Christopher Walton Cooper was born on the 9th July 1951, in Kansas City, Missouri USA, and is an actor, best known to the world for his roles in such films as “American Beauty” (1999), “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Adaptation” (2002), among many other differing roles.
Have you ever wondered how rich Chris Cooper is as of early 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Cooper’s net worth is as high as $10 million, earned through his successful career in the entertainment industry which began in the late ‘80s, during which he has won several prestigious awards, including Academy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards.
Chris Cooper Net Worth $10 Million
Chris is the son of Charles Cooper and his wife Mary Ann, nee Walton. Chris spent his childhood at his family’s cattle ranch near Leavenworth Kansas, and also lived for a while in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Houston. He attended high school in Kansas City, and during those years found his first job at a local theater company as a carpenter. Following his matriculation, Chris continued with his work in theater, only he changed the theater group, and still worked for his father at the cattle ranch.
He then enrolled at the University of Missouri-Columbia, majoring in set design, but in his sophomore year switched his major to acting. Slowly his acting classes became more frequent, and part from acting he also learnt how to dance at Stephens College.
Following his graduation, Chris moved to New York, and lived with four other young actors. While there he held several odd jobs in order to support himself, and took acting classes under Stela Adler and Wynn Handman. Before his career took-off, Chris worked with the Actors Theater of Louisville and Seattle Repertory.
His screen debut came in 1987, when he was cast as the lead in the John Sayles’ history drama “Matewan”, with James Earl Jones and Mary McDonnell. Two years later he portrayed July Johnson in the TV mini-series “Lonesome Dove”, next to such stars as Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones and Danny Glover among others. He repeated his role in the second installment of the show “Return to Lonesome Dove” in 1993. His net worth was now set.
In 1991 he had a role in the drama “Guilty by Suspicion”, starring Robert De Niro and Annette Bening, and then in 1996 featured in the thriller “A Time to Kill”, with Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson as the stars of the film. Also, the same year he starred in John Sayles’ Academy Award- nominated drama “Lone Star”. Two years later he portrayed Joe in the film based on Charles Dickens’ novel “Great Expectations”, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. The same year he appeared in Robert Redford’s Academy Award- nominated western drama “The Horse Whisperer”, and in 1999 played Colonel Fitts in Sam Mendes Academy Award- winning romantic drama “American Beauty”, starring Kevin Spacey, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari. His net worth was rising steadily.
Chris started the new millennium quite successfully, appearing in Roland Emmerich’s action drama “The Patriot” (2000) with Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger as leads, and in 2002 played Conklin in the action thriller “The Bourne Identity”, starring Mat Damon, and also in 2002 he portrayed John Laroche in the film “Adaptation”, the role that won him both Academy and Golden Globe Awards, and certainly added a substantial amount to his net worth. In 2003 he played Tom Smith in the film “Seabiscuit” with Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges, and then in 2005 appeared in the Stephen Gaghan’s thriller “Syriana” (2005). Two years later he starred in the drama “Breach” as Robert Hanssen, while the year 2010 was one of his busiest, appearing in several films including John Wells’ The Company Men”, Allen Coulter’s “Remember Me”, Ben Affleck’s “The Town”, and “The Tempest”, directed by Julie Taymor, all of which certainly added to his net worth.
Chris continued with his acting career in this decade, and has starred in such films as “August: Osage County” (2013), “Demolition” (2015), and “Coming Through the Rye” (2015). Currently, he is working on the film “Light on Broken Glass”, due for release in late 2017.
Regarding his personal life, he has been married to Marianne Leone since 1983; the couple had one son, Jesse, who was born prematurely and battled cerebral palsy throughout his life, which ended in 2005. In his honor, Chris has started the Jesse Cooper Foundation.
