Chuck Cooper (actor) explained

Chuck Cooper
Birth Date:8 November 1954
Birth Place:Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation:Actor
Children:3, including Lilli Cooper
Awards:Tony Award (1997), Antonyo Lifetime Achievement Award (2020)

Chuck Cooper (born November 8, 1954) is an American actor. He won the 1997 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as the pimp Memphis in The Life.

Career

Cooper made his Broadway debut in 1983 in the musical Amen Corner, playing the role of Brother Boxer.[1] [2] He was an understudy in the original Broadway casts of his next three shows: Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (he eventually took over the role of Adam), Passion, and Getting Away with Murder.

Cooper won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as the pimp Memphis in the 1997 Broadway production of the musical The Life.

Cooper has also appeared in Chicago as Billy Flynn, Caroline, or Change in the dual role of The Bus and The Dryer, and Finian's Rainbow as Bill Rawkins, as well as benefit performances of Hair and A Wonderful Life. In February 2010 he was the narrator in the U.S. premiere of Seven Scenes from Hamlet, by the Spanish composer Benet Casablancas, at the Miller Theatre in Manhattan.[3]

In 2015, Cooper appeared on Broadway as the slave Thomas in the new musical Amazing Grace, at the Nederlander Theatre.[4] The musical is about John Newton, the redeemed slave-trader who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace". In 2021, he returned for the Broadway debut production of Alice Childress's 1955 play Trouble in Mind, at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre.[5] For this performance, he has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Personal life

Cooper has three children—Eddie, Alex, and Lilli—from his first marriage.[6] His son Eddie and daughter Lilli have performed on television and on stage.[7] In May 2009, Cooper and playwright Deborah Brevoort were married in Carmel, New York, after almost ten years of dating.[8] Their initial meeting and eventual engagement were covered in a New York Times website video.[9]

Stage credits

YearTitleRoleLocationNotes
1982Colored People's TimeBert / Abner / Blind John / IsaacCherry Lane TheatreOff-Broadway
1983Amen CornerBrother BoxerNederlander TheatreBroadway
1985-1986The Tap Dance KidWilliam-US National Tour
1988-1989RumorsWelchBroadhurst TheatreBroadway
1989-1990Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1991Four Short Operas, BreakMan 1 / Man in Dirty Dungeons / Cabbie / ManPlaywrights HorizonsOff-Broadway
1993Someone Who'll Watch Over MeAdamBooth TheatreBroadway
1994-1995Passionu/s Private Augenti / u/s Fosca's Father / u/s Lieutenant Barri / u/s Major Rizzolli / u/s Lieutenant TorassoPlymouth Theatre
1995Police BoysCapt. Jabali Abdul LaRouchePlaywrights HorizonsOff-Broadway
1996-1997Whistle Down the WindEd / EnsembleNational TheatreWashington, D.C.
1997-1998The LifeMemphisEthel Barrymore TheatreBroadway
1999Caroline, or ChangeDryer / BusThe Public TheaterOff-Broadway
2001ChicagoBilly FlynnShubert TheatreBroadway
2003-2004Caroline, or ChangeDryer / BusThe Public TheaterOff-Broadway
2004Eugene O'Neill TheatreBroadway
2005A Wonderful LifeUncle BillyShubert TheatreBroadway Concert
2007Two Trains RunningMemphisOld Globe TheatreRegional
2008HamletPoloniusShakespeare Theatre Company
2009-2010Finian's RainbowBill RawkinsSt. James TheatreBroadway
2011Lost in the StarsStephen KumaloNew York City CenterOff-Broadway
Encores!
2013The Piano LessonWining BoySignature Theatre CompanyRegional
Romeo and JulietCapuletRichard Rodgers TheatreBroadway
2014Act OneWally / Charles Gilpin / Max Siegel / Langston HughesVivian Beaumont Theatre
Amazing GraceThomas / PaketuhBank of America TheatreRegional
2015Thomas / KeitaNederlander TheatreBroadway
2016West Side StoryDoc / KrupkeCarnegie HallConcert
The Cherry OrchardPischikAmerican Airlines TheatreBroadway
2017Prince of BroadwayPerformerSamuel J. Friedman Theatre
2018Me and My GirlSir John TremayneNew York City CenterOff-Broadway
Encores!
2018-2019Choir BoyHeadmaster MarrowSamuel J. Friedman TheatreBroadway
2019Much Ado About NothingLeonatoThe Public TheaterOff-Broadway
Road ShowPapa MiznerNew York City CenterOff-Broadway
Encores!
Let 'Em Eat CakeMatthew FultonCarnegie HallConcert
2020Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatJacobDavid Geffen Hall50th Anniversary Concert
2021-2022Trouble in MindSheldon ForresterAmerican Airlines TheatreBroadway
2023The FrogsCharonLincoln CenterConcert
2024TitanicCaptain Edward John SmithNew York City CenterOff-Broadway
Encores!

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chuck Cooper Bio & Resume . August 1, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080509080547/http://www.chuckcooper.net/Resume.htm . May 9, 2008 .
  2. Web site: Playbill News: Chuck Cooper Appears in Free Opera in Eden Concert Jan. 7 . www.playbill.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080110121324/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114009.html . 2008-01-10.
  3. Web site: Miller Theatre at Columbia University.. https://web.archive.org/web/20110714094943/http://www.millertheatre.com/Events/EventDetails.aspx?nid=1290. dead. July 14, 2011. July 14, 2011.
  4. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=500421 Amazing Grace
  5. News: Green. Jesse. 2021-11-19. Review: 'Trouble in Mind,' 66 Years Late and Still On Time. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-11. 0362-4331.
  6. Web site: It's an Actor's Life for Broadway Papa Chuck Cooper and His Kids Eddie and Lilli | TheaterMania. www.theatermania.com.
  7. Web site: Eddie Cooper Replaces His Dad Chuck Cooper in Little Shop of Horrors, Starring Jake Gyllenhaal & Ellen Greene. Broadway.com.
  8. News: Deborah Brevoort and Chuck Cooper. The New York Times. May 30, 2009.
  9. News: Vows: Chuck and Deborah - Video Library - The New York Times . The New York Times. May 31, 2009 . Monteleone . Michele .