Gladys Cooper
Encyclopedia
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE
(18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy
and pantomime
, she was starring in dramatic roles and silent films by World War I. She also became a manager of the Playhouse Theatre
from 1917 to 1933, where she played many roles. Beginning in the early 1920s, Cooper was winning praise in plays by W. Somerset Maugham
and others. In the 1930s, she was starring steadily both in the West End
and on Broadway
. Moving to Hollywood in 1940, Cooper found success in a variety of character roles; she was nominated for three Academy Awards
, the last one as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady
(1964). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she mixed her stage and film careers, continuing to star on stage until her last year.
, Lewisham
, London, England, oldest of the three daughters of Charles William Frederick Cooper (1844–1939) by his marriage to Mabel Barnett (1861–1944). Her two younger sister were Doris Mabel Cooper Dickens (1891–1987) and Grace Muriel Cooper (1893–1982). She spent most of her childhood in Chiswick
, where her family moved when she was an infant.
She made her stage début in 1905 touring with Seymour Hicks
in his musical Bluebell in Fairyland
. The young beauty was also a popular photography model. In 1906, she appeared as Lady Swan in London in The Belle of Mayfair
and then in the pantomime
Babes in the Wood
as Mavis. The following year she became a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, London
, creating the small role of Eva in The Girls of Gottenberg
. That Christmas, she was Molly in Babes in the Wood. In 1908, she appeared in the musical Havana
followed, the next year, by Our Miss Gibbs
, in which she played Lady Connie; more touring with Hicks in Papa's Wife; and Sadie von Tromp in the hit operetta The Dollar Princess
at Daly's Theatre
in 1909. In 1911, she appeared in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest
and in Man And Superman
. Among several other plays, the next year she was Muriel Pym in Milestones at the Royalty Theatre
. A highlight of 1913 was Dora in Diplomacy at Wyndham's Theatre
. That year she also played the title role in The Pursuit of Pamela at the Royalty.
In 1913 she appeared in her first film, The Eleventh Commandment, going on to make several silent films during World War I and shortly afterwards. She continued full-time stage work, however, including appearances as Lady Agatha Lazenby in The Admirable Crichton
in 1916 and Clara de Foenix in Trelawny of the Wells. In addition, in 1917, Cooper became co-manager, with Frank Curzon
, of the Playhouse Theatre
, taking over sole control from 1927 until she left in 1933. During these years, she starred several times in My Lady's Dress. She appeared in W. Somerset Maugham
's Home and Beauty in 1919, repeated Dora at His Majesty's Theatre
in 1920 and elsewhere thereafter, and played numerous roles at the Playhouse Theatre.
It was not until 1922, however, now in her mid-30s, that she found major critical success, in Arthur Wing Pinero
's The Second Mrs. Tanqueray. Early in her stage career, she was criticized for being stiff. Aldous Huxley
dismissed her performance in Home and Beauty, writing, "she is too impassive, too statuesque, playing all the time as if she were Galatea
, newly unpetrified and still unused to the ways of the living world." Evidently, her acting improved during this period, as Maugham praised her for "turning herself from an indifferent actress to an extremely competent one" through her common sense and industriousness. For the both the 1923 and 1924 Christmas shows at the Adelphi Theatre
, she was the title character in Peter Pan, while playing several other roles at that theatre during these two years. She appeared in Maugham's The Letter
in London and on tour in 1927 and 1928, Excelsior (adapted from "L'Ecole des Cocottes
" by H. M. Harwood) in 1928, and Maugham's The Sacred Flame
in 1929, also in London and on tour.
