Child Star Keith Coogan

Keith in Fantasy Island (1978 age 8)

What a fun interview I have the pleasure to present right now!!

I have to say that I have had so much fun with this blog and have met so many fun and interesting people who have really contributed to my life in so many ways.  

Today - and again thank you to both Lindsay Blake and Pinky Coogan for making this happen - I have the honour of chatting to actor Keith Coogan, who you will recognise as having featured in many very popular series and movies as a child through the 1980s and late 1970s as well as continuing his career into his adulthood.

The Apple Dumpling Gang (1981)

As a child, you appeared on episodes of The Waltons, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Eight Is Enough, Knight Rider, Growing Pains, Silver Spoons, Fame, and CHiPs.  What was it like to work on those shows? It must have been so much fun working with guys like Robin Williams, Rick Schroeder, David Hasselhof, etc. Do you have any favourites and were there any actors that you took mentorship from? 






From nearly destroying Walton's Mountain, riding around in K.I.T.T., and drinking milk and Pepsi with Laverne, to chumming it up with Ponch, Ricky, and Mork, I had one of the coolest childhoods.  Not only were most of these shows ones that I watched religiously, but most of the time all of the actors and the sets were just as much fun as you would think.  Occasionally I was bummed that the Love Boat never left the soundstage at 20th Century Fox, but part of what I love about being in show business is the artifice and art that goes into bringing the show.  I always loved facades, with plaster and fiberglass standing in for brick and mortar, and I loved the technology and equipment that worked behind the scenes to bring you your favorite shows.  So, I was never really disappointed with the reality behind the scenes, rather, I was fascinated by the magic act and trickery that went into making film and television.  Sometimes there might be an actor or actress that had a big ego, but I learned early on how to "work around them". Overall, it was a rompin', stompin, funhouse that I got paid to play around in.