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IMDbPro

Chris Cooper(I)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000795
Chris Cooper at an event for The Tempest (2010)
Chris Cooper has made a career for himself playing a wide variety of eccentric characters since 1987. "No Small Parts" takes a look at his colorful acting career.
Play video2:53
"No Small Parts" IMDb Exclusive: 'Cars 3' Star Chris Cooper
75 Videos
99+ Photos
Christopher Walton Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mary Ann (Walton), a homemaker, and Charles Sherwood Cooper, a cattleman and internist who served as a doctor in the US Air Force. His parents were from Texas, where Cooper was raised.

Educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately (1980)", and off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith (1983)" and "A Different Moon (1983)". He debuted in films in the John Sayles movie Matewan (1987). Although his performance was well received, the picture was not successful. Other films he has appeared in include Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Money Train (1995) and A Time to Kill (1996). On television, Cooper has been featured in the mini-series Lonesome Dove (1989) and Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), as July Johnson. He has also appeared in a number of television movies. In 1996, he starred in his third John Sayles movie, Lone Star (1996), where he plays Sam Deeds, the sheriff whose lawman father becomes a posthumous suspect in a murder investigation.

Cooper married actress/producer/scriptwriter Marianne Leone on July 8, 1983. They have one child, a son Jesse, who died on January 3, 2005 at the age of 17, of natural causes related to cerebral palsy. Jesse Cooper inspired his mother to author the script for the film "Conquistadora." It relates the true story of Mary Somoza, the mother of twins with cerebral palsy, who fought the educational system to provide the best education possible for her children.
BornJuly 9, 1951
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJuly 9, 1951
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000795
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 35 wins & 46 nominations total

    Photos258

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    + 254
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    Known for

    Nicolas Cage in Adaptation. (2002)
    Adaptation.
    7.7
    • John Laroche
    • 2002
    Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, and Abigail Breslin in August: Osage County (2013)
    August: Osage County
    7.2
    • Charlie Aiken
    • 2013
    Kevin Spacey, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, and Wes Bentley in American Beauty (1999)
    American Beauty
    8.3
    • Colonel Fitts
    • 1999
    Ryan Phillippe and Chris Cooper in Breach (2007)
    Breach
    7.0
    • Robert Hanssen
    • 2007

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • Everything's Going to Be Great
      • Walter
      • Completed
      • 2025
    • Light on Broken Glass
      • Jay
      • In Production



    • Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal in The History of Sound (2025)
      The History of Sound
      6.3
      • Older Lionel
      • 2025
    • Keira Knightley in Boston Strangler (2023)
      Boston Strangler
      6.5
      • Jack Maclaine
      • 2023
    • With/In: Volume 2 (2021)
      With/In: Volume 2
      5.0
      • (segment "Nuts")
      • 2021
    • Rose Byrne and Steve Carell in Irresistible (2020)
      Irresistible
      6.3
      • Jack Hastings
      • 2020
    • Janelle Monáe in Homecoming (2018)
      Homecoming
      7.4
      TV Series
      • Leonard Geist
      • 2020
    • Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen in Little Women (2019)
      Little Women
      7.8
      • Mr. Laurence
      • 2019
    • Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
      A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
      7.2
      • Jerry Vogel
      • 2019
    • Henrietta Bulkowski (2019)
      Henrietta Bulkowski
      5.9
      Short
      • Danny Wilcox (voice)
      • 2019
    • Tony Shalhoub, Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Cai Puri-Evans, Heledd Jarman, Cristela Alonzo, and Siân Eirian in Cars 3 (2017)
      Cars 3
      6.7
      • Smokey (voice)
      • 2017
    • Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Zoe Saldaña, Sienna Miller, and Elle Fanning in Live by Night (2016)
      Live by Night
      6.4
      • Chief Figgis
      • 2016
    • James Franco in 11.22.63 (2016)
      11.22.63
      8.1
      TV Mini Series
      • Al Templeton
      • 2016
    • Coming Through the Rye (2015)
      Coming Through the Rye
      6.3
      • J.D. Salinger
      • 2015
    • Jake Gyllenhaal in Demolition (2015)
      Demolition
      7.0
      • Phil
      • 2015
    • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
      The Amazing Spider-Man 2
      6.6
      • Norman Osborn (uncredited)
      • 2014
    • Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, and Abigail Breslin in August: Osage County (2013)
      August: Osage County
      7.2
      • Charlie Aiken
      • 2013

    Director



    • With/In (2022)
      With/In
      5.0
      • Director (Segment "Nuts")
      • 2022
    • With/In: Volume 2 (2021)
      With/In: Volume 2
      5.0
      • Director (segment "Nuts")
      • 2021

    Producer



    • Orina Umansky Freeman and Alexander Freeman in My Own Normal (2024)
      My Own Normal
      • executive producer
      • 2024
    • Intelligent Lives (2018)
      Intelligent Lives
      8.5
      • executive producer
      • 2018