Among other roles, she was Clemency Warlock in Cynara (1930), Wanda Heriot in The Pelican (1931), Lucy Haydon in Dr. Pygmalion (1932), Carola in The Firebird (1932), Jane Claydon in The Rats of Norway (1933), Mariella Linden in The Shining Hour in 1934 and 1935, in London and New York and on tour (at the same time making her first "talkie" film, The Iron Duke
), also playing Desdemona and Lady Macbeth on Broadway
in 1935. She was Dorothy Hilton in Call it a Day, again in both London and New York, from 1935 to 1936. A highlight of 1937 was Laura Lorimer in Goodbye to Yesterday in London and on tour. In 1938, she played Tiny Fox-Collier in Spring Meeting in New York, Montreal and Britain, as well as several Shakespeare roles and Fran Dodsworth in Dodsworth. She repeated Spring Meeting in 1939.
for her performances as Bette Davis
's domineering mother in Now, Voyager
(1942), a skeptical nun in The Song of Bernadette
(1943), and Rex Harrison
's mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady
(1964). Other notable film appearances included The Green Years
(1946), The Secret Garden
(1949), Separate Tables
(1958) and The Happiest Millionaire
(1967) as Aunt Mary Drexel, singing "There Are Those".
Her only stage roles in the 1940s were Mrs. Parrilow in The Morning Star in Philadelphia and New York (1942) and Melanie Aspen in The Indifferent Shepherd in England (1948). She returned to theatre (between films) more often in the 1950s and 1960s, playing in London and on tour in such roles as Edith Fenton in The Hat Trick (1950); Felicity, Countess of Marshwood, in Relative Values
(1951 and 1953); Grace Smith in A Question of Fact (1953); Lady Yarmouth in The Night of the Ball (1954); Mrs. St. Maugham in The Chalk Garden
(1955–56), Dame Mildred in The Bright One (1958); Mrs. Vincent in Look on Tempests (1960); Mrs. Gantry (Bobby) in The Bird of Time (1961); Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India (1962); Mrs Tabret in The Sacred Flame (1966 and 1967); Prue Salter in Let's All Go Down the Strand (1967); Emma Littlewood in Out of the Question (1968); Lydia in His, Hers and Theirs (1969); and others. She also had numerous television roles in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1967, at the age of 79, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(DBE). Her last major success on the stage was at age 82, in 1970–71 in the role of Mrs. St. Maugham in Enid Bagnold
's The Chalk Garden, a role she had created on Broadway and in the West End in 1955–56.
She lived mostly in the United Kingdom in her final years and died from pneumonia at the age of 82 in Henley-on-Thames
, England.
with David Niven
, Charles Boyer
, Gig Young
, Robert Coote
, John Williams
and Larry Hagman
. For this, she won a Golden Globe Award
in 1965.
She also appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone
. In the first, entitled "Nothing in the Dark
" (1962), she plays an old lady who refuses to leave her apartment for fear of meeting Death. A young policeman (Robert Redford
) is shot at her doorstep and persuades her to let him in. Her second appearance was in the episode "Passage on the Lady Anne
", which aired on 9 May 1963. Her final episode was in 1964, in "Night Call
", portraying a difficult, lonely old lady who is besieged by late-night phone calls, which she learns too late are from the ghost of her long-dead fiancé.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
and pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, she was starring in dramatic roles and silent films by World War I. She also became a manager of the Playhouse Theatre
Playhouse Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
from 1917 to 1933, where she played many roles. Beginning in the early 1920s, Cooper was winning praise in plays by W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
and others. In the 1930s, she was starring steadily both in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Moving to Hollywood in 1940, Cooper found success in a variety of character roles; she was nominated for three Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, the last one as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she mixed her stage and film careers, continuing to star on stage until her last year.
Early life and career
Cooper was born at 23 Ennersdale Road, Hither GreenHither Green
Hither Green is a district in south east London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated 6.6 miles south east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian....
, Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London, England, oldest of the three daughters of Charles William Frederick Cooper (1844–1939) by his marriage to Mabel Barnett (1861–1944). Her two younger sister were Doris Mabel Cooper Dickens (1891–1987) and Grace Muriel Cooper (1893–1982). She spent most of her childhood in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, where her family moved when she was an infant.
