Bradley Cooper
☼ Born on 5 December 1975, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
Bradley Charles Cooper was born on January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Gloria (Campano), is of Italian descent, and worked for a local NBC station. His father, Charles John Cooper, who was of Irish descent, was a stockbroker. Immediately after Bradley graduated from the Honors English program at Georgetown University in 1997, he moved to New York City to enroll in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the Actors Studio Drama School at New School University. There, he developed his stage work, culminating with his thesis performance as John Merrick in Bernard Pomerance's "The Elephant Man", performed in New York's Circle in the Square.
While still in school, Bradley began his professional career, appearing opposite Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City (1998) and on the drama series The Beat (2000). His weekends were spent with LEAP (Learning through the Expanded Arts Program), a non-profit organization that teaches acting and movement to inner city school children. The summers took him all across the globe, from kayaking in British Columbia with Orca Whales to ice-climbing in the Peruvian Andes, while hosting Lonely Planet's Treks in a Wild World (2000) for the Discovery Channel. Bradley had to miss his graduation ceremony from the Actors Studio in order to star in his first feature Wet Hot American Summer (2001). After finishing his second feature Bending All the Rules (2002), his plans to relocate to Los Angeles were delayed when Darren Star hired h
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im to star on the drama series The $treet (2000).
Bradley went on to win the role of young law student Gordon Pinella in Changing Lanes (2002), starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, and also played Travis Paterson in My Little Eye (2002). He finally decided that it was time to forgo his other New York projects and move to Los Angeles when he was cast on Alias (2001). After supporting roles in Wedding Crashers (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), The Comebacks (2007), The Rocker (2008) and Yes Man (2008), Cooper broke out with major roles in He's Just Not That Into You (2009), The Hangover (2009) and Valentine's Day (2010). He co-starred in the action film The A-Team (2010) and headlined the thriller film Limitless (2011).
Cooper received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor after starring opposite Jennifer Lawrence in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook (2012). He then received two more consecutive Oscar nominations, Best Supporting Actor for playing Richie DiMaso in Russell's American Hustle (2013) (again opposite Lawrence, though their characters shared no significant screen time), and Best Actor for playing Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2014), the highest grossing film of 2014. During this time period, Cooper also reprised his role in The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013), turned in another strong dramatic turn in The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), and voiced Rocket Raccoon in the third highest grossing film of 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
In 2015, Bradley headlined two comedies, Cameron Crowe's Aloha (2015), set in Hawaii, and John Wells' Burnt (2015), set in London, and starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence again in David O. Russell's Joy (2015).
Bradley has a daughter (born 2017) with his former partner, model Irina Shayk.
In the role of actor
Maestro (01/12/2023)
The life and marriage of conductor Leonard Bernstein is revisited in Maestro. In 1943, 25-year-old Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic, setting himself to be one of the first great American conductors. Despite being a gay man, Leonard falls for Costa Rican-Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), a […]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (05/05/2023)
The Guardians of the Galaxy go on one final mission together in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The Guardians of the Galaxy have established their headquarters in the colony of Knowhere, where Peter Quill, aka Starlord (Chris Pratt), has entered a depressed funk due to the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). However, Knowhere is […]
Licorice Pizza (24/12/2021)
A teenager becomes enamoured with an older woman during the summer of 1973 in Licorice Pizza. While in line for school photos 15-year-old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) strikes up a conversation with 25-year-old photography assistant Alana Kane (Alana Haim). Despite their ten-year age difference, Gary ends up asking Alana out and the two begin a […]
Nightmare Alley (15/12/2021)
A drifter joins a carnival and becomes a skilled mentalist in Nightmare Alley. On the run from his past, Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) comes across a travelling carnival and is given work by its proprietor Clem Hoately (Willem Dafoe). Working as part of a psychic act of Zeena (Toni Collette) and Pete Krumbein (David Strathairn), […]
