Celebrity Nooz: Jeff Cohen

Jeff Cohen (Actor) - The Goonies

Updated: 7/07/21

Name: Jeff Cohen

Birth Name: Jeffrey Bertan McMahon

Born: June 25, 1974 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Nickname: Chunk

Claim To Fame: Jeff Cohen is a former child actor best remembered for appearing as Chunk in the 1985 Steven Spielberg production The Goonies.

Family Life: Sorry, no info found.

Info: Cohen was born Jeffrey Bertan McMahon in Los Angeles.

He took his stage name from the maiden name of his mother, Elaine Cohen.

No relation to directors Rob or Larry Cohen, despite a popular misconception.

Cohen had help from Goonies director Richard Donner to get jobs on the business side of movie studios.

He chose to pursue a legal career upon finding out that many of the most important figures on the business side of Hollywood had law degrees.

After his time at Berkeley, Cohen earned a J.D. degree from the UCLA School of Law in 2000 and later became an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles.

In 2002, he co-founded the Cohen & Gardner firm in Beverly Hills.

In the September 24, 2008 issue of Variety, Cohen was profiled in the Dealmakers Impact Report.

As of February 2014, he periodically "writes about business, legal and political matters for The Huffington Post and CNBC."

Trivia: Brother of playwright Edie Faye.

Got the chicken pox after he got the role of Chunk in The Goonies (1985). He showed up to the set anyway, afraid that they would have replaced him otherwise.

To generate tears during his "confession" scene with the Fratellis, he thought of his mother dying.

Was the President of the Associated Students of UC Berkeley and used to do the Truffle Shuffle on the sidelines during football games.

Cohen claimed in The Goonies DVD commentary track that every role he played as a child had him wearing either a Hawaiian shirt or a pair of plaid pants, and director Richard Donner had the brilliant idea to put him in both for The Goonies.

Where Are They Now: Cohen, still a practicing lawyer, recently honored director Richard Donner after passing away on Monday: "He was the smartest guy in every room, but he never made anyone feel less than him. He always made everyone feel great. He made you feel smart and important. He never needed to show off. He never needed to step into the limelight. He wanted everyone else to look good. He wanted everyone else to succeed."

Cohen has no plans on returning to the screen, but we will always have The Goonies.

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