Chris Cooper

Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, Breach and Adaptation., for which he won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Biography
Educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper has appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately", off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith" and "A Different Moon". He debuted in films in the John Sayles movie Matewan. Although his performance was well received, the picture was not successful. Other films he has appeared in include Guilty by Suspicion, Money Train and A Time to Kill. On television, Cooper has been featured in the mini-series Lonesome Dove and Return to Lonesome Dove, as July Johnson. He has also appeared in a number of Television Movies. In 1996, he appears in his third John Sayles movie Lone Star, where he plays Sam Deeds, the sheriff whose lawman father becomes a posthumous suspect in a murder investigation.

Personal life
Cooper resides in Kingston, Massachusetts, with his wife, Marianne Leone Cooper, whom he married in 1983. In 1987, their son Jesse Lanier Cooper was born. Three months premature, Jesse developed a cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral palsy. After searching for the best schools for children with special needs, Cooper and Leone moved to Kingston, where they became strong advocates for exceptional children. Jesse was eventually mainstreamed into Silver Lake Regional High School, where he became an honor student. On January 3, 2005, Jesse Cooper died from SUDEP. A memorial fund was set up in his name, the Jesse Cooper Foundation.