Chuck Cooper (born November 8, 1954) is an American actor. He won the 1997 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as the pimp Memphis in '' The Life''.

Career

Cooper made his Broadway debut in 1983 in the musical '' Amen Corner'', playing the role of Brother Boxer. He was an understudy in the original Broadway casts of his next three shows: '' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' (he eventually took over the role of Adam), '' Passion'', and ''Getting Away with Murder.'' Cooper won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as the pimp Memphis in the 1997 Broadway production of the musical '' The Life''. Cooper has also appeared in ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

'' as Billy Flynn, ''

Caroline, or Change ''Caroline, or Change'' is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music. The show ran both Off-Broadway and on Broa ...

'' as the dual role of The Bus and The Dryer, and '' Finian's Rainbow'' as Bill Rawkins, as well as

benefit Benefit or benefits may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Benefit'' (album), by Jethro Tull, 1970 * "Benefits" (''How I Met Your Mother''), a 2009 TV episode * ''The Benefit'', a 2012 Egyptian action film Businesses and organisation ...

performances of '' Hair'' and '' A Wonderful Life''. In February 2010 he was the narrator in the U.S. premiere of ''Seven Scenes from Hamlet'', by the Spanish composer

Benet Casablancas Benet Casablancas Domingo (born 2 April 1956 in Sabadell) is a Spanish Catalan composer and musicologist. Biography Casablancas started to study music in Barcelona's Conservatory of Music and privately with Josep Soler Sardà and then moved to ...

, at the Miller Theatre in Manhattan. In 2015, Cooper appeared on Broadway as the slave Thomas in the new musical ''Amazing Grace'', at the Nederlander Theatre. The musical is about

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...

, the redeemed slave-trader who wrote the hymn "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for bot ...

". In 2021, he returned for the Broadway debut production of Alice Childress's 1955 play ''Trouble in Mind'', at

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabeth ...

American Airlines Theatre The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling dif ...

. For this performance, he has been nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Personal life

Cooper has three children—Eddie, Alex, and Lilli—from his first marriage. His son Eddie has performed on television and on stage. In May 2009, Cooper and playwright

Deborah Brevoort Deborah Brevoort is an American playwright, librettist and lyricist best known for her play ''The Women of Lockerbie''. She teaches Creative Writing at several universities. Early years Brevoort was born in Columbus, Ohio to Virginia and Gordon ...

were married in

Carmel, New York Carmel (pronounced ) is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The town may have been named after Mount Carmel in Israel. The Town of Carmel is on the souther ...

, after almost ten years of dating. Their initial meeting and eventual engagement were covered in a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' website video.

References

External links

* * * *
TonyAwards.com "Tony Memory" interview with Chuck Cooper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Chuck 1954 births Living people American male film actors American male musical theatre actors African-American male actors Male actors from Cleveland Tony Award winners 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American people