Chris Cooper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chris Cooper
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Cooper at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
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| Born |
Christopher Walton Cooper
July 9, 1951 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Missouri |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Marianne Leone
(m. 1983) |
| Children | 1 |
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor known for his powerful performances in many popular films. He has appeared in movies like American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, and Seabiscuit. For his role in the movie Adaptation., he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Younger audiences might know him as the villain Tex Richman in The Muppets or as the voice of Smokey in the animated movie Cars 3. He also played Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Mr. Laurence in the 2019 version of Little Women. Cooper is known for working with director John Sayles on many films, including Matewan and Lone Star.
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Early Life and Education
Chris Cooper was born on July 9, 1951, in Kansas City, Missouri. His mother, Mary Ann, was a housewife, and his father, Charles, was a doctor in the United States Air Force and also raised cattle. Because his father was in the military, Chris's family moved to different cities, including Houston, Texas. During the summers, he would work on his family's cattle ranch in Kansas.
In high school, Cooper discovered a love for theater. He had experience with carpentry, so he started by building sets for plays. He soon realized he wanted to be an actor. He went to the University of Missouri and joined the theater program. He said that acting helped him overcome his shyness. After graduating, he moved to New York City in 1976 to pursue his acting career. He studied with famous acting teachers while working jobs in construction and as a chauffeur to support himself.
Acting Career
Starting on Stage and Screen
Before becoming a movie star, Cooper worked in theater for 12 years. His first film was Matewan in 1987, directed by John Sayles. This was the beginning of a long partnership between the two. In 1989, he gained more attention for his role as Sheriff July Johnson in the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove.
Throughout the 1990s, Cooper appeared in many films. He played a Texas sheriff in Lone Star and a deputy in A Time to Kill. In 1999, he played a strict Marine Corps colonel in the award-winning film American Beauty. This role earned him a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Major Success and Awards
The 2000s were a very successful decade for Cooper. In 2002, he played a ruthless CIA director in the action-packed movie The Bourne Identity. The same year, he gave an incredible performance as John Laroche in the film Adaptation.. For this role, he won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He continued to appear in popular films. He played a horse trainer in Seabiscuit (2003) and a government agent in The Kingdom (2007). He also did voice acting, playing the character Douglas in Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
Recent Roles
Cooper has remained a busy actor. In 2011, he played the villain Tex Richman in The Muppets, where he even performed a rap song. In 2014, he took on the role of Norman Osborn, the man who becomes the Green Goblin, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
He also appeared in the critically acclaimed films A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) with Tom Hanks and Little Women (2019). In 2017, he returned to the stage in the Broadway play A Doll's House, Part 2, which earned him a Tony Award nomination.
Personal Life
Cooper met his wife, Marianne Leone, in an acting class in New York City in 1979. They got married in 1983. He knew she was the one for him when she helped him carry heavy building materials up eight flights of stairs on their first date.
Their son, Jesse, was born in 1987. Jesse had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair and a computer to communicate. Cooper said that Jesse was the "best thing that ever happened" to them and taught him a lot about life. Jesse was an honor student at his high school. Sadly, Jesse passed away in 2005. A foundation was created in his name to honor his memory.
Cooper and his wife currently live in Kingston, Massachusetts. They are known for adopting and caring for rescue dogs.
Notable Roles
Here are some of Chris Cooper's most well-known roles in film and television:
- Lonesome Dove (1989) as Sheriff July Johnson
- Lone Star (1996) as Sheriff Sam Deeds
- October Sky (1999) as John Hickam
- American Beauty (1999) as Colonel Frank Fitts
- The Patriot (2000) as Colonel Harry Burwell
- The Bourne Identity (2002) as Alexander Conklin
- Adaptation. (2002) as John Laroche (Won an Academy Award)
- Seabiscuit (2003) as Tom Smith
- Capote (2005) as Alvin Dewey
- Where the Wild Things Are (2009) as Douglas (voice)
- The Town (2010) as Stephen MacRay
- The Muppets (2011) as Tex Richman
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) as Norman Osborn
- 11.22.63 (2016) as Al Templeton
- Cars 3 (2017) as Smokey (voice)
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) as Jerry Vogel
- Little Women (2019) as Mr. Laurence
