Gladys Cooper

Gladys Cooper was born to father William Frederick Cooper, a journalist and his wife, Mabel Barnett. She took birth in Lewisham in England on 18th of December 1888. As a child, when Cooper was at her age six, she had striking features which led her to become a photographic model. She dreamt of being an actress and started the journey in 1905 when Seymour Hicks discovered her potential. It was during Hicks tour “Bluebell in Fairyland” with his company that he met Gladys. She made her stage debut in London in “The Belle of Mayfair” in the year of 1906. In 1907, she took leave of stage acting to be a part of Gaiety Girls Chorus entertainment as a part of famous Gaiety Girls of Frank Curzon at the Gaiety Theater.

In 1911, she again shifted her focus to stage work to be a part of “The Importance of Being Ernest”, a comedy by Oscar Wilde. This resulted in many role offers for Gladys. She became known for her beauty, and her craze was so much that she featured on everything from postcards to pictures with other actors. This was during 1890 to 1914 that her beauty became synonymous with maidenly beauty. Her popularity was so pronounced that she was something of a fantasy figure for the Military of British during the World War 1.

In 1913, she tried her hand in the British Silent Film Industry with the film “The Eleventh Commandment”. She did more such roles for the next two years of 1916 and 1917. But later she undertook the management of Playhouse Theater with Frank Curzon. It was rare for women at that time to take up such roles. She went on to take full control of the Playhouse Theatre between 1927 and 1933, after which she left to work on her other commitments in Theatre. She also undertook the role of a producer and produced some plays of her own besides acting in a few. It was in the early 1920's that she received the status of a successful stage actress. In 1919, she worked in “Home and Beauty” by W. Somerset Maugham and received acclaim for her work in “The second Mrs Tanqueray” by Arthur Wing Pinero.

Writer Aldous Huxley was heard criticising Gladys performance in “Home and Beauty”. He described her performance as too statuesque and impassive as if she in unknown to the ways of the world. While she received much applaud from Maugham, who told her that she had transformed herself into a competent actress since her early days. She also played the role of Leslie Crosbie in “The Letter” by Maugham in 1927. In the year of 1934, she debuted in the Sound picture cinema in the UK before joining the Broadway work on “The Shinning Hour” in London. Her work garnered her more success and followed it with many more plays throughout 1938 including the famous “MacBeth”. She caught the eye of Hollywood where she spent almost three decades in the American Film Industry. Her first film there was also the first directorial venture in Hollywood of Alfred Hitchcock with the film “Rebecca” in 1940.

She played a small part of the lead’s sister, but she made her presence felt in the film. In 1942, she received a substantial role as a repressive and dominating mother in “Voyager Now”. She received the nomination of Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to receive two more Oscar nominations. She had several projects in Hollywood on in the 1940s. After this, she returned to stage work in London and did some British Tv episodic. She went on to work in both the British and Hollywood film industry.

After being part of more than four dozen films, stage shows and TV work that she passed away in England on 17th of November 1971 when she was 89 years of age. She left her journey as an autobiography in 1931 which inspired two biographies on her life in 1953v and 1979 respectively. In 1967, she received the award for Dame Commander of the Order of British Empire (DBE) for her acting accomplishments.