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Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper is one of the most respected character actors of our time, recognized in 2003 with an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of 'John Laroche' in Columbia Pictures Adaptation. Cooper was also recognized for his performance in this film by numerous critics associations including the Broadcast Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Toronto Film Critics Association.

Most recently, Cooper had a part in New York, I Love You, a collaboration of vignettes, created by some of today's most imaginative filmmakers including Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Brett Ratner and Allen Hughes. Next, Cooper will star alongside Djimon Hounsou and Helen Mirren in Julie Taymor's version of The Tempest.

In 2007 Cooper starred in The Kingdom, Married Life and Breach. In 2006, Cooper also had strong supporting roles in Sony Classics' Capote, Universal's Jarhead, for director Sam Mendes, and Warner Bros.' Syriana, for writer and director Stephen Gaghan. In 2005, Cooper re-teamed with director and friend John Sayles in New Market Film's Silver City, a political drama and murder mystery which chronicled the story of a small town in Colorado and the events leading up to a local election.

In 2003, Cooper starred in the Universal Pictures film, Seabiscuit based on the bestselling novel. Cooper was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Seabiscuit's trainer, 'Tom Smith.' In the same year, Cooper was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting performance in the HBO film My House In Umbria starring Maggie Smith. In 2002, Cooper was seen in The Bourne Identity for Universal Pictures in the strong supporting role as the mastermind of the CIA's controversial clandestine operation, Treadstone. In 2004, he appeared in the flashback scenes in the second installment, The Bourne Supremacy.

In 2000 Cooper portrayed 'Colonel Burwell' opposite Mel Gibson in Sony Pictures The Patriot, a Revolutionary War epic directed by Roland Emmerich. In the same year, Cooper appeared with Jim Carrey in the comedy Me, Myself and Irene, for directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly. In 1999 Cooper received a Screen Actor's Guild Award for his supporting performance alongside Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening in Dreamworks' Academy Award winning film, American Beauty. In a stunning and dramatic display, Cooper portrayed a stern ex-Marine Colonel who persistently monitored his son's every move.

In 1999 Cooper starred as the father of an amateur rocket enthusiast in the acclaimed coming-of-age drama October Sky, which was screened at the 1999 Venice and Deauville Film Festivals with great notice. He had previously earned a Best Actor nomination in 1997 from the Independent Spirit Awards for his work in John Sayles' Lone Star. Nearly a decade earlier, Cooper made his feature film debut in Sayles' Matewan. Among his film credits are Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer, Great Expectations, A Time to Kill, Money Train, This Boy's Life, Guilty by Suspicion and City of Hope.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2010.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Chris Cooper Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayJuly 9, 1951 (72)
SignCancer
BirthplaceKansas City, Missouri, USA
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Chris Cooper compared to you?
Awards2003 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for Adaptation)
2003 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (for Adaptation)

Selected Filmography

American Beauty
Live By Night
Guardians of the Galaxy
Thousand Pieces of Gold
Captain America: The First Avenger
Soul Plane
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Silver Linings Playbook
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