Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper DBE ( born December 18, 1888 in Lewisham, England; † November 17, 1971 in Henley -on-Thames, England) was a British film and stage actress.
Life
Gladys Cooper was the oldest of three daughters of journalist William Frederick Cooper (1844-1939) and his wife Mabel Barnett ( 1861-1944 ). She grew up in London's Chiswick, by the way she worked as a child as a model. Later she was the age of fifteen her theater debut, and was a few years later a celebrated stage star in her home country. Most of them occurred in pieces of Edwardianschen theater, which had specialized in musical comedies, but in addition they also appeared in more serious pieces. During the First World War it was a popular pin-up girl of the British troops because of their good looks. In 1919 she took over the management of the renowned London Playhouse Theatre, a task which she held until 1932. Then she moved to New York's Broadway, where she played regularly in the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1913, Cooper had given her film debut in the British silent film, until the early 1920s, she appeared there in nine films in main roles. Her Hollywood debut in 1940 in the role of the sister of Laurence Olivier in Alfred Hitchcock's film based on the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. They quickly established itself as a popular Supporting Actress in motherly roles. Three times she was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress: 1942 as the dominant mother of Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, a year later for the role of a nun in The Song of Bernadette and 1964 for the elaborate film version of My Fair Lady. Ultimately, you remained this award but failed. Gladys Cooper played a total of over 30 movies, to old age she commuted between engagements in London, on Broadway and in Hollywood. Also, in the emerging medium of television they had numerous minor roles. There, she was seen in an episode of the television series The Two 1971 in her last role.
In 1967 she was nominated for her achievements by Queen Elizabeth II for Lady Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Gladys Cooper was married three times. From the first marriage to Captain Herbert Buckmaster their daughter Joan Buckmaster (1910-2005) emerged, who was married to actor Robert Morley. The daughter from her marriage to Sir Neville Pearson, Sally Pearson, was the wife of actor Robert Hardy. In his third marriage Cooper was romantically involved with her British fellow actor Philip Merivale.