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Ben Cooper

For other people named Ben Cooper, see Ben Cooper (disambiguation).

Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American actor of film and television who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in Westerns.[1]

Ben Cooper
Cooper in 1954
Born(1933-09-30)September 30, 1933
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedFebruary 24, 2020(2020-02-24) (aged 86)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationActor
Years active1939–1995
Spouse
Pamela R. Cooper
​
​
(m. 1960; died 2008)​
Children2

Stage

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Cooper appeared on Broadway in Life with Father (1939).[2] He debuted in the role of Harlan at age 9; before the play performances ended in 1943, Cooper had grown enough to play Whitney.[3]

Radio

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Cooper acted in thirty-four radio serials, many of them soap operas, in the era of old-time radio.[3]

Film and television career

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Cooper's earliest credited screen appearance was as an eighteen-year-old in 1952–1953 on the Armstrong Circle Theatre, then on NBC, in the two episodes "The Commandant's Clock" and "Changing Dream". Thereafter, he appeared in numerous films with Republic Pictures such as Thunderbirds, Johnny Guitar, The Last Command, Duel at Apache Wells (1956), and other films such as The Rose Tattoo.

Cooper began appearing on dozens of television Westerns. He was cast as Clint Harding, a young man intent on murdering his father, in the 1956 episode, "Vengeance Canyon" on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Walter Brennan and Sheb Wooley played outlaws, Joe and Brock, respectively, whom Clint encountered on the trail. Joe tries to convince Clint that vengeance is unproductive.[4]

He appeared in Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke (in 1962 as “Pitt”, a semi-outlaw trying to go straight and become a Doctor with “Doc Adam’s” help in S7E11’s “Apprentice Doc” and in 1965 as “Breck”, a more progressive thinking townsman in S10E36’s “Two Tall Men”), Bonanza, an episode of The Rifleman and Rawhide. He unsuccessfully tested in 1962 for the role of Steve Hill on NBC's 90-minute Western television series, The Virginian.[5] He played murderer Frank Wells in the 1961 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Impatient Partner," Davis Crane in the (1962) episode "The Case of the Promoter's Pillbox" and James Grover in "The Case of the Polka Dot Pony". He also played murderer Clyde Jasper in the (1965) episode "The Case of the Mischievous Doll" and Lowell Rupert in "The Case of the Baffling Bug".

Personal life

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Cooper was a native of Hartford, Connecticut,[1] then resided in the Greater Los Angeles area. He served in the US Army.[6]

After he was diagnosed with dementia, he moved to a memory care facility in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2017 to be near his family; he died there on February 24, 2020, at the age of 86.[7] He had two daughters by his late wife Pamela R. Cooper.

Cooper supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.[8]

Quotes

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They let me play cowboy, and they paid me [for it]. I’d ridden horses, I got my own horse when I was 12. I used to jump him bareback. I didn’t know they had stuntmen; I’d watch a movie and then practice on my horse until I could do [the stunt.] [9]

Filmography

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Film appearances

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Television appearances

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Cooper was a notable performer in many television Westerns. Cooper also appeared in television pilots for Command (1958), The Reno Brothers (1960), and The Freebooters (1967).[10] These performances include appearances in the following television Westerns:

References

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  1. ^ a b Rowan, Terry (2015). Who's Who In Hollywood. p. 74. ISBN 9781329074491.
  2. ^ "Ben Cooper". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b Bladen, Barbara (24 October 1959). "Ben Cooper to Star in Stanford's Prize Play". The Times. California, San Mateo. p. 29. Retrieved January 8, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ "Zane Grey Theatre". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  5. ^ Green, Paul (2014). A History of Television's The Virginian, 1962-1971. McFarland. p. 188. ISBN 978-0786457991.
  6. ^ "Ben Cooper, Actor in 'Johnny Guitar' and Lots of Other Westerns, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 February 2020.
  7. ^ Barnes, Mike (February 26, 2020). "Ben Cooper, Actor in 'Johnny Guitar' and Lots of Other Westerns, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Critchlow, Donald T. (2013-10-21). When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. ISBN 9781107650282.
  9. ^ "Ben Cooper, Actor in 'Johnny Guitar' and Lots of Other Westerns, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 February 2020.
  10. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2018). Encyclopedia of Unaired Television Pilots, 1945–2018, p. 31. McFarland. Retrieved 9 Oct 2018
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