She made her stage début in 1905 touring with Seymour Hicks
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
in his musical Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as a "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produced by Charles Frohman. The creators sought to...
. The young beauty was also a popular photography model. In 1906, she appeared as Lady Swan in London in The Belle of Mayfair
The Belle of Mayfair
The Belle of Mayfair is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet....
and then in the pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile...
as Mavis. The following year she became a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
, creating the small role of Eva in The Girls of Gottenberg
The Girls of Gottenberg
The Girls of Gottenberg is a musical play in two acts by George Grossmith, Jr. and L. E. Berman, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Basil Hood, and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. P. G...
. That Christmas, she was Molly in Babes in the Wood. In 1908, she appeared in the musical Havana
Havana (Edwardian musical)
Havana is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Graham Hill, music by Leslie Stuart, lyrics by Adrian Ross and additional lyrics by George Arthurs. It premiered on 25 April 1908 at the Gaiety Theatre, London, starring Evie Greene as Consuelo, W. H....
followed, the next year, by Our Miss Gibbs
Our Miss Gibbs
Our Miss Gibbs is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by 'Cryptos' and James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. Produced by George Edwardes, it opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 23 January 1909 and ran for an extremely...
, in which she played Lady Connie; more touring with Hicks in Papa's Wife; and Sadie von Tromp in the hit operetta The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum , adapted into English by Basil Hood , with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened in London at Daly's Theatre on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances...
at Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...
in 1909. In 1911, she appeared in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
and in Man And Superman
Man and Superman
Man and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
. Among several other plays, the next year she was Muriel Pym in Milestones at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
. A highlight of 1913 was Dora in Diplomacy at Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
. That year she also played the title role in The Pursuit of Pamela at the Royalty.
The Admirable Crichton
The Admirable Crichton is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie. It was produced by Charles Frohman and opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on 4 November 1902, running for an extremely successful 828 performances. It starred H. B. Irving and Irene Vanbrugh...
in 1916 and Clara de Foenix in Trelawny of the Wells. In addition, in 1917, Cooper became co-manager, with Frank Curzon
Frank Curzon
Frank Curzon was an English actor who became an important theatre manager, leasing the Royal Strand Theatre, Avenue Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre and Wyndham's Theatre, among others....
, of the Playhouse Theatre
Playhouse Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...
, taking over sole control from 1927 until she left in 1933. During these years, she starred several times in My Lady's Dress. She appeared in W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
's Home and Beauty in 1919, repeated Dora at His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen is the largest theatre in north-east Scotland, seating more than 1400. The theatre is sited on Rosemount Viaduct, opposite the city's Union Terrace Gardens. It was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1906...
in 1920 and elsewhere thereafter, and played numerous roles at the Playhouse Theatre.
It was not until 1922, however, now in her mid-30s, that she found major critical success, in Arthur Wing Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
's The Second Mrs. Tanqueray. Early in her stage career, she was criticized for being stiff. Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
dismissed her performance in Home and Beauty, writing, "she is too impassive, too statuesque, playing all the time as if she were Galatea
Galatea
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white".Galatea or Galathea may refer to:-In mythology:* Galatea :**Galatea, a woman who prayed for her daughter to be turned into a son, Leucippus...
, newly unpetrified and still unused to the ways of the living world." Evidently, her acting improved during this period, as Maugham praised her for "turning herself from an indifferent actress to an extremely competent one" through her common sense and industriousness. For the both the 1923 and 1924 Christmas shows at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, she was the title character in Peter Pan, while playing several other roles at that theatre during these two years. She appeared in Maugham's The Letter
The Letter (play)
The Letter is a play by W. Somerset Maugham dramatised from a short story that first appeared in his 1926 collection The Casuarina Tree. The story is based on a real-life scandal involving the wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur who was convicted in a murder trial after shooting...
in London and on tour in 1927 and 1928, Excelsior (adapted from "L'Ecole des Cocottes
School for Coquettes (play)
School for Coquettes is 1918 French comedy play by Paul Armont and Marcel Gerbidon. A young working class woman attends a school to turn her into a coquette in the hope it will allow her to rise up the social scale...
