The Addams Family’s Uncle Fester Trained to Be a WWII Glider Pilot in Plainview, Texas
Jackie Coogan, AKA Uncle Fester, enlisted and trained as an Army Air Force Glider Pilot during WWII. If you've ever been to the Silent Wings Museum here in Lubbock, then you know glider pilots trained here. And Jackie Coogan actually trained in Plainview.
I was reading the story about Coogan on a website that detailed how he was ripped off by his own mother to the tune of around $4 million from his child acting days with Charlie Chaplin as "The Kid." After a lengthy legal battle, he recuperated only $35,000 of that $4 million, but it did put in place a new law in California. The Child Actor's Bill, also called The Coogan Law, protects a percentage of every child actor's income and is still in place today.
That same article mentioned that between being a child actor and getting his iconic role on The Addams Family, Coogan enlisted in the US Army in March 1941.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to what was then known as the Army Air Forces due to already holding a pilot's license. Coogan received his transfer and was sent to train to fly gliders.
Jackie Coogan arrived in Plainview, Texas at Finney Field for Pre-Glider School. The rest is history.
You can read all about Jackie's training from his instructor Clent Breedlove at this link.