Biography for
Chris Cooper (I) More at IMDbPro »

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Educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper has appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately (1980)", 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 appears 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.

Spouse

Trade Mark

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).

Trivia

Lives in Kingston, Massachusetts, USA.

Filmed scenes for The Ring (2002) that were cut, though a picture of him in a newspaper remains in the film.

Son, Jesse Cooper (with Leone), born 1987, died January 2005 from causes related to cerebral palsy.

Studied ballet at Stephens College in Columbia.

He majored in agriculture and acting at the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.

Turned down the role of Jim Gordon in Batman Begins (2005).

As a young man, he did some construction work, including helping with the construction of Royals Stadium in Kansas City, now known as Kaufman Stadium.

Graduated from Southwest High School in 1969. Southwest High School closed down in 1998 and reopened in 1999 as Southwest Charter School. Southwest High School is located in the Kansas City, Missouri School District.

Said he was afraid of taking the role in American Beauty (1999); his wife convinced him to take the role of the repressed soldier.

Father is a doctor.

His Texas-born father, Charles Cooper, was an internist who served as a doctor in the US Air Force and a cattleman; mother, Mary Ann Cooper, was a homemaker.

Older brother, Chuck Cooper (born in 1948), is a contractor.

His first foray into acting came when he was drafted from the set-builder ranks of his local community theater to serve as a last-minute substitute for Tom Berenger in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as the paper boy.

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