the cask." The fables of Phaedrus, Book 3. George Bell & Sons.

[2] Simondi, T. (2013, November 23). “The old woman and the wine-jar.” Aesop Fables. fablesofaesop.com/the-old-woman-and-the-wine-jar.html

[3] Nibley, S. Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, February 19). “Crisis in the Addams Family.” The Addams Family, S1 E24.

[4] Coons, H, Winkler, H. & Addams, C. (1965, March 26). “Morticia, the breadwinner.” The Addams Family, S1 E26.

[5] (1924, March 17). “Jackie Coogan to aid tots,” Los Angeles Times. p. A2.

[6] (1924, September 30). “Jackie Coogan gets audience with Pope.” The New York Times.

[7] Coogan, J. (1925). “My visit to Athens.” The New Near East, Near East Relief. p. 15.

[8] Coons, H, Winkler, H. & Addams, C. (1966, January 21). “The great treasure hunt.” The Addams Family, S2 E19.

[9] “Coogan, John Leslie ‘Jackie.’" (n.d.). Traces of War. www.tracesofwar.com/persons/62218/Coogan-John-Leslie-Jackie.htm

[10] Nibley, S.; Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, December 31). “Uncle Fester, tycoon.” The Addams Family, S2 E16.

[11] “Jackie Coogan blames ‘road hog’ for crash.” (1935, May 10). Recorder, No. 19.

[12] “Jackie Coogan hurt; auto plunge kills father; 3 others.” (5, May 1935) The Fresno Bee.

[13] Barron, J. (1984, March 2). Jackie Coogan, childstar of films, dies at 69.” The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1984/03/02/obituaries/jackie-coogan-child-star-of-films-dies-at-69.html

[14] Coons, H. & Winkler, H. (1964, January 14). Fester goes on a diet.” The Addams Family, S2 E18.

[15] Schwartz, E.  Brewer, J. (1965, April 16). “Morticia's favorite charity.” The Addams Family, S1 E29

[16] Nibley, S.; Wood, P. & Addams, C. (1965, February 19). “Crisis in the Addams family.” The Addams Family, S1 E24.

[17] Winkler, H.; Coons, H.;  Levy, D. & Addams, C. (1964, December 18). “Art in the Addams family.” The Addams Family, S1 E14.

[18] Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Basic Books.