" by H. M. Harwood) in 1928, and Maugham's The Sacred Flame
The Sacred Flame (play)
The Sacred Flame was William Somerset Maugham's 21st play, written at the age of 54. Maugham dedicated the publication to his friend Messmore Kendall....
in 1929, also in London and on tour.
Among other roles, she was Clemency Warlock in Cynara (1930), Wanda Heriot in The Pelican (1931), Lucy Haydon in Dr. Pygmalion (1932), Carola in The Firebird (1932), Jane Claydon in The Rats of Norway (1933), Mariella Linden in The Shining Hour in 1934 and 1935, in London and New York and on tour (at the same time making her first "talkie" film, The Iron Duke
The Iron Duke (film)
The Iron Duke is a 1934 British historical film directed by Victor Saville and starring George Arliss, Ellaline Terriss, Gladys Cooper and Peter Gawthorne...
), also playing Desdemona and Lady Macbeth on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1935. She was Dorothy Hilton in Call it a Day, again in both London and New York, from 1935 to 1936. A highlight of 1937 was Laura Lorimer in Goodbye to Yesterday in London and on tour. In 1938, she played Tiny Fox-Collier in Spring Meeting in New York, Montreal and Britain, as well as several Shakespeare roles and Fran Dodsworth in Dodsworth. She repeated Spring Meeting in 1939.
Later career
Cooper turned to film full-time in 1940, finding success in Hollywood in a variety of character roles and was frequently cast as a disapproving, aristocratic society woman, although she sometimes played lively, approachable types, as she did in Rebecca (1940). She was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for her performances as Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
's domineering mother in Now, Voyager
Now, Voyager
Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty....
(1942), a skeptical nun in The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
(1943), and Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
's mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964). Other notable film appearances included The Green Years
The Green Years (film)
The Green Years is a 1946 American comedy-drama film featuring Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Hume Cronyn, Gladys Cooper, Dean Stockwell, and Jessica Tandy, based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title...
(1946), The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (1949 film)
The Secret Garden is a 1949 US drama film. It is the second screen adaptation of the classic 1909 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett . The screenplay by Robert Ardrey was directed by Fred M. Wilcox...
(1949), Separate Tables
Separate Tables (film)
Separate Tables is a 1958 American drama film based on two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan that were collectively known by this name. It was directed by Delbert Mann, and adapted by Rattigan, John Gay and an uncredited John Michael Hayes. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes.The film took the...
(1958) and The Happiest Millionaire
The Happiest Millionaire
The Happiest Millionaire is a 1967 musical film starring Fred MacMurray and based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Costume Design by Bill Thomas. The musical song score is by Robert and Richard Sherman...
(1967) as Aunt Mary Drexel, singing "There Are Those".
Her only stage roles in the 1940s were Mrs. Parrilow in The Morning Star in Philadelphia and New York (1942) and Melanie Aspen in The Indifferent Shepherd in England (1948). She returned to theatre (between films) more often in the 1950s and 1960s, playing in London and on tour in such roles as Edith Fenton in The Hat Trick (1950); Felicity, Countess of Marshwood, in Relative Values
Relative Values
Relative Values is a 2000 British comedy film adaptation of the 1950s play of the same name by Noel Coward. It stars Julie Andrews, Colin Firth, William Baldwin, Stephen Fry and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and was directed by Eric Styles....
(1951 and 1953); Grace Smith in A Question of Fact (1953); Lady Yarmouth in The Night of the Ball (1954); Mrs. St. Maugham in The Chalk Garden
The Chalk Garden
The Chalk Garden is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered on Broadway in 1955. The play tells the story of Mrs. St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under Miss Madrigal's care. The setting of the play was inspired by Bagnold's own garden at North End House in Rottingdean, near...