    Videos75

    Oscar Buzz for 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood'
    Clip 3:46
    Oscar Buzz for 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood'
    "Miranda"
    Clip 0:47
    "Miranda"
    "Miranda"
    Clip 0:47
    "Miranda"
    "Caliban"
    Clip 1:00
    "Caliban"
    "What Desserts?" from Remember Me
    Clip 1:19
    "What Desserts?" from Remember Me
    "What Are You Doing?" from Remember Me
    Clip 1:40
    "What Are You Doing?" from Remember Me
    Cars 3
    Clip 0:59
    Cars 3

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
    • Born
      • July 9, 1951
      • Kansas City, Missouri, USA
    • Spouse
      • Marianne LeoneJuly 8, 1983 - present (1 child)
    • Children
      • Jesse Cooper
    • Parents
        Mary Ann Cooper (Walton)
    • Other works
      (February 24 to April 4, 1982) He played Mulholland in Thomas Murphy's adaptation of Liam O'Flaherty's novel, "The Informer," in a Humana Festival production at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky with Anne Barclay (Mrs. Foley, Old Woman); Susanna Banks (Mrs. Cassidy, Agnes, 2nd Woman); Lee Biolos (Mr. Turley, Bodyguard, Artist #2); Susan Cash (Kitty, Christina, High-class Whore); Anthony De Fonte (Mr. Cassidy, Judge #1, 1st Man); Louis J. Dezseran (Writer, Artist #1, Publican); Kathryn Fuller (Louisa Cummings, 2nd Woman Neighbor); Laura Hicks (Mary McPhilip); Michael Kevin (Gallagher); Katherine Klekas (Phyllis); Neil Larson (1st Policeman, Pimp); Ken Latimer (Mr. Foley, Farmer, 2nd Man, Workman); Margo Martindale (Aunt Betty, 1st Woman Neighbor, Mixer's Wife); William McNulty (Mr. McPhilip, Evangelist, Judge #2); Randle Mell (Frankie McPhilip, Dutch Sailor, Young Man #2, Organization Man #2, Guard); Amy Thompson (Bridget, 1st Woman, Flower Seller); Dierk Toporzysek (Connors); Fred Sanders (Augustine, Young Man #1, Judge #3); Adale O'Brien (Maggie, Mrs. McPhilip, Poor Old Woman); Wyman Pendleton (Rat Mulligan, 1st Man Neighbor, 3rd Old Man); Steve Rankin (Farrelly, Mixer, Guard #3); Sally Faye Reit (Katie Fox); Joseph Urla (2nd Policeman, Student, Poor Man) and Steve Wise (Father Conroy, Blind Musician, Organization Man #1, Guard) in the cast. Jon Jory was director.
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Interview
      • 6 Articles
      • 1 Pictorial

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Did not make his first screen appearance until he was thirty-six years old.
    • Quotes
      (On landing his role in Matewan) That was my first feature film, but it came in kind of an interesting way. My wife [Marianne] was also an actor. When we were living in New York, she answered a backstage ad for an NYU student's film, and that turned out to be Nancy Savoca. So Marianne did Nancy's half-hour junior black-and-white piece. Then she and Nancy and Rich, Nancy's husband-we all four became real good friends from that experience. Then Nancy worked on Brother From Another Planet when John [Sayles] was shooting that. And she was aware that John beforehand had lost financing. He wanted to do Matewan, but lost the financing, so he went on to do Brother From Another Planet. So Nancy gave John my name, and said, "When the time comes for Matewan, take a look at this guy." So that's kind of how that came about. It was an audition in midtown. I went up and read a couple of scenes. And then some months passed. I went to London to do a West End production with Harold Pinter-it was a Tennessee Williams play, Sweet Bird Of Youth, directed by Harold Pinter and starring Lauren Bacall. So in the seven months that I was over in England, news came. I got a callback to read some more scenes. So we did the Sunday matinée, and I had to get on a plane, fly to the States, do the audition, get back on the plane, fly back for Tuesday night's performance. I had virtually noooo sleep. I was really on a high just in anticipation of the audition. And then during that Tuesday-night performance, I came really, really close to fainting onstage because I was so tuckered.
    • Trademarks
        Usually plays characters that are associated with the government (including the military), politics, or agencies. See: The Bourne Identity (2002), Silver City (2004), Syriana (2005), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Jarhead (2005), The Patriot (2000), American Beauty (1999), Breach (2007).

    FAQ

    Powered by Alexa
    • How old is Chris Cooper?
      73 years old
    • When was Chris Cooper born?
      July 9, 1951
    • Where was Chris Cooper born?
      Kansas City, Missouri, USA
    • How tall is Chris Cooper?
      5 feet 10 inches, or 1.78 meters
    • What is Chris Cooper known for?
      American Beauty, Adaptation., Breach, and August: Osage County

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