1. Miriam Cooper retired from acting in 1924 but was rediscovered by the film community in the 1960s, and toured colleges lecturing about silent films.
79 Facts About Miriam Cooper
1. 2.
Miriam Cooper was born to Julian James Cooper and Margaret Stewart Cooper in Baltimore, Maryland on November 7,1891.
3.
Miriam Cooper's mother was from a devout Catholic family with a long history in Baltimore.
4.
Miriam Cooper's father was attending Loyola University when he met her mother.
5.
Miriam Cooper's parents had 5 children in 5 years including her sister Lenore and her brothers Nelson and Gordon.
6.
When Miriam was young, her father abandoned the family and went to Europe.
7.
Until that point the family had lived comfortably in Washington Heights, but Julian Miriam Cooper kept the inheritance, leaving the family destitute.
8.
Miriam Cooper had a troubled relationship with her mother, whom Miriam Cooper loved but felt was cold to her.
9.
Once during her childhood her mother told her she hated Miriam Cooper for looking like her father.
10.
Miriam Cooper cited these experiences as great influences both on her acting and on her Christian faith.
11.
Never intending to be an actress, Miriam Cooper originally had trained to be a painter.
12.
Miriam Cooper attended St Walpurga's School with the help of the nuns, who arranged her tuition.
13.
At the suggestion of a friend of her mother's, Miriam Cooper posed for Charles Dana Gibson at the age of 21.
14.
Miriam Cooper had only seen one flicker behind her mother's back and hadn't been impressed with it.
15.
Miriam Cooper did not want to wear slacks, so she chose 'scullery maid'.
16.
Miriam Cooper's friend backed out, but Cooper stayed for the $5 a day pay.
17.
Ford Sterling's wife Teddy Sampson tried to sabotage Miriam Cooper's make up, but Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand spotted her and helped her.
18.
Miriam Cooper never heard back from Biograph and, interested in making more money, she approached Edison Studios and Vitagraph, but was turned away.
19.
Miriam Cooper was initially hesitant to confess her career to her family but changed her mind when she returned home to find they had been given hand-me-downs from a very large, recently deceased, aunt.
20.
Miriam Cooper was already able to swim, and these skills were used in several of her shorts.
21.
Miriam Cooper went to the Biograph offices every day for a week but no one took notice of her.
22.
Miriam Cooper was excited to have found her as Griffith had been looking for her but since she did not have a telephone number they had been unable to find her.
23.
Miriam Cooper began work on several pictures for Reliance Majestic, which were made under Griffith's supervision, and began preparations for The Birth of a Nation.
24.
Miriam Cooper stated she didn't remember being in several films as she was never told which scenes she played ended up in which picture.
25.
Miriam Cooper couldn't recall the start of The Birth of a Nation other than Griffith announced he was making his Civil War picture, and they still did not use scripts.
26.
Miriam Cooper was given one of the leading roles as the eldest Southern daughter Margaret Cameron.
27.
Miriam Cooper was too ill to see the picture when it premiered in Los Angeles.
28.
Miriam Cooper finally was able to see it in April 1915, in New York.
29.
Miriam Cooper attended several revival screenings of it in her later years and stated that she was very glad her legacy would be that of a young girl on screen in the film.
30.
Miriam Cooper was then given the role of 'The Friendless One' in Intolerance.
31.
In late 1915 Miriam Cooper began traveling between New York and California to spend more time with Raoul Walsh.
32.
The couple secretly married in February 1916, before Miriam Cooper returned to California.
33.
Miriam Cooper noted Griffith seemed to treat her differently from other actresses by continually giving her bigger parts.
34.
Miriam Cooper was already tired of being separated from Walsh and after consulting with Mary Alden, decided she didn't understand what the book was about and didn't want to make a picture out of it.
35.
Miriam Cooper quietly returned to New York and wired Griffith that she was leaving the company.
36.
When Walsh was offered a chance to direct a film titled The Honor System in Yuma, Arizona he pleaded with Miriam Cooper to take a role in it.
37.
Miriam Cooper agreed for fear he would cheat on her if they were separated for the long filming period.
38.
Years later, while being interviewed by Kevin Brownlow, Miriam Cooper found Walsh's shooting script for the film on the back of an envelope.