(1955–56), Dame Mildred in The Bright One (1958); Mrs. Vincent in Look on Tempests (1960); Mrs. Gantry (Bobby) in The Bird of Time (1961); Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India (1962); Mrs Tabret in The Sacred Flame (1966 and 1967); Prue Salter in Let's All Go Down the Strand (1967); Emma Littlewood in Out of the Question (1968); Lydia in His, Hers and Theirs (1969); and others. She also had numerous television roles in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1967, at the age of 79, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(DBE). Her last major success on the stage was at age 82, in 1970–71 in the role of Mrs. St. Maugham in Enid Bagnold
Enid Bagnold
Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, CBE , known by her maiden name as Enid Bagnold, was a British author and playwright, best known for the 1935 story National Velvet which was filmed in 1944 with Elizabeth Taylor....
's The Chalk Garden, a role she had created on Broadway and in the West End in 1955–56.
Private life and last years
Cooper was thrice married:- Captain Herbert Buckmaster (12 December 1908–12 December 1921) (two children, John and Joan Buckmaster (1910–2005), who married the actor Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
). - English baronetBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
Sir Neville Pearson (1927–1936); (one daughter, Sally Pearson (aka Sally Cooper) who was married from 1961 to 1986 to the actor Robert HardyRobert HardyTimothy Sydney Robert Hardy, CBE, FSA is an English actor with a long career in the theatre, film and television. He is also an acknowledged expert on the longbow.-Early life:...
). - English actor Philip MerivalePhilip MerivalePhilip Merivale was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter....
(30 April 1937–12 March 1946). She lived for many years in Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, as a permanent resident alien with her third husband, until his death at age 59 from a heart ailment. Her stepson from this marriage was John MerivaleJohn MerivaleJohn Herman Merivale , also known as Jack Merivale, was a British theatre actor, and occasional supporting player in British films.-Biography:...
.
She lived mostly in the United Kingdom in her final years and died from pneumonia at the age of 82 in Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
, England.
Filmography
- The Eleventh CommandmentThe Eleventh CommandmentThe Eleventh Commandment is a novel by Jeffrey Archer, first published in 1998. The title refers to the rule Thou Shalt Not Get Caught.- Plot summary :...
(1913) - Danny Donovan, the Gentleman Cracksman (1914)
- The Real Thing at LastThe Real Thing at LastThe Real Thing at Last is a satirical silent movie based on the play Macbeth. It was written in 1916 by Peter Pan creator and playwright J. M. Barrie as a parody of the American film industry...
(1916) - The Sorrows of SatanThe Sorrows of SatanThe Sorrows of Satan is an 1895 faustian novel by Marie Corelli. It is widely regarded as one of the world's first bestsellers, partly due to an upheaval in the system British libraries used to purchase their books and partly due to its popular appeal...
(1917) - My Lady's Dress (1917)
- Masks and Faces (1917)
- Unmarried (1920)
- The Bohemian GirlThe Bohemian Girl (1922 film)The Bohemian Girl is a 1922 British romance film directed by Harley Knoles and starring Gladys Cooper, Ivor Novello and C. Aubrey Smith. It was inspired by the opera The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe and Alfred Bunn which was in turn based on a novel by Cervantes.-Cast:* Gladys Cooper -...
(1922) - Bonnie Prince CharlieBonnie Prince Charlie (1923 film)Bonnie Prince Charlie is a 1923 British silent historical film directed by Charles Calvert.-Cast:*Ivor Novello as Prince Charles Stuart*Gladys Cooper as Flora MacDonald*A.B...
(1923) - The Iron DukeThe Iron Duke (film)The Iron Duke is a 1934 British historical film directed by Victor Saville and starring George Arliss, Ellaline Terriss, Gladys Cooper and Peter Gawthorne...
(1934) - Rebecca (1940)
- Kitty FoyleKitty Foyle (film)Kitty Foyle, subtitled The Natural History of a Woman, is a 1940 film starring Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig, Ernest Cossart and Gladys Cooper.-Plot:...
