Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an
American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s, having appeared in supporting performances in several major
Hollywood films, including
American Beauty,
Capote,
Syriana,
October Sky,
Seabiscuit, and
Adaptation., for which he won an
Academy Award.
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.
[Chris Cooper biography. Film Reference.com.] He has an older brother, Chuck, and grew up, in his words and despite being the son of an educated professional, as a "blue-collar cowpoke"
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 and 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.
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 but closeted gay
Marine Corps Colonel in
American Beauty, a role that garnered him a
Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
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 for the lead". He appeared as a government agent in dangerous territory alongside
Jamie Foxx,
Ashraf Barhom,
Jennifer Garner and
Jason Bateman 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.
Filmography
Personal life
[
Cooper and Marianne Leone Cooper by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|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, Massachusetts, where they became strong advocates for exceptional children.
[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.] Jesse was eventually mainstreamed into
Silver Lake Regional High School, where he became an honor student. On January 3, 2005, Jesse Cooper died from complications of cerebral palsy. A memorial fund was set up in his name, the Jesse Cooper Foundation.