39.
Miriam Cooper signed with Fox Film Corporation and made $1,200 a week.
40.
Miriam Cooper bore such a resemblance to De Saulles that Fox wanted to leave her name off the credits to insinuate De Saulles had played herself.
41.
However, in 1919, as Walsh began to look for new script ideas, Miriam Cooper suggested the story Evangeline, in which Walsh asked her to lead.
42.
Miriam Cooper refused until the studio sent a blonde to play the part.
43.
Miriam Cooper joined him for the sake of her marriage, fearing more bouts of jealousy if she didn't.
44.
Miriam Cooper said she loved everything about the film it received the worst reviews of her career and was one of Walsh's only silents to lose money.
45.
However, Miriam Cooper hated acting opposite Walsh's brother George, who she felt was stiff.
46.
Miriam Cooper felt it was mediocre but it did decent business.
47.
Kindred of the Dust was the last film the couple did together, the last independent film for Walsh, and is one of Miriam Cooper's few surviving films.
48.
Miriam Cooper decided she didn't like stage acting and began considering film offers again.
49.
Miriam Cooper was terrified of sitting in an airplane and refused.
50.
Miriam Cooper found the director Tom Forman to be a drunk, and was upset that, at her final big scene, he turned up too drunk to direct.
51.
Miriam Cooper returned to New York and joined high society playing bridge and shopping.
52.
Miriam Cooper attended Columbia University in the 1940s to study writing.
53.
Miriam Cooper bought a farm in Chestertown, Maryland, hoping to be inspired.
54.
Miriam Cooper wrote a novel and two plays, all of which went unpublished.
55.
Miriam Cooper continued playing golf, working for charity, and playing bridge.
56.
Miriam Cooper was invited to several colleges and screenings of her old films.
57.
Miriam Cooper died at Cedars Nursing Home on April 12,1976.
58.
Miriam Cooper had been there since suffering a stroke earlier the same year.
59.
Miriam Cooper's death left Lillian Gish as the sole surviving cast member of The Birth of a Nation.
60.
Miriam Cooper is buried in the New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
61.
Miriam Cooper's papers were donated to the Library of Congress.
62.
Miriam Cooper is primarily known today for her performances in The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance.
63.
However, when they first arrived in California, Miriam Cooper mistook his mannerisms as insulting.
64.
Miriam Cooper complained to Mae Marsh, who was trying to win Griffith's favor, and Marsh told Griffith.
65.
Miriam Cooper claimed to have never been romantic with Griffith, like Lillian Gish or Mae Marsh.
66.
Miriam Cooper sent her a telegram asking her to see him in his hotel room but Cooper was unable to reach him.
67.
Miriam Cooper got along well with most of Griffith's company including Dorothy Gish, Mary Alden, and Mae Marsh.
68.
Miriam Cooper was friends with Norma Talmadge, Mabel Normand, and Pola Negri.
69.
Miriam Cooper didn't get along with Teddy Sampson and she greatly disliked Theda Bara, who she felt was trying to steal Raoul Walsh away from her during the making of Carmen and The Serpent.
70.
In later years Miriam Cooper was good friends with Carole Lombard, whom she helped get some of her first roles.
71.
Miriam Cooper enjoyed him more once his personal life was back in order and he was much more cheery.
72.
Miriam Cooper met Raoul Walsh in 1914 when she joined Griffith's California Company.
73.
The couple married in February 1916 and Miriam Cooper left the Griffith company to join Walsh in New York.
74.
Miriam Cooper intended to quit pictures to be a housewife and mother, but Walsh's gambling and cheating were big problems for her.
75.
Walsh pleaded for forgiveness but Miriam Cooper found he was cheating with a young society girl who he was engaged to.
76.
Miriam Cooper was furious and began divorce proceedings, threatening to put infidelity as her reason.
77.
At the advice of her preacher, Miriam Cooper sent Jackie to live with Walsh.
78.
Miriam Cooper never heard from either of her sons again and was unsure if they were still alive as of the 1970s.
79.
Miriam Cooper's nieces are sisters Olympic swimmer and gold medal winner Donna de Varona, and television actress Joanna Kerns.