- Chris Cooper (actor)
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For other people named Chris Cooper, see Chris Cooper (disambiguation).
Chris Cooper 
Cooper at the 2009 Tribeca Film FestivalBorn Christopher W. Cooper
July 9, 1951
Kansas City, Missouri, USOccupation Actor Years active 1987–present Spouse Marianne Leone (1983–present) Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and Adaptation, for which he won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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Early life
Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Mary Ann, a homemaker, and Charles Cooper, who served as a doctor in the United States Air Force and operated a cattle ranch.[1] He has an older brother, Chuck, and grew up as a self-described "blue-collar cowpoke"[2] in Houston, Texas, and Kansas City. During his time in Kansas City, Cooper performed with The Barn Players, a local community theater that has operated since 1955. He went on to serve in the United States Coast Guard Reserve. He attended Stephens College, where he studied ballet, and then the University of Missouri, where he double-majored in the school of Agriculture and the school of Drama. After graduation, Cooper moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.
Career
Cooper's early performances include Matewan, the 1987 picture by John Sayles; the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove; and the 1990 picture Thousand Pieces of Gold, which is based on the novel of the same title, and Bed of Lies opposite Susan Dey.
Some of his more notable later performances include: Money Train, as a psychotic pyromaniac who terrifies toll booth operators; Lone Star, in a rare leading role as a Texas sheriff charged with solving a decades-old case; as Deputy Dwayne Looney in director Joel Schumacher's 1996 film A Time to Kill (based on the John Grisham novel); and as a homophobic Marine Corps colonel in American Beauty, a role that garnered him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. To get into character, Cooper said he "depended on a friend who’d fought in Vietnam. I asked him to go deep. What would this man have done? What would be on his walls? On his desk?"[3]
In 2000, Cooper played Colonel Harry Burwell (inspired by "Lighthorse Harry" Lee) in The Patriot. He was nominated for another Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award in 2003 for playing the role of John Laroche in Adaptation. In 2002, Cooper also appeared in The Bourne Identity as a ruthless CIA special ops director, a role he reprised (in flashbacks) in The Bourne Supremacy. He received another Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his supporting role as racehorse trainer Tom Smith in Seabiscuit.
Cooper has played his share of low-key heroic and non-heroic types. In 2005, for example, he starred in Silver City, playing an inept Republican gubernatorial candidate, a character noted for similarities to U.S. President George W. Bush.
Cooper was generally busy in 2005, appearing in three acclaimed films: Jarhead (which reunited him with American Beauty director Sam Mendes and October Sky actor Jake Gyllenhaal); Capote; and Syriana.
He also acted in the thriller Breach, playing real-life FBI agent and traitor Robert Hanssen. Cooper commented that Breach was "the first studio film where they've considered me the lead [actor]". In 2007, he appeared as a government agent in dangerous territory in the action thriller The Kingdom and most recently voiced the character Douglas in the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book, Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
At the 2010 Sundance film festival, Cooper appeared alongside Ben Affleck in the drama, The Company Men, in which early reviews praised Cooper's performance as "pitch-perfect".[4]
Personal life
Cooper and wife Marianne Leone Cooper, April 2007.
