Cooper was born to a stage manager father and an actress mother in London, England, in 1880. It is said he first appeared upon the stage in the arms of his mother, Mary Stafford Cooper, at the age of eighteen months when the comic opera Castle Grim was performed in Dublin. His family moved to the United States when he was eight, and he soon appeared on the American stage in the melodrama Silver King in 1889.[1][2] Cooper was active in American stock and repertoire theater with Russ Whytal, Frederick Freeman Proctor, and Charles Dillingham's companies. By the time of his death, he had played 538 character and comedic roles on Broadway.[3] His first big success was in 1903 as the General in Checkers, which ran for three seasons on Broadway and then toured widely.[4][5]
Cooper in a full-page advertisement in Moving Picture World for A Perplexing Pickle Puzzle, 1915
Cooper's motion picture career began around 1908 when he helped make Chronophone synchronized sound films for Gaumont which had established a studio in Flushing, New York, recording short songs and vaudeville routines. This early form of sound film was not successful in the United States, in part due to Thomas Edison's obstruction, and Gaumont abandoned American production in 1910. The Flushing studio then became the home of Solax Studios, a newly established silent film production company that hired former Gaumont employees including Claude Cooper who directed Solax's first twelve productions.[6] Cooper appeared in silent films from a variety of East Coast companies, including the All Star Film Corporation, the Famous Players Film Company, the Reliance Film Company, and the Kinemacolor Company of America. However, his longest association was with the Thanhouser Film Corporation of New Rochelle, New York, for whom he worked, usually as an actor but sometimes as a director, from 1914 to 1917. For example, Cooper appeared in Thanhouser's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1915).[7][8] Also at Thanhouser, he and Frank E. McNish were teamed together as the comedy duo "Oscar and Conrad."[9]
In the 1920s Cooper was a busy character actor in New York theaters. Without fail each year from 1917 until his death in 1932, he appeared on Broadway in character roles (such as chauffeurs, drunkards, mayors, sheriffs, yokels).[10] In 1930 he became a radio actor, playing Pegleg Gladdis the patriarch of a hillbilly family in the half-hour serial drama Moonshine and Honeysuckle broadcast on the NBC Red network on Sunday afternoons.[11]
Cast of the NBC radio series Moonshine and Honeysuckle, 1931. Left to right: (standing) Cooper, Ann Elstner, Gerald Stopp (production manager), Lula Vollmer, Jeannie Begg, John Milton, Louis Mason; (seated) Ann Sutherland and Sara Haden.
Cooper's final motion picture appearance was in 1932 in D. W. Griffith's last film, The Struggle.[12]
claude, cooper, actor, claude, hamilton, cooper, september, 1880, july, 1932, english, american, character, actor, stage, motion, pictures, radio, claude, cooperstill, from, daughter, kings, 1915bornclaude, hamilton, cooper, 1880, september, 1880london, englan. Claude Hamilton Cooper September 4 1880 July 20 1932 was an English American character actor on stage motion pictures and radio Claude CooperStill from Daughter of Kings 1915BornClaude Hamilton Cooper 1880 09 04 September 4 1880London EnglandDiedJuly 20 1932 1932 07 20 aged 51 Laurelton New York USOccupation s actor comedianYears active1889 1931SpouseAntoinette Cooper Contents 1 Biography 2 Partial filmography 3 References 4 External linksBiography editCooper was born to a stage manager father and an actress mother in London England in 1880 It is said he first appeared upon the stage in the arms of his mother Mary Stafford Cooper at the age of eighteen months when the comic opera Castle Grim was performed in Dublin His family moved to the United States when he was eight and he soon appeared on the American stage in the melodrama Silver King in 1889 1 2 Cooper was active in American stock and repertoire theater with Russ Whytal Frederick Freeman Proctor and Charles Dillingham s companies By the time of his death he had played 538 character and comedic roles on Broadway 3 His first big success was in 1903 as the General in Checkers which ran for three seasons on Broadway and then toured widely 4 5 nbsp Cooper in a full page advertisement in Moving Picture World for A Perplexing Pickle Puzzle 1915 Cooper s motion picture career began around 1908 when he helped make Chronophone synchronized sound films for Gaumont which had established a studio in Flushing New York recording short songs and vaudeville routines This early form of sound film was not successful in the United States in part due to Thomas Edison s obstruction and Gaumont abandoned American production in 1910 The Flushing studio then became the home of Solax Studios a newly established silent film production company that hired former Gaumont employees including Claude Cooper who directed Solax s first twelve productions 6 Cooper appeared in silent films from a variety of East Coast companies including the All Star Film Corporation the Famous Players Film Company the Reliance Film Company and the Kinemacolor Company of America However his longest association was with the Thanhouser Film Corporation of New Rochelle New York for whom he worked usually as an actor but sometimes as a director from 1914 to 1917 For example Cooper appeared in Thanhouser s The Picture of Dorian Gray 1915 7 8 Also at Thanhouser he and Frank E McNish were teamed together as the comedy duo Oscar and Conrad 9 In the 1920s Cooper was a busy character actor in New York theaters Without fail each year from 1917 until his death in 1932 he appeared on Broadway in character roles such as chauffeurs drunkards mayors sheriffs yokels 10 In 1930 he became a radio actor playing Pegleg Gladdis the patriarch of a hillbilly family in the half hour serial drama Moonshine and Honeysuckle broadcast on the NBC Red network on Sunday afternoons 11 nbsp Cast of the NBC radio series Moonshine and Honeysuckle 1931 Left to right standing Cooper Ann Elstner Gerald Stopp production manager Lula Vollmer Jeannie Begg John Milton Louis Mason seated Ann Sutherland and Sara Haden Cooper s final motion picture appearance was in 1932 in D W Griffith s last film The Struggle 12 Partial filmography editThe Nightingale 1914 The Country Girl 1915 The Garden of Lies 1915 The Picture of Dorian Gray 1915 The Woman in White 1917 My Own United States 1918 A Heart to Let 1921 Daughters of the Night 1924 The Struggle 1931 References edit Claude Cooper Dead New York Times 21 July 1932 p 17 Hobart Doty Encore Radio Digest December 1930 p 112 Hobart p 28 Claude Cooper Dead Internet Broadway Database http www ibdb com show php id 2520 McMahan Alison Alice Guy Blache Lost Visionary of the Cinema 2003 p 70 73 Motion Picture News Studio Directory 21 October 1916 p 22 Falstaff Fun Forced Market Motography 8 April 1916 p 798 Oscar and Conrad are Fixtures Motography 29 April 1916 p 993 The Broadway League Claude Cooper IBDB The official source for Broadway Information IBDB Retrieved 2014 01 05 Moonshine and Honeysuckle Radio Digest March 1931 p 28 Abbreviated View of Movie Page Afi com 1932 02 06 Retrieved 2014 01 05 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claude Cooper actor Claude Cooper at IMDb Claude Cooper at the Internet Broadway Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Claude Cooper actor amp oldid 1200249442, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
