CHRIS COOPER (Frank Booker) has established himself as one of the screen's most versatile actors, playing heroes and psychopaths, leading men and villains in both independent and mainstream films. He recently starred in the 1998 feature adaptation, "Great Expectations," and opposite David Schwimmer in the HBO telefilm "Breast Men." He also stars in the forthcoming feature "Rocket Boys."
Cooper is well known to audiences as Sam Deeds, the sheriff of a troubled Texas town in John Sayles' "Lone Star." The leading role was written especially for Cooper by Sayles, and his performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. He has also starred as union organizer Joe Kenehan in Sayles' critically-acclaimed "Matewan" and in the director's "City of Hope."
He has also co-starred in the features "A Time To Kill," "Money Train," "Boys," "This Boy's Life" and "Guilty By Suspicion."
Cooper starred with Rosalind Chao ("The Joy Luck Club") in "Thousand Pieces of Gold," an independent film which earned him the Wrangler Award for Best Actor in an Outstanding Motion Picture, presented by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He recently received critical acclaim for his starring role in "Pharaoh's Army," an independent film currently debuting on the festival circuit.
On television, he has starred as July Johnson in the miniseries "Lonesome Dove" and its sequel "Return to Lonesome Dove." His telefilm credits recently include "The Deliverance of Elaine" opposite Mare Winningham and Showtime's "Alone," as well as "One More Mountain," "Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life," "Bed of Lies" and the American Playhouse productions of "Darrow" and "Journey to Genius."
Born in Kansas City, Cooper spent a good part of his youth raising cattle on his father's ranch. He studied acting at the University of Missouri School of Drama, and moved to New York to continue his studies with Stella Adler and Wynn Handman. His first love is theater and he has starred in numerous productions both on and off-Broadway, and on both sides of the Atlantic. He made his Broadway debut as Ben in "Of The Fields Lately," and starred off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith" and "A Different Moon." He now resides with his family in a small coastal town in Massachusetts.
