Elizabeth Cooper (born Isabel Rosario Cooper; January 15, 1914 (or 1909/1912) – June 29, 1960) was a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

film actress,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

dancer, and singer. In addition to her brief movie career, Cooper was also known for being the mistress of U.S.

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

. Born in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, she was famous for the first onscreen kiss in Philippine cinema for the movie, '' Ang Tatlong Hambog'' (1926) when she was around the age of 12. In the 1930s, she met General Douglas MacArthur and became his paramour when she was around the age of 16 (or 18/21) and he was in his 50s. He arranged for her to follow him to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

While serving as Army Chief of Staff in the 1930s, MacArthur filed a libel action against a journalist at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Drew Pearson. When Pearson added Cooper to his list of witnesses to be deposed, MacArthur dropped the suit. MacArthur subsequently paid Cooper $15,000 to leave Washington, the money allegedly delivered by his aide,

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. However, she did not return to the Philippines, and after a few failed attempts in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and a hair dressing shop in the Midwest, she committed suicide in 1960.

Personal life

Elizabeth was born ''Isabel Rosario Cooper'' to what may have been a Scottish father Arthur Edmund Cooper and a Chinese-Filipina mother Rosario Lopez, who was a haciendera (farm estate owner) from

Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental Vallehermoso, officially the Municipality of Vallehermoso (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 40,779 people. Main source of livelihood is through fishin ...

. Her death certificate however lists her father as Isaac Cooper and her mother's name as Josephine. She was nicknamed "Dimples". As a teenager, she traveled Southeast Asia as a

torch singer ''Torch Singer'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Paramount Pictures film directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes and starring Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez, David Manners and Lyda Roberti. The screenplay was written by Lenore J. Coffee ...

/ entertainer.

Film career

Isabel appeared in a few B-grade Filipino films starting in 1925, under the screen name "Chabing". Two of her films were ''Miracles of Love'' (1925) and ''Ang Tatlong Hambog'' (1926). In the latter film, Cooper made history with Luis Tuason when they performed the very first kissing scene in a

Philippine film The cinema of the Philippines began with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on August 31, 1897, at the ''Salón de Pertierra'' in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniar ...

. She was just around 12 years old at the time. She did not act in any Filipino films after 1930, although the 1941 Tagalog film ''Ikaw Pala'' is sometimes wrongly attributed to her. "Ikaw Pala" had another actress named Cresencia Aligada acting in it in a supporting role; Aligada also went by the screen name "Dimples," hence the mistaken identity. After her 1934 break-up with MacArthur, Cooper attempted to find roles in Hollywood, landing some smaller bit roles under the stage name "Chabing" including ''The Chinese Ring'' (1947), ''The Art of Burlesque'' (1950), and ''I Was an American Spy'' (1951).

Relationship with Douglas MacArthur

In 1930, at the age of 16 (or 18/21), Cooper met the American General

, then commander of all U.S. troops in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. MacArthur's marriage had ended a year earlier. Cooper became his mistress in Manila, a fact the 50-year-old MacArthur hid from his 80-year-old mother. In Manila, the teenaged Cooper lived in Paco. Five months after they first met, MacArthur returned to the United States; while he intended to bring her to Washington, he could not risk scandal by traveling with her, so he bought her a ticket on a ship to arrive after him. She arrived in Washington and ended up ensconced in an apartment in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. MacArthur later moved her to the Chastleton Hotel (now a co-op building). According to one biographer of MacArthur,

William Manchester William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...

, MacArthur "showered ooperwith presents and bought her many lacy tea gowns, but no raincoat. She didn't need one, he told her; her duty lay in bed." In 1933, when the secret affair threatened to become public, MacArthur brought it to an end, reportedly giving her $15,000 and a ticket back to the Philippines. She did not use the ticket and never returned to the Philippines. In 1934, the 20-year-old (or 22/25-year-old) Cooper moved to the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, where she owned a hairdressing salon, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

several years later. Cooper tried to find work as an actress in

; however, the only roles that she could manage were those as an extra, such as a geisha and a Filipina nurse in films. In 1946, she was one of Rex Harrison's concubines in '' Anna and the King of Siam''. In '' Unconquered'', she was an unidentified and uncredited Native American.

Death

Cooper committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates in 1960. She was 46 (or 48/51) years old. She was buried on July 5, 1960, in Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

Filmography

* 1925 ''Miracles of Love'' * 1926 '' Ang Tatlong Hambog'' * 1927 ''Fate or Consequence'' * 1947 ''The Chinese Ring'' * 1950 ''The Art of Burlesque'' * 1951 ''I Was an American Spy''

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Elizabeth 1914 births 1960 suicides 1960 deaths Douglas MacArthur Drug-related suicides in California Barbiturates-related deaths Filipino emigrants to the United States Filipino film actresses Filipino silent film actresses Actresses from Manila Filipino people of American descent Filipino people of Chinese descent Filipino people of Dutch descent Filipino people of Scottish descent 20th-century Filipino actresses People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)