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 as Billy Flynn, Caroline, or Change in the dual role of The Bus and The Dryer, and Finian's Rainbow as Bill Rawkins, as well as benefit 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, 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.Amazing Grace on the Internet Broadway Database The musical is about John Newton, the redeemed slave-trader who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace". In 2021, he returned for the Broadway debut production of Alice Childress's 1955 play Trouble in Mind, at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre. For this performance, he has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
Personal life Cooper has three children—Eddie, Alex, and Lilli—from his first marriage. His son Eddie and daughter Lilli are also actors and have performed on television and on stage. In May 2009, Cooper and playwright Deborah Brevoort were married in Carmel, New York, after almost ten years of dating. Their initial meeting and eventual engagement were covered in a New York Times website video.
Stage credits Year Title Role Location Notes1982Colored People's TimeBert / Abner / Blind John / IsaacCherry Lane TheatreOff-Broadway1983Amen CornerBrother BoxerNederlander TheatreBroadway1985-1986The Tap Dance KidWilliamUS National Tour1988-1989RumorsWelchBroadhurst TheatreBroadway1989-1990Ethel Barrymore Theatre1991Four Short Operas, BreakMan 1 / Man in Dirty Dungeons / Cabbie / ManPlaywrights HorizonsOff-Broadway1993Someone Who'll Watch Over MeAdamBooth TheatreBroadway1994-1995Passionu/s Private Augenti / u/s Fosca's Father / u/s Lieutenant Barri / u/s Major Rizzolli / u/s Lieutenant TorassoPlymouth Theatre1995Police BoysCapt. Jabali Abdul LaRouchePlaywrights HorizonsOff-Broadway1996-1997Whistle Down the WindEd / EnsembleNational TheatreWashington, D.C.1997-1998The LifeMemphisEthel Barrymore TheatreBroadway1999Caroline, or ChangeDryer / BusThe Public TheaterOff-Broadway2001ChicagoBilly FlynnShubert TheatreBroadway2003-2004Caroline, or ChangeDryer / BusThe Public TheaterOff-Broadway2004Eugene O'Neill TheatreBroadway2005A Wonderful LifeUncle BillyShubert TheatreBroadway Concert2007Two Trains RunningMemphisOld Globe TheatreRegional2008HamletPoloniusShakespeare Theatre Company2009-2010Finian's RainbowBill RawkinsSt. James TheatreBroadway2011Lost in the StarsStephen KumaloNew York City CenterOff-BroadwayEncores!2013The Piano LessonWining BoySignature Theatre CompanyRegionalChoir BoyHeadmaster MarrowNew York City CenterOff-BroadwayRomeo and JulietCapuletRichard Rodgers TheatreBroadway2014Act OneWally / Charles Gilpin / Max Siegel / Langston HughesVivian Beaumont TheatreAmazing GraceThomas / PaketuhBank of America TheatreRegional2015Thomas / KeitaNederlander TheatreBroadway2016West Side StoryDoc / KrupkeCarnegie HallConcertThe Cherry OrchardPischikAmerican Airlines TheatreBroadway2017Prince of BroadwayPerformerSamuel J. Friedman Theatre2018Me and My GirlSir John TremayneNew York City CenterOff-BroadwayEncores!2018-2019Choir BoyHeadmaster MarrowSamuel J. Friedman TheatreBroadway2019Much Ado About NothingLeonatoThe Public TheaterOff-BroadwayRoad ShowPapa MiznerNew York City CenterOff-BroadwayEncores!Let 'Em Eat CakeMatthew FultonCarnegie HallConcert2020Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatJacobDavid Geffen Hall50th Anniversary Concert2021-2022Trouble in MindSheldon ForresterAmerican Airlines TheatreBroadway2023The FrogsCharonLincoln CenterConcert2024TitanicCaptain Edward John SmithNew York City CenterOff-BroadwayEncores!Two Gentlemen of VeronaDuke of MilanSymphony SpaceConcert2026The Winter's TaleOld Shepherd Delacorte TheatreShakespeare in the Park
References
External links
TonyAwards.com "Tony Memory" interview with Chuck Cooper