Those children who have stepped out from the herd of those offered for movie fame are clever and wise beyond their years.
Take Jackie Cooper, two-headed lad with a determined look, who has been in "Our Gang" comedies and is now portraying the role of "Skippy" in the Paramount picture of that name.
He is a happy-go-lucky sort of a child, serious one minute in his role, playing with a wooden sword the next, dashing off to one side of the set for a few minutes of instruction by the studio school teachers between scenes.
Among his earliest victims on the Paramount lot was the still photographer, Gordon Head. Picture after picture was taken and suddenly Jackie Cooper was missed. He was found busily taking the slides out of photographic plates, exposing the sensitive films to the light and ruining the pictures.
When everyone referred to Norman Taurog, the director, as "Norm," Jackie quickly picked it up. His mother, as a matter of discipline, instructed the boy to call the director "Mr. Taurog." The instruction was obeyed until one day Taurog found Jackie in a sulky mood near the studio fish pond.
"Well, Jackie," he asked, "what's wrong?"
"Mr. Cooper, please," requested Jackie, glancing at the director from the corner of his eye.