Cooper resides in Kingston, Massachusetts, with his wife, Marianne Leone Cooper, whom he married in 1983. In 1987, their son Jesse Lanier Cooper was born. Three months premature, Jesse developed a cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral palsy. After searching for the best schools for children with special needs, Cooper and Leone moved to Kingston, where they became strong advocates for exceptional children.[5] Jesse was eventually mainstreamed into Silver Lake Regional High School, where he became an honor student. On January 3, 2005, Jesse Cooper died from SUDEP. A memorial fund was set up in his name, the Jesse Cooper Foundation.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes 1987 Matewan Joe Kenehan The Equalizer Michael (TV series) (Episode "The Rehearsal") 1988 Journey Into Genius Louis Halladay (TV series) Miami Vice Jimmy Yagovitch (TV series) (Episode "Mirror Image") 1989 Lonesome Dove July Johnson (TV series) 1990 Lifestories Mr. Hawkins (TV mini-series) (Episode "The Hawkins Family") 1991 Guilty by Suspicion Larry Nolan A Thousand Pieces of Gold Charlie Darrow Eugene Debs (TV series) To the Moon, Alice Frank Wiliker (TV series) City of Hope Riggs 1992 Bed of Lies Price Daniel, Jr. (TV series) Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life Anthony Blessing (TV series) 1993 This Boy's Life Roy Return to Lonesome Dove July Johnson (TV mini-series) 1994 One More Mountain James Reed (TV series) 1995 Pharaoh's Army Captain John Hull Abston Money Train Torch 1996 Law & Order Roy Payne (TV series) (1 Episode) Boys John Baker Lone Star Sam Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Male LeadA Time to Kill Deputy Dwayne Powell Looney 1997 Breast Men Dr. William Larson 1998 Great Expectations Joe The Horse Whisperer Frank Booker 1999 The 24 Hour Woman Ron Hacksby October Sky John Hickam American Beauty Col. Frank Fitts, USMC Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role2000 Me, Myself & Irene Lieutenant Gerke The Patriot Colonel Harry Burwell 2002 Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road Bob Cody The Bourne Identity Alexander Conklin Adaptation John Laroche Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Village Voice Film Poll – Best Supporting Performance
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture2003 My House in Umbria Thomas Riversmith Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmSeabiscuit Tom Smith Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture2004 Silver City Richard "Dicky" Pilager The Bourne Supremacy Alexander Conklin 2005 Capote Alvin Dewey Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureJarhead Lt. Col. Kazinski Syriana Jimmy Pope 2007 Breach Robert Hanssen The Kingdom Grant Sykes Married Life Harry Allen 2008 American Experience Walt Whitman Documentary 2009 New York, I Love You Alex Simmons Where the Wild Things Are Douglas (voice) 2010 The Tempest Antonio The Company Men Phil Woodward Nominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Remember Me Neil Craig The Town Stephen MacRay 2011 The Muppets Tex Richman References
- ^ Chris Cooper biography. Film Reference.com.
- ^ Thompson, Bob (2007-02-14). "Chris Cooper wants to do good work, not make friends". Canada.com. http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=cad79ce8-4fd7-4785-a5ab-56e98a0780a0&k=995. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
- ^ "In Step With: Chris Cooper". Parade Magazine. October 24, 2004. http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2004/edition_10-24-2004/in_step_with_0.
- ^ http://www.film.com/features/story/review-company-men-sundance-film/31894447
- ^ Fee, Gayle and Laura Raposa with Nichole Gleisner. Son of Chris Cooper succumbs to cerebral palsy. The Boston Herald. 5 January 2005. reprinted on Cooperfan1.pitas.com.
External links
- Chris Cooper at the Internet Movie Database
- Chris Cooper at the Internet Broadway Database
- Chris Cooper at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (2001–2020) Jim Broadbent (2001) · Chris Cooper (2002) · Tim Robbins (2003) · Morgan Freeman (2004) · George Clooney (2005) · Alan Arkin (2006) · Javier Bardem (2007) · Heath Ledger (2008) · Christoph Waltz (2009) · Christian Bale (2010)
Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–2020) Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (2001–2020) Jim Broadbent (2001) · Chris Cooper (2002) · Tim Robbins (2003) · Clive Owen (2004) · George Clooney (2005) · Eddie Murphy (2006) · Javier Bardem (2007) · Heath Ledger (2008) · Christoph Waltz (2009) · Christian Bale (2010)
Complete List · (1943–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present) Categories:- 1951 births
- Living people
- People from Kansas City, Missouri
- American film actors
- Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
- Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- United States Coast Guard personnel
- Actors from Missouri
- Stephens College people
- University of Missouri alumni
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