Christopher W. Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s, having appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including American Beauty, Capote, October Sky, and Seabiscuit.
Chris Cooper (born December 27, 1977 in Lincoln, Nebraska) is an American football defensive lineman who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nebraska-Omaha.
Educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper has appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately (1980)", off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith (1983)" and "A Different Moon (1983)". He debuted in films in the John Sayles movie Matewan (1987). Although his performance was well received, the picture was not successful. Other films he has appeared in include Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Money Train (1995) and Time to Kill, A (1996). On television, Cooper has been featured in the mini-series "Lonesome Dove" (1989) (mini) and "Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993) (mini), 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 (1996), where he plays Sam Deeds, the sheriff whose lawman father becomes a posthumous suspect in a murder investigation.
