Wyatt Emory Cooper was an American
authorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and
screenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Early life and career
Cooper was born in
Quitman, MississippiQuitman is a city in Clarke County, Mississippi, USA, along the Chickasawhay River. The population was 2,463 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Clarke County, it is the hometown of San Antonio Spurs power forward Antonio McDyess and the birthplace of writer Wyatt Emory Cooper.-Geography:Quitman...
, son of a poor family with deep Southern roots, and later moved to
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, as a young child. Cooper moved to New York in his twenties to pursue acting. When he was 26, he appeared on Broadway in the cast of
The Strong Are Lonely, a drama that ran for a week at the
Broadhurst TheatreThe Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...
in the fall of 1953. Cooper also wrote stories and plays.
In his thirties Cooper lived in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and worked as a
screenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He attended both UCLA and UC Berkeley. While residing in West Hollywood, then an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, Cooper lived near
Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
and her husband
Alan CampbellAlan K. Campbell was an American writer, actor, and screenwriter. He and his wife, Dorothy Parker, were a popular screenwriting team in Hollywood from 1934 to 1963....
. A close friendship developed, and a year after Mrs. Parker's 1967 death Cooper published an incisive and widely-read profile of her in
EsquireEsquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine. Cooper moved to Manhattan in the early 1960s and worked there as a magazine editor.
Personal life
He married heiress
Gloria VanderbiltGloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
on December 24, 1963; Cooper was her fourth husband. The couple frequently appeared on the national "best-dressed" list. They had two sons, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (1965–1988) and
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
anchor
Anderson CooperAnderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
(b. 1967). "It is in the family that we learn almost all we ever know of loving," Wyatt Cooper wrote in his 1975 memoir. "In my sons' youth, their promise, their possibilities, my stake in immortality is invested."
Wyatt Cooper died in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
during open heart surgery, aged 50.
External links