"Billy Batson" (Shazam) 1941 Actor, Naval Officer and Gone with the Wind extra

  Frank Coghlan as Billy Batson, circa 1941 

Last week I blogged about the 1941 movie serials of  "The Adventures of Captain Marvel," Otherwise known as Shazam. The second blog spotlighted Tom Tyler, the actor who portrayed the superhero. Today's blog spotlights the actor who played his alter ego, Billy Batson. That's Frank "Junior" Coughlin, but you may know him from many other movies and television shows (which he acted in between a long stint in the U.S. Navy).

LONG LIFE - Unlike Tom Tyler who tragically died at 50 years old, Frank lived to the age of 93. 

NOW ON DVD - If you didn't see "The Adventures of Captain Marvel" at the movies in 1941 (or on the 2017 released collection of the 12 serials on DVD), you may know him from other movies or shows. 
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Wikipedia provided a good synopsis of his long life.
Frank Coghlan Jr. (March 15, 1916 – September 7, 2009) also known as Junior Coghlan, was an American actor who later became a career officer in the United States Navy and a naval aviator. 

Shirley Temple and Frank Coughlin Jr in "Managed Money"

129 FILMS AND TV SHOWS! -  He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a popular child and juvenile actor, appearing in films with Pola Negri, Jack Dempsey, William Haines, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, William Boyd and Bette Davis.  He was in movies (I  RECOGNIZED) like "Gone with the Wind," "Managed Money" with Shirley Temple, "The Last of the Mohicans (1932, Serial)," Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)  and "Valley of the Dolls (1967)."     
  OUR GANG-  He appeared in early "Our Gang" comedies
  BEST KNOWN AS BILLY - He is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial Adventures of Captain Marvel. 

REMEMBER HIM IN "GONE WITH THE WIND?" - By the late 1930s, Junior played an uncredited role as a "collapsing" Confederate soldier in the 1939 classic Gone with the Wind. In his scene, Coghlan spoke the line "Put me down, put me down, damn ya', I can walk" as he was being carried off the battlefield. Coghlan's scene preceded Clark Gable's famous use of the expletive later in the film, leading Coghlan to boast, "It was the first time the word damn had ever been used in a movie. I used the word before Gable did, but his created a huge flap." Coghlan's line was cut from later prints of the film

Captain Marvel poster for the 12 episode Movie Serial from 1941

IN THE NAVY - Coghlan later served 23 years as an aviator and officer in the U.S. Navy, from 1942 to 1965. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to acting and appeared in television, films, and commercials. 

HIS "CAPTAIN MARVEL" EXPERIENCE AS BILLY  -  In 1941, Coghlan auditioned for the part of Billy Batson,  and said he "had no idea who Captain Marvel or Billy Batson were." After the audition, he bought a copy of the comic book and thought, "Hey, I do kind of look like that kid." In 1941, the 25-year-old Coghlan landed the role of Billy Batson in the Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Captain Marvel.  

Credit: BestBuy

"SHAZAM!" HE LOST SOME EYEBROWS!  
Billy transformed into Captain Marvel by saying the magic word "Shazam." Whenever he spoke the magic word, a flash and cloud of smoke appeared, with Captain Marvel (played by Tom Tyler) appearing in his place after the smoke cleared. Coghlan recalled, "Every time we did that, they ignited flash powder, which was in a trough in front of me, and if the wind was unkind, I'd get the powder flash in my face and lose some eyebrows."   

Junior Coughlin published an autobiography in 1992  and died in 2009 at age 93.

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Credit for other images: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169067/mediaviewer/rm2916475136