“Jack’s been around again”
The 23 Apr 1920 Los Angeles Evening Herald reported on his acting success shortly after he turned two. “Young Film Player Amasses $3000 in Short Career Before Camera” was the headline.
The story said the little boy began his career “at the age of six weeks.” (In later press about Jackie, that age was halved.) “In the last three weeks he has earned $500. During his lifetime he has earned $3000.”
The story went on:
But when Baby Condon is “off duty” he is the “terror of the neighborhood.” When the neighbors discover broken shrubbery, when they discover the sides of their houses marked with chalk or a pencil, they say, “Jack’s been around again.”While touting Jackie as the Condon family’s main earner, the article also noted that two older siblings were also appearing in movies: Geraldine, aged 5, and “Billie,” aged 8. Billy Condon would have a prominent role in “Our Gang” but not appear in any of the subsequent series.
According to the Lucky Corner website, Jackie and Billy each earned $7.50 per day for their week of work on “Our Gang” in January 1922. When Hal Roach committed to making a series, Jackie was the second kid he signed to a long-term contract (after Ernie Morrison), and the salary was $40 per week with no pay when there was no filming.
That’s a long way down from $500 in three weeks, the figure the Herald reported. Either Jackie’s earning potential plummeted after he turned three, or the newspaper story was exaggerated—as newspaper stories about Hollywood usually were. But with press like that, we can see why so many parents were eager to get their children into moving pictures.
Because little Jackie Condon was almost always an uncredited supporting player, and because so many of Hollywood’s early movies have been lost, finding his pre-Gang work relies on luck piecing together what information survives. I’ve spotted two additions to his filmography.
COMING UP: A tale of a watch.
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