A Star is Born (05/10/2018)
A successful musician helps lead a young woman to stardom, while his own career begins a downward spiral, in A Star is Born. Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is a successful country rock musician, who constantly plays sold out show, yet offstage is secretly struggling with alcoholism, much to the frustration of his older brother and manager Bobby […]
The Guardians (28/04/2018)
The systematic abuse of the elderly in the Las Vegas area is investigated in The Guardians. Elderly couples such as Rudy and Rennie North find themselves appointed to legal guardians without their knowledge, which results in them being literally kidnapped from their homes and robbed of their life savings. This has resulted in people, such […]
10 Cloverfield Lane (12/03/2016)
A woman finds herself trapped in a fallout shelter with an intense man in 10 Cloverfield Lane. After getting into a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in an underground bunker built by Howard (John Goodman), who claims that there has been an attack and that everyone in the outside world is dead. […]
American Sniper (19/01/2015)
Clint Eastwood directs this film about the “most lethal sniper in U.S. history.” Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a Texas man, whose father taught him to be a sheepdog, who “protects others from wolves”. After a failed career as a cowboy, Chris enlists as Navy SEAL and trains to become a sniper. Shortly after his […]
Guardians of the Galaxy (03/08/2014)
A new team of Marvel heroes hits the big screen with the comedic sci-fi adventure Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star-Lord, is a human outlaw, who was abducted as a child and raised by a group of Ravagers, lead by Yondu (Michael Rooker). Quill comes into possession of a sphere-like artifact, […]
American Hustle (15/01/2014)
From director David O. Russell (The Silver Linings Playbook) come this 1970s-set crime comedy, which is the fresh winner of three Golden Globes, including Best Picture Comedy/Musical. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a New York-based conman, who successfully operates a loan scam operation with his mistress Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams). When the two of them […]
The Hangover Part III (25/05/2013)
It is the epic conclusion of the saga of the Wolfpack with The Hangover Part III. After the death of his father, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) has fully gone off the deep end. This results in Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug (Justin Bartha) staging an intervention and they prepare to drive Alan to […]
Silver Linings Playbook (25/11/2012)
Romantic comedies are usually films I avoid like the plague. They have a highly clichéd nature to them that does not appeal to me. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule and my curiosity peaked when Silver Linings Playbook won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The film […]
The Hangover Part II (28/05/2011)
One thing that can be said about The Hangover Part II is that the plot structure is nearly 100% the same as the original. This isn’t the first sequel to follow the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” route, but it still does make the film a little more predictable than the first. However, I […]
The A-Team (13/06/2010)
I was pretty much a toddler when the original television series was popular, however I still remember watching it. As you can guess, I don’t really remember anything about the show other than Mr T. As such, I can’t really compare the new film version to the show. However, I can say that this was […]
The Hangover (06/06/2009)
What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. That is the theme of this movie, which involves three guys retracing their crazy bachelor’s party in order to find the missing groom (not unlike Dude, Where’s My Car — except a lot more cruder). I can say that this film was a return to form for director […]
Yes Man (21/12/2008)
Jim Carrey has had a very interesting career, which I essentially grew up to (Ace Venture: Pet Detective came out when I was 11). You had this guy, who was relatively unknown, except for being “the white guy” on In Living Color. Suddenly he appears in three hit comedies in 1994, is cast as The […]
In the role of director
Maestro (01/12/2023)
The life and marriage of conductor Leonard Bernstein is revisited in Maestro. In 1943, 25-year-old Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic, setting himself to be one of the first great American conductors. Despite being a gay man, Leonard falls for Costa Rican-Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), a […]
A Star is Born (05/10/2018)
A successful musician helps lead a young woman to stardom, while his own career begins a downward spiral, in A Star is Born. Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is a successful country rock musician, who constantly plays sold out show, yet offstage is secretly struggling with alcoholism, much to the frustration of his older brother and manager Bobby […]