Born January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a mother of Italian descent and a father of Irish descent, Bradly Cooper’s mother worked for the local NBC TV station, his father was a stockbroker. He moved to New York after graduating with top honors from Georgetown University in 1997. Studying drama at the Actors Studio, he performed The Elephant Man at Circle in the Square for his thesis.
Cooper made his professional acting debut in a 1999 episode of Sex and the City and his film debut in 2001’s Wet Hot American Summer. Mostly in guest starring roles on TV and supporting roles in films for the next eight years, his breakout role came in 2007’s The Hangover. He was second billed behind Liam Neeson in the 2010 hit, The A-Team before reprising his breakout role in 2011’s The Hangover Part II.
In 2012, Cooper co-starred with Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines, followed by Silver Linings Playbook opposite Jennifer Lawrence on which he was an executive producer. The film earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
The following year the actor received his second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor in American Hustle on which he was once again an executive producer. That same year he starred in The Hangover Part III, the final film in the series.
Graduating to full producer for 2014’s American Sniper, Cooper received his third and fourth Oscar nominations, one for Best Picture for producing it and the other for Best Actor. That same year he was also in two other hit films, Guardians of the Galaxy for which he provided the voice of Rocket and Serena. In 2015, he supported Jennifer Lawrence in Joy and in 2017 he reprised his 2014 voice role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and did so again in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. That same year he playing a supporting role in The Mule for his American Sniper director Clint Eastwood.
In addition to working for other directors in 2018, Cooper made his own directorial debut with the fourth film version of A Star Is Born for which he earned an additional three Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Actor, and Director. In 2019, he once again reprised his voice role as Rocket in Avengers: Endgame and received an eighth Oscar nomination for producing Best Picture nominee The Joker for which Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for Best Actor.
2021 was another busy year for the actor-prodcer. He had roles in two of the year’s nominees for a Best Picture Oscar. He has a supporting role in Licorice Pizza and starred in Nightmare Alley for which he received his ninth Oscar nomination to date for producing the film.
In 2022, Cooper once again voiced the character rocket, this time for the TV series, I Am Groot. Continuing with the series in 2023, he also reprised the role in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.
The end of the year in 2023 saw the release of Cooper’s dream project, Maestro for which he is again in contention for various awards including possible Oscar nominations for best Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay.
Bradley Cooper remains one of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars as he approaches his 49th birthday in 2024.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012), directed by David O. Russell
Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, and four actors, Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Jacki Weaver, it won one for Lawrence as Best Actress. She plays the wacky girlfriend of Cooper who plays a former teacher who moves back in with his parents after a stint in a mental institution. The comedy-drama was a huge hit for writer-director Russell who was nominated for both writing and directing after being nominated solely for directing 2010’s The Fighter. He and Cooper would receive double nominations again for 2014’s American Hustle for which Cooper and Lawrence were nominated in support.
AMERICAN SNIPER (2014), directed by Clint Eastwood
Nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture and Actor, it won for Best Sound Editing. Cooper played real-life Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle whose pinpoint accuracy saved countless lives on the battlefield turning him into a legend. Back home after four tours of duty, he is unable to leave the war behind. The real Chris Kyle was murdered on February 2, 2013 at a shooting range while trying to help a veteran who was reported to have psychiatric problems, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.). Cooper wore Kyle’s walking shoes while making the film.
A STAR IS BORN (2018), directed by Bradley Cooper
Nominated for 8 Oscars including 3 for Cooper for writing, producing, and acting and two for Lady Gaga for Acting and writing the song “Shallow”, it won for Best Song. The film received a third acting nomination for Sam Elliott as Cooper’s mentor. This was the fourth version of the venerable story. The 1937 Janet Gaynor-Fredric March version was nominated for 7 Oscars and won one for Best Original Story. The 1954 Judy Garland-James Mason version was nominated for 6 Oscars and went home empty-handed. The 1976 Barbra Streisand-Kris Kristofferson version was nominated for 4 Oscars and won one for Best Song, “Evergreen”.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2020), directed by Guillermo del Toro
Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture for which Cooper was nominated as one of the producers, this remake of the 1947 classic starred Cooper in the role made famous by Tyrone Power with Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, and David Strathairn in the roles originated by Helan Walker, Joan Blondell, Taylor Holmes, Coleen Gray, Mike Mazurki, and Ian Keith, respectively. Willem Dafoe’s role was not featured in the original. Most of the early scenes were filmed after production was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic during which Cooper lost weight to appear younger.
MAESTRO (2023), directed by Bradley Cooper
Cooper is once again in speculation for Oscar glory for his writing, producing, acting, and directing this film about composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and his volatile relationship with wife, actress Felicia Montealegre (1922-1978) played by Carey Mulligan. The film eschews the usual biographical tropes of career highs while concentrating on the couple’s strained married life during which Bernstein had affairs with numerous men beginning with a five-year relationship with musician David Oppenheim (1922-2007) played by Matt Bomer. Oppenheimer later married three times beginning with a ten-year marriage to Judy Holliday.
BRADLEY COOPER AND OSCAR
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – nominated – Best Actor
American Hustle (2013) – nominated – Best Supporting Actor
American Sniper (2014) – nominated – Best Picture
American Sniper (2014) – nominated – Best Actor
A Star Is Born (2018) – nominated – Bast Picture
A Star Is Born (2018) – nominated – Best Actor
A Star Is Born (2018) – nominated – Best Screenplay
Joker (2019) – nominated – Best Picture
Nightmare Alley (2021) – nominated – Best Picture
