Chris Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri and studied Drama at the University of Missouri. Pursuing his acting studies, he moved to New York and was tutored by Stella Adler as well as Wynn Handman at the American Place Theatre. He was directed by Harold Prince in the off-Broadway production of Sweet Bird of Youth.

His television credits are extensive and he is recognized for his work in the mini-series Lonesome Dove and Return to Lonesome Dove. He has also appeared on Law and Order.

Cooper made his film debut in Matewan. Critics hailed his performance, but the film itself was not well received. Later, he appeared in Boys, Lone Justice, Guilty by Suspicion, Money Train and A Thousand Pieces of Gold.

Cooper has done several movies with acclaimed filmmaker John Sayles, who directed him in Matewan, a story about the West Virginia Mining War of 1920. Sayles is known for quietly intense treatments of non-Hollywoodish themes, such as a mystery set along the U.S.-Mexican border in Lone Star, which also stars Cooper. (Movie buffs will recognize Sayles for his hauntingly beautiful The Secret of Roan Inish, set on the Irish seacoast.)

Cooper has been working steadily, playing Robert Redford's brother in The Horse Whisperer (1998), Frank in American Beauty (1999), Harry Burwell in The Patriot (2000) and Conklin in The Bourne Identity(2002). His performance in Adaptation won him not only an Oscar and a Golden Globe, but numerous awards from film critics societies all over the world. Showing his almost chameleon-like ability to completely alter his appearance and demeanor for a role, he again won much praise when he next played horse trainer Tom Smith in Seabiscuit (2003).

Cooper lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Marianne Leone and their son, Jesse Cooper.

Filmography:
1987 - Matewan
1987 - The Equalizer
1988 - American Playhouse
1988 - Miami Vice
1989 - Lonesome Dove
1990 - Lifestories
1991 - Guilty by Suspicion
1991 - Thousand Pieces of Gold
1991 - Darrow
1991 - To the Moon, Alice
1991 - City of Hope
1992 - Bed of Lies
1992 - Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life
1993 - This Boy's Life
1993 - Return to Lonesome Dove
1994 - One More Mountain
1995 - Pharaoh's Army
1995 - Money Train
1996 - Law & Order
1996 - Boys
1996 - Lone Star
1996 - A Time to Kill
1997 - Breast Men
1998 - Great Expectations
1998 - The Horse Whisperer
1999 - The 24 Hour Woman
1999 - October Sky
1999 - American Beauty
2000 - Me, Myself & Irene
2000 - The Patriot
2002 - Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road
2002 - The Bourne Identity
2002 - Adaptation.
2003 - My House in Umbria
2003 - Seabiscuit
2004 - Silver City
2004 - The Bourne Supremacy
2005 - Capote
2005 - Jarhead
2005 - Syriana
2007 - Breach
2007 - The Kingdom
2007 - Married Life
2008 - American Experience
2009 - New York, I Love You
2009 - Where the Wild Things Are
2010 - The Tempest
2010 - The Company Men
2010 - Remember Me
2010 - The Town
2010 - Bloom: the Plight of Lake Champlain
2011 - The Muppets
2012 - The Company You Keep
2012 - Bloom: the Emergence of Ecological Design
2013 - August: Osage County
2014 - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
2015 - Demolition

Source: Biyografiler.com