Gladys Cooper

Dame Gladys Constance Cooper (December 18, 1888 - November 17, 1971) was an English actress, who was knighted for her services to the theatre. She was born in Chiswick, London, England and made her stage d?but in 1905 in Bluebell in Fairyland. It was not until 1922, however, that she found major success, in Arthur Wing Pinero's The Second Mrs. Tanqueray. 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.

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She 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 (movie) and was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances as Bette Davis's pathologically repressive mother in Now, Voyager; as a sceptical nun in The Song of Bernadette; and as "Mrs. Higgins" in My Fair Lady. She had 3 children from her first two marriages. Gladys Cooper's elder daughter Joan Buckmaster (1910-2005) married the actor Robert Morley. Her younger daughter, Sally Pearson (aka Sally Cooper) married the actor Robert Hardy.

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She lived for many years in Santa Monica, California, essentially as a permanent resident alien with her third husband, British actor Philip Merivale to whom she was married from April 30, 1937 until March 12, 1946, when he died at the age of 59 from a heart ailment. She herself eventually returned to the UK for her final years. She died from pneumonia at the age of 82 in England.

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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."

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December 18: December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 13 days remaining....

1888: 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). In Germany, 1888 is known as the 1888 Year of Three Emperors....

1971: 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar)....

Gladys Cooper related Images and Photos (experimental)

Gladys Knight	Alice Cooper	Tommy Cooper	Chris Cooper
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Gary Cooper Print	Alice Cooper - Medusa	Alice Cooper - Prescription	Alice Cooper - Prescription