MELVILLE COOPER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Melville Cooper was born on October 15th, 1896 in Birmingham, England with the birth name George Melville Cooper, born to W.C. J. and Frances Cooper.  He was raised in England and as a teenager he began to develop an interest in acting.
 
At the age of eighteen he debuted in his first professional stage production at Stratford-Upon-Avon.  He then had to take a break from pursuing a career as an actor to service for his country during World War I and for a brief time was captured by the Germans and made a prisoner of War.
 
Upon his release and completion of duty he returned back to his love of the theater.  Soon he began adding appearances in such stage productions as, "The Farmer's Wife", "Back to Methuselah", "the Third Finger" and "Journey's End".
 
Now with quite a bit of stage experience on his resume he began to take a chance at the film industry in England.  Some of his early roles included, "Black Coffee" (1931) co-starring Austin Trevor, Adrianne Allen, Richard Cooper, Philip Strange, Elizabeth Allan, C.V. France, Marie Wright, Dino Galvani and Michael Shepley, "The Private Life of Don Juan" (1934) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon, Diane Napier, Owen Nares, Heather Thatcher and Binnie Barnes and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1934) starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Nigel Bruce, Anthony Bushell, Bramwell Fletcher, Walter Rilla, Mabel Terry-Lewis and Raymond Massey. 

Cooper then felt he was now ready to make the move to the united States and pursue acting there.  He began with his first Broadway appearance on, "Laburnum Grove" in 1935 followed by roles in, "Jubilee" and "Tovarich".

Hollywood was now showing an interest in him and he began to appear in more prominent features such as, "The Bishop Misbehaves" (1935) with Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lucile Watson, Andy Clyde, Lilian Bond, Reginald Owen, Duddley Digges and Norman Foster, "Four's a Crowd" (1938) starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles, Hugh Herbert, Margaret Hamilton, Joseph Crehan, Franklin Pangborn, Lana Turner, Carole Landis, Gloria Blondell and Walter Connolly, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) starring alongside Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Montague Love, Una O'Connor, Robert Warwick, Alan Hale Sr. and Claude Rains, "Too Many Husbands" (1940) with Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Harry Davenport, Edgar Buchanan, Tom Dugan and Dorothy Peterson, "The Lady Eve" (1941) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, Martha O'Driscoll, Eric Blore and William Demarest, "And Baby Makes Three" (1949) starring Robert Young, Barbara Hale, Robert Hutton, Janis Carter, Billie Burke, Lloyd Corrigan, Howland Chamberlain and Nicholas Joy, "The Petty Girl" (1950) starring Robert Cummings, Joan Caulfield, Elsa Lanchester, Tippi Hedren, Audrey Long, Mary Wickes, John Ridgely and Frank Orth and "Father of the Bride" (1950) starring alongside Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke and Leo G. Carroll.
 
In addition to his stage and film work he also broke into the television industry appearing on such series as, "Musical Comedy Time", "Starlight Theatre", "Curtain Call", "Kraft Theatre", "Climax!", "The Red Skelton Hour", "West Point", "Playhouse 90", "Buckskin", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Telephone Time", "Shirley Temple Theater", "Whirlybirds" and his final television role in, "The Best of the Post" in 1961. 

Towards the end of his career he mainly focused on stage work and appeared in such productions as, "My Fair Lady", "Pellinore", "Camelot", "The Importance of Earnest" and "Charley's Aunt".

Melville Cooper married a total of three times throughout his lifetime.  First to Gladys Grice very briefly and when this marriage ended he married, Rita Page and they had one child together and remained married until she passed away in 1954.  He then wed Elizabeth Sutherland and they stayed together until he passed away on March 31st, 1973 from cancer in Woodland Hills, California. 

Filmography

1961         The Best of the Post 
1960         Dow Hour of Great Mysteries 
1959         Whirlybirds
1959         The United States Steel Hour 
1958         From the Earth to the Moon
1958         Buckskin 
1958         Shirley Temple Theatre 
1958         Suspicion
1957         The Californians
1957         The Story of Mankind
1957         Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1957         Playhouse 90 
1957         Studio 57
1957         West Point
1956         Bundle of Joy
1956         Around the World in Eighty Days
1956         Telephone Time 
1956         The Red Skelton Hour 
1956         Diane
1956         The Corn Is Green 
1951-1955     Lux Video Theatre 
1955         Mystery Is My Business
1955         The King's Thief
1955         Moonfleet
1954         Climax!
1954         Schlitz Playhouse 
1954         It Should Happen to You
1953         Armstrong Circle Theatre 
1953         Ponds Theater 
1952-1953     Broadway Television Theatre 
1953         Studio One in Hollywood 
1952-1953     Robert Montgomery Presents 
1953         Eye Witness
1953         The Plymouth Playhouse
1952         Kraft Theatre
1952         Curtain Call
1952         Celanese Theatre
1952         The Return of Gilbert & Sullivan 
1951         Fireside Theatre 
1951         Starlight Theatre 
1950-1951     Musical Comedy Time 
1950         Let's Dance
1950         The Petty Girl
1950         The Underworld Story
1950         Father of the Bride
1949         And Baby Makes Three
1949         Love Happy
1949         The Red Danube
1949         The Adventure of the Speckled Band 
1949         Your Show Time
1948         Enchantment
1947         The Imperfect Lady
1947         13 Rue Madeleine
1946         Heartbeat
1945         Sham
1943         My Kingdom for a Cook
1943         Holy Matrimony
1943         Hit Parade of 1943
1943         Immortal Sergeant
1942         Random Harvest
1942         Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942         The Affairs of Martha
1942         This Above All
1941         You Belong to Me
1941         The Flame of New Orleans
1941         Scotland Yard
1941         The Lady Eve
1940         Murder Over New York
1940         Pride and Prejudice
1940         Escape to Glory
1940         Rebecca
1940         Too Many Husbands
1939         Two Bright Boys
1939         The Sun Never Sets
1939         Blind Alley
1939         I'm from Missouri
1938         The Dawn Patrol
1938         Dramatic School
1938         Comet Over Broadway
1938         Hard to Get
1938         Garden of the Moon
1938         Four's a Crowd
1938         Gold Diggers in Paris
1938         The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938         Women Are Like That
1937         Tovarich
1937         The Great Garrick
1937         Thin Ice
1937         Personal Property
1937         The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1936         The Gorgeous Hussy
1935         Rendezvous
1935         The Bishop Misbehaves
1934         The Scarlet Pimpernel
1934         The Private Life of Don Juan
1933         Leave It to Me
1933         Forging Ahead
1933         To Brighton with Gladys
1932         Wives Beware
1931         Bachelor's Folly
1931         Black Coffee
1930         All Quiet on the Western Front