Gladys Cooper
in the Now, Voyager trailer (1942)
Birth name	Gladys Constance Cooper
Born	18 December 1888(1888-12-18) Chiswick, England
Died	17 November 1971 (aged 82) Henley-on-Thames, England

Dame Gladys Constance Cooper DBE (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an Oscar-nominated English actress. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Now, Voyager is a 1942 film which tells the story of a middle-aged spinster who, repressed by the domination of her mother, winds up in a sanatorium, where her self-confidence is boosted by an understanding psychiatrist. ... is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the toll-free telephone number see Toll-free telephone number Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Chiswick (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... , Henley-on-Thames is a town on the north side of the River Thames in south Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the toll-free telephone number see Toll-free telephone number Year 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Early life and career

Cooper was born in Lewisham, London, one of the three daughters of Charles William Frederick Cooper by his marriage to Mabel Barnett. Lewisham is a district in south-east London, England and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Lewisham. ...

She made her stage début in 1905 touring with Seymour Hicks in his musical Bluebell in Fairyland. The young beauty also was a popular photographic model. In 1906, she appeared in London in The Belle of Mayfair, and the following year she became a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, London. In 1911, she appeared in a production of The Importance of Being Ernest, and in 1913 she appeared in her first film, The Eleventh Commandment. 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. For other uses, see 1905 (disambiguation). ... Seymour Hicks Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 - 6 April 1949) was a British actor and music hall performer. ... The Belle of Mayfair is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton. ... The Gaiety Theatre, London was a musical theatre in Londons Strand area. ... The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic Comedy-of-Manners by Oscar Wilde. ... Frank Curzon (1869-1927), was an English actor who became an important theatre manager, the lessee of the Royal Strand Theatre, the Avenue Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre, Wyndhams Theatre, and The Playhouse Theatre. ...

Cooper appeared in W. Somerset Maugham's Home and Beauty in London in 1919. It was not until 1922, however, 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: "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." ^[1] Yet Maugham praised her for "turning herself from an indifferent actress to an extremely competent one" through her common sense and industriousness.^[2]. She also appeared in Maugham's The Letter in 1927. W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 1855- 23 November 1934) was an English dramatist. ... The Second Mrs Tanqueray is a play by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, first performed in 1893 and one of the most successful dramatic works of its day. ... Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. ... Galatea may refer to: Galatea (mythology), a nymph in Greek mythology 74 Galatea, an asteroid Galatea a village in the North Island of New Zealand Galatea (Justice League Unlimited), an evil clone of the cartoon version of Supergirl Galatea (Raphael) or The Triumph of Galatea, a Renaissance fresco Raphael Galatea... The Letter is a play by W. Somerset Maugham dramatised from a story which first appeared in his collection entitled The Casuarina Tree published in 1924. ...

Later career

Cooper found success in Hollywood in a variety of character roles and was most frequently cast as a disapproving, aristocratic society woman. She appeared in Rebecca, The Secret Garden, and The Green Years, and she was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances. These include Bette Davis's pathologically repressive mother in Now, Voyager, a skeptical nun in The Song of Bernadette, and Rex Harrison's mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady. ... Rebecca is an Academy Award–winning 1940 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project. ... The Secret Garden is a 1949 American drama film, the second screen adaptation of the classic 1909 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. ... This article is about the 1946 film. ... The Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the awards given to actresses working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... For the singer, see Betty Davis, for the meteorologist, see Betty Davis (meteorologist). ... Now, Voyager is a 1942 film which tells the story of a middle-aged spinster who, repressed by the domination of her mother, winds up in a sanatorium, where her self-confidence is boosted by an understanding psychiatrist. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1942 books | Books starting with S | 1943 films | Best Picture Oscar Nominee | Best Actress Oscar (film) | Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nominee (film) | Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nominee (film) ... Sir Reginald Carey Rex Harrison, KBE (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an Academy Award- and Tony Award-winning English theatre and film actor. ... My Fair Lady is an Academy Award-winning 1964 film adaptation of the stage musical, My Fair Lady, based in turn on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. ...

Her last major success on the stage was in the role of Mrs. St. Maugham in Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden, a role she created in London and on Broadway. In 1967 she appeared in London in Maugham's The Sacred Flame. In that year, at nearly 80 years of age, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of British Empire (DBE). She continued to act past her 80th birthday, including a memorable performance in 1971 in a revival of The Chalk Garden at the Haymarket Theatre. Enid Bagnold, Lady Jones (October 27, 1889 – March 31, 1981) was a British author and playwright, best known for the 1935 story National Velvet, filmed in 1944 with Elizabeth Taylor. ... The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold is: A 1955 Broadway play produced by Irene M. Selznick. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... The Sacred Flame (1928) was William Somerset Maughams 21st play, written at the age of 54. ... The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold is: A 1955 Broadway play produced by Irene M. Selznick. ... Haymarket Theatre, ca. ...

