SHAZAM!!! – CAPTAIN MARVEL’S BILLY BATSON DIES
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on November 5th, 2009
FRANK `JUNIOR’ COGHLAN began his career as a child star in the silents, but was best known for his role in the 1941 Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel. By shouting the magic word Shazam! young Billy Batson would instantly transform into the powerful super-hero Captain Marvel (played by Tom Tyler).
Coghlan was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 15, 1916. He moved to California with his family as a child and became an extra in silent films along with his mother and father. After several years of appearing in small roles he was signed to a contract under Cecil B. DeMille in 1925 and appeared in numerous silents over the next decade. Coghlan made the transition to talkie films in 1930 and was featured as a young James Cagney in Public Enemy (1931). He also starred as Sam Williams, with Leon Janney as Penrod, in 1931’s Penrod and Sam.
He continued his career in films after The Adventures of Captain Marvel until joining the service as a Naval Aviator during World War II. He remained with the Navy for the next 23 years, where he assisted film and television productions in their dealings with the Navy as liaison with Hollywood. He returned to the screen in the 1960s in character roles.
Coghlan’s final television appearance was as a guard in a 1974 episode of Shazam!, a latter-day version of Captain Marvel. He was a popular guest at nostalgia conventions in his later years, and authored the 1992 autobiography, They Still Call Me Junior. Junior Coghlan died in Saugus, California, on September 7, 2009, at age 93.