The Natural History of a Woman (1940) - A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)
(scenes deleted) - That Hamilton WomanThat Hamilton WomanThat Hamilton Woman, originally titled Lady Hamilton, is a 1941 black-and-white British historical film drama which takes place during the Napoleonic wars, produced and directed by Alexander Korda for Alexander Korda Films.-Production:...
(1941) - The Black CatThe Black Cat (1941 film)The Black Cat is a 1941 film based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Actor Bela Lugosi also appeared in the 1934 adaptation of the story. The comedy/horror film was directed by Albert S. Rogell, and starred Basil Rathbone.-Main cast:...
(1941) - The Gay FalconThe Gay FalconThe Gay Falcon is the first in a series of films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. The 1941 B film was intended by RKO Radio Pictures to introduce a replacement for The Saint, after RKO decided that renewing the film rights to the latter character would be too expensive...
(1941) - Eagle SquadronEagle squadronThe Eagle Squadrons were 3 fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force formed during World War II with volunteer pilots from the United States...
(1942) - This Above All (1942)
- Now, VoyagerNow, VoyagerNow, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty....
(1942) - Mr. LuckyMr. Lucky (film)Mr. Lucky is a 1943 film directed by H.C. Potter, starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. It tells the story of a romance between a shady gambler and a wealthy socialite in the early days of World War II....
(1943) - Forever and a Day (1943)
- Princess O'RourkePrincess O'RourkePrincess O'Rourke is a 1943 romantic comedy film. It was directed and written by Norman Krasna and starring Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings and Charles Coburn...
(1943)
- The Song of BernadetteThe Song of Bernadette (film)The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
(1943) - The White Cliffs of DoverThe White Cliffs of Dover (1944 film)The White Cliffs of Dover is a 1944 film made by Loew's and MGM. It was directed by Clarence Brown and produced by Clarence Brown and Sidney Franklin. The screenplay was by Claudine West, Jan Lustig and George Froeschel, based on the Alice Duer Miller poem titled The White Cliffs with additional...
(1944) - Mrs. ParkingtonMrs. ParkingtonMrs. Parkington is a 1944 drama film. It tells the story of a woman's life, told in flashbacks, from hotel maid to society matron. The movie was adapted by Polly James and Robert Thoeren from the novel by Louis Bromfield...
(1944) - The Valley of DecisionThe Valley of DecisionThe Valley of Decision is a film set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in the late 19th century. It tells the story of a young Irish house maid who falls in love with the son of her employer, a local steel mill owner...
(1945) - Love LettersLove Letters (1945 film)Love Letters is a 1945 film adapted by Ayn Rand from the novel Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie. It was directed by William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper and Anita Louise...
(1945) - The Green YearsThe Green Years (film)The Green Years is a 1946 American comedy-drama film featuring Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Hume Cronyn, Gladys Cooper, Dean Stockwell, and Jessica Tandy, based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title...
(1946) - Beware of PityBeware of PityBeware of Pity is a 1946 British romantic drama film starring Lilli Palmer, Albert Lieven and Cedric Hardwicke. It is based on the novel of the same name by Stefan Zweig...
(1946) - The Cockeyed MiracleThe Cockeyed MiracleThe Cockeyed Miracle is a 1946 fantasy film about a ghost who, with the help of his father , stops his best friend from leaving his family penniless. The ghosts are played by Frank Morgan and Keenan Wynn, the villain by Cecil Kellaway...
(1946) - Green Dolphin StreetGreen Dolphin StreetGreen Dolphin Street is a 1947 historic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Plot summary:In the 1840s, two sisters fall in love with the same man...
(1947) - The Bishop's WifeThe Bishop's WifeThe Bishop's Wife is a 1947 Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven in a story about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems. It was released by RKO. The film was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert E...
(1947) - HomecomingHomecomingHomecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
(1948) - The PirateThe PirateThe Pirate is a 1948 American musical feature film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. With songs by Cole Porter, it stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly with co-stars Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, and George Zucco.-Plot:...
(1948) - The Secret GardenThe Secret Garden (1949 film)The Secret Garden is a 1949 US drama film. It is the second screen adaptation of the classic 1909 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett . The screenplay by Robert Ardrey was directed by Fred M. Wilcox...
(1949) - Madame BovaryMadame Bovary (1949 film)Madame Bovary is a 1949 film adaptation of the classic novel of the same name by Gustave Flaubert. It stars Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin , Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby and Gladys Cooper....
(1949) - Thunder on the HillThunder on the HillThunder on the Hill is a 1951 mystery drama film made by Universal International Pictures. It was directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Michael Kraike, from a screenplay by Oscar Saul and Andrew Solt, based on the play Bonaventure by Charlotte Hastings. The music score was by Hans J. Salter and...
(1951) - At Sword's PointAt Sword's PointAt Sword's Point is a 1952 Technicolor Drama directed by Lewis Allen, starring Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. The film was completed in 1949, but was not released until 1952....
(1952) - The Man Who Loved RedheadsThe Man Who Loved RedheadsThe Man Who Loved Redheads is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Moira Shearer, John Justin and Roland Culver. The film is based on the play Who is Sylvia? by Terence Rattigan.-Cast:...
(1955) - Separate TablesSeparate Tables (film)Separate Tables is a 1958 American drama film based on two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan that were collectively known by this name. It was directed by Delbert Mann, and adapted by Rattigan, John Gay and an uncredited John Michael Hayes. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes.The film took the...
(1958) - The List of Adrian MessengerThe List of Adrian MessengerThe List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 black and white crime thriller about a retired British intelligence officer investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. It is directed by acclaimed film director John Huston...
(1963) - My Fair LadyMy Fair Lady (film)My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964) - The Happiest MillionaireThe Happiest MillionaireThe Happiest Millionaire is a 1967 musical film starring Fred MacMurray and based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Costume Design by Bill Thomas. The musical song score is by Robert and Richard Sherman...
(1967) - A Nice Girl Like MeA Nice Girl Like MeA Nice Girl Like Me is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Desmond Davis. The plot revolves around a girl who lives with her shrewd aunts, goes on a trip, gets pregnant, and must lie to her aunts that the baby is not hers.-Cast:...
(1969)
Television
Among many other appearances, she starred in the 1960s in The RoguesThe Rogues (TV series)
The Rogues is an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964 to April 18, 1965, starring David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Gig Young as a related trio of former conmen who could, for the right price, be persuaded to trick a very wealthy and very unscrupulous mark...
with David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
, Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
, Gig Young
Gig Young
Gig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...
, Robert Coote
Robert Coote
Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.-Biography:Coote was educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex...
, John Williams
John Williams (actor)
John Williams was an English stage, film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as chief inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder, and as portraying the second "Mr...
and Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
. For this, she won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
in 1965.
She also appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
. In the first, entitled "Nothing in the Dark
Nothing in the Dark
"Nothing in the Dark" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:A lonely old woman, Wanda Dunn, will not leave her seemingly abandoned, dark basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. There is an altercation outside;...
" (1962), she plays an old lady who refuses to leave her apartment for fear of meeting Death. A young policeman (Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
) is shot at her doorstep and persuades her to let him in. Her second appearance was in the episode "Passage on the Lady Anne
Passage on the Lady Anne
"Passage on the Lady Anne" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Six years into a troubled marriage, a young couple hopefully embark on a second honeymoon and their last chance at reconciliation...
", which aired on 9 May 1963. Her final episode was in 1964, in "Night Call
Night Call
"Night Call" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It, like the episode "Twenty Two", is based on an urban legend. -Synopsis:...
", portraying a difficult, lonely old lady who is besieged by late-night phone calls, which she learns too late are from the ghost of her long-dead fiancé.