Home   Actors   Actresses   Supermodels  Movies  Musicians Athletes

                                            ACTORS

                      A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Link To Us

Chris Cooper

Biography  Filmography   Links   Contact  Galleries

Biography

Having spent much of his youth on his father's Missouri cattle ranch, it is not surprising that supporting and leading actor of stage, screen, and television Chris Cooper has specialized in playing cowboys, ranchers, and other hardworking men. His rugged Everyman demeanor has best been put to use by filmmaker John Sayles, who cast him in a number of his films, beginning with 1987's Matewan.

Cooper's interest in the theater began in his late teens, when he designed and constructed sets for a community group. Following high school, he studied agriculture and acting at the University of Missouri before moving to New York City in hopes of making it on the stage. It took awhile, but by 1980 he was starring in productions like Of the Fields Lately, The Ballad of Soapy Smith, and Cobb, in which he played the title role.

His film debut came in 1980, in Nicholas Roeg's Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession. He didn't get his big break until seven years later, when Sayles cast him as Joe Kenehan, a member of the coalminer's union who is sent to a tiny mountain town to organize the workers in Matewan (1987). He again worked with Sayles in City of Hope (1991) and then in Lone Star (1996), for which he won great acclaim playing the enigmatic Sam Deeds, the prodigal son of a tiny Texas town's sheriff who solves a mystery and comes to grips with his relationship with his late father.

Subsequently, Cooper -- who had also made his mark on the small screen as cowboy July Johnson in Lonesome Dove (1989) -- appeared as a deputy in a A Time to Kill (1996), Robert Redford's younger brother in The Horse Whisperer (1998), and Ethan Hawke's brother-in-law in Great Expectations. In 1999, the actor again demonstrated his impressive range, first playing a coalminer in October Sky and then turning in a chilling performance as Kevin Spacey's unbalanced neighbor in American Beauty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Seabiscuit (2003) .... Tom Smith
My House in Umbria (2003) (TV)
Adaptation. (2002) .... John Laroche
Bourne Identity, The (2002) .... Conklin
Interstate 60 (2002) .... Bob Cody
... aka Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road (2002) (USA)
2001 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards, The (2001) (TV)
Patriot, The (2000) .... Col. Harry Burwell
... aka Patriot, Der (2000) (Germany)
Me, Myself & Irene (2000) .... Lt. Gerke, Massena PD
American Beauty (1999) .... Colonel Fitts
October Sky (1999) .... John Hickam
24 Hour Woman, The (1999) .... Ron Hacksby
Horse Whisperer, The (1998) .... Frank Booker
Great Expectations (1998) .... Uncle Joe
Alone (1997/I) (TV) .... Gus Jr.
... aka Horton Foote's Alone (1997) (TV) (USA: complete title)
Breast Men (1997) (TV) .... Dr. William Larson
Time to Kill, A (1996) .... Deputy Dwayne Powell Looney
Lone Star (1996) .... Rio County Sheriff Sam Deeds
Boys (1996) .... Mr. John Baker
Deliverance of Elaine, The (1996) (TV) .... Charile Skyler
Pharaoh's Army (1995) .... Captain John Hull Abston
Money Train (1995) .... Torch
One More Mountain (1994) (TV) .... James Reed
"Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993) (mini) TV Series .... July Johnson
This Boy's Life (1993) .... Roy
Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life (1992) (TV) .... Anthony Blessing
... aka Lone Justice (1994) (TV) (video title)
... aka Ned Blessing (1992) (TV)
Bed of Lies (1992) (TV) .... Price Daniel, Jr.
City of Hope (1991) .... Riggs
Darrow (1991) (TV) .... Eugene Debs
Guilty by Suspicion (1991) .... Larry Nolan
... aka Liste noire, La (1991) (France)
In Broad Daylight (1991) (TV) .... Jack Wilson
Little Piece of Sunshine, A (1990) (TV) .... Ernie Favaro
Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990) .... Charlie
To the Moon, Alice (1990) (TV) .... Frank Wiliker
"Lonesome Dove" (1989) (mini) TV Series .... July Johnson
Journey Into Genius (1988) (TV) .... Louis Halladay
... aka Eugene O'Neill: Journey Into Genius (1988) (TV)
Matewan (1987) .... Joe Kenehan

Links

Contact

c/o PMK
8500 Wilshire Bl. #700
Beverly Hills CA 90211-3105
USA