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. 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. Although he appeared in early Our Gang comedies, he is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial and first comic book superhero film, Adventures of Captain Marvel.

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

Coghlan was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but his parents moved to Hollywood when he was still a baby. His father was a doctor, and in "Who's Who on the Screen" for 1932 he hoped to be a doctor, too, when he grew up. Coghlan began appearing in motion pictures in 1920 as an extra and worked his way up to more important roles. He later boasted that he had been gainfully employed since age three. The freckle-faced Coghlan was billed as "Junior Coghlan" and became one of Hollywood's most popular child stars. Film historian Leonard Maltin said, "He was one of the busiest child actors of the late '20s and 1930s. He was a fresh, freckle-faced boy with great All-American-type appeal."

Coghlan began his acting career in 1920, appearing with Jack Dempsey in Daredevil Jack. In 1922 he co-starred with Brownie the Dog in a film called Rookies, and in 1923 he played a small role in the Pola Negri film The Spanish Dancer. He also appeared in early Hal Roach Our Gang films, including the 1923 short Giants vs. Yanks, in which the gang, after having a baseball game called off, gets stuck in an elegant home, which they destroy. In 1924 Coghlan was again cast opposite Jack Dempsey in Winning His Way.

One newspaper story described Coghlan's rise to fame this way: "When the boy was seven years old, his great mop of hair, freckled face, genial grin, and likable personality attracted the attention of several directors who urged his parents to permit him to engage in screen work. Mrs. Coghlan finally consented and one day he was cast for a 'bit' role in Goldwyn's Poverty of Riches, in which he played the son of Leatrice Joy."

By the mid 1920s, Coghlan had caught the eye of one of Hollywood's leading directors, Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille called Coghlan "the perfect example of a homeless waif" and signed the boy to a long-term contract in 1926. The Los Angeles Times reported on the event:

DeMille Signs Child Actor
So far, Cecil B. DeMille hasn't run much to giving picture contracts to youngsters. But yesterday Mr. DeMille signified what he thought of Junior Coghlan by placing him under a long-term contract. The boy has appeared in several DeMille pictures, including 'The Road to Yesterday.' The boy gives promise of being another Wesley Berry, with the same impish glance, the same freckles and the same cleverness. Of course, the office of freckled boy of the movies is a fixed institution, and now that Wes Berry has gone and got himself married he can't pretend to like playing marbles in the movies. Little Junior is to be cofeatured with Eleanor Faire and William Boyd in Rupert Julian's The Yankee Clipper.