Private life

She was thrice married:

• 1) Captain Herbert Buckmaster 1908; (two children, including a daughter, Joan Buckmaster (1910 – 2005) who married the actor Robert Morley).
• 2) The English baronet Sir Neville Pearson (1927 – 1936); (one daughter, Sally Pearson (aka Sally Cooper) who was married from 1961 to 1986 to the actor Robert Hardy.
• 3) The English actor Philip Merivale (30 April 1937 – 12 March 1946). She lived for many years in Santa Monica, California, as a permanent resident alien with her third husband, until his death aged 59 from a heart ailment. Her stepson through this marriage was John Merivale.

She herself eventually returned to the United Kingdom for her final years. She appeared with Wendy Hiller and Leo Genn in Somerset Maugham's The Sacred Flame in London in 1967. She died from pneumonia at the age of 82 in Henley-on-Thames, England. Robert Morley CBE (May 26, 1908 – June 3, 1992) was an Oscar-nominated English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For the brush-footed butterfly species, see Euthalia nais. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge in the film Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy, CBE (born October 29, 1925) is one of Britains best-known and most popular actors, and also an acknowledged expert on the longbow. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 Rehutia, Manickpur, India – 12 March 1946 Los Angeles, California, USA) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Santa Monica (disambiguation). ... John Herman Merivale, often known as Jack Merivale, (December 1, 1917 &ndash February 6, 1990) was an actor. ... Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE (August 15, 1912 – May 14, 2003) was a distinguished English film and stage actress. ... Leo John Genn (August 9, 1905 – January 26, 1978) was an English actor on stage and in films. ... W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... The Sacred Flame (1928) was William Somerset Maughams 21st play, written at the age of 54. ... , Henley-on-Thames is a town on the north side of the River Thames in south Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

An old theatre anecdote recalls that in 1928, she appeared in the play Excelsior in which her sister Doris, a small-part actress who often travelled with Gladys and appeared in some of the same plays, was given a speaking part. On opening night, Doris was reduced to tears backstage after her first appearance, which was greeted by a low hiss from the audience. "Oh no, dear," a friend reassured her. "They're just all whispering to each other, 'She's Doris Cooper. She's Gladys Cooper's sister. Gladys Cooper's sister'." Look up Excelsior in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

She was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 1967. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander...

Television

Among many other appearances, she starred in the 1960s in The Rogues 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. The first, entitled "Nothing in the Dark", in 1962. In this episode 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 1964, in an episode entitled, Night Call. Here she plays an old lady who is besieged by late night phone calls from the ghost of her long-dead fiancée. She also appeared in a third and final episode, Passage on the Lady Anne, which aired on May 9th 1962. The Rogues was an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964 to April 18, 1965 and starred Charles Boyer, David Niven 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... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Charles Boyer (August 28, 1899 – August 26, 1978) was a French-American actor who starred in several classic Hollywood films, TV director and TV producer. ... Gig Young (November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Robert Coote (with Robert Ryan) in Berlin Express Robert Coote (February 4, 1909 - November 26, 1982) was a London-born film actor. ... John Williams (April 15, 1902 – May 5, 1983) was a British stage, film, and television actor. ... Larry Hagman (born on September 21, 1931) is a popular American actor who is famous for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony Nelson on the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. ... The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Twilight Zone title. ... “Nothing in the Dark” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... Robert Redford (born Charles Robert Redford, Jr. ... “Night Call” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ... “Passage on the Lady Anne” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gladys Cooper

• Gladys Cooper at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gladys Cooper at the Internet Movie Database

• Performances by Gladys Cooper listed in the Theatre Collection archive, University of Bristol

• Find-A-Grave profile for Gladys Cooper

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDb) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References

1. ^ Alduous Huxley. "A Good Farce." Athenaeum September 26, 1919: 956.
2. ^ W. Somerset Maugham. "Gladys Cooper." Plays and Players 1, 3 (December 1953): 4

• Without Veils, by Sewell Stokes, Peter Davis, London (1953).
• Gladys Cooper (1979), by Sheridan Morley
• Profile of Cooper