Ben Cooper

Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American actor born in Hartford, Connecticut, whose career spanned Broadway, radio, film, and television. He died on February 24, 2020, at the age of 86, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had relocated in 2017 to be near his family after being diagnosed with dementia.

Cooper's stage career began in New York with Life with Father, which he joined in 1939 at the age of nine, originating the role of Harlan. As the production continued its run through 1943, he grew into the role of Whitney. His work in radio ran concurrently with his stage years, during which he performed in thirty-four serials, a significant portion of them soap operas, during the old-time radio era.

His screen career began in 1952–1953 with two episodes of Armstrong Circle Theatre on NBC — "The Commandant's Clock" and "Changing Dream" — when Cooper was eighteen years old. He subsequently appeared in a number of Republic Pictures productions, including Thunderbirds, Johnny Guitar, The Last Command, and Duel at Apache Wells (1956), as well as The Rose Tattoo. In 1962, Cooper tested for the role of Steve Hill on NBC's Western series The Virginian, though he did not secure the part.

Television Westerns became a defining feature of Cooper's career. He appeared in Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Rawhide, and an episode of The Rifleman. On Gunsmoke, he played two separate characters: "Pitt," a semi-outlaw attempting to become a doctor with Doc Adams's assistance, in the 1962 episode "Apprentice Doc" (Season 7, Episode 11), and "Breck," a more progressive-minded townsman, in the 1965 episode "Two Tall Men" (Season 10, Episode 36). On Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre in 1956, he was cast as Clint Harding in the episode "Vengeance Canyon," playing a young man determined to kill his father; Walter Brennan and Sheb Wooley appeared alongside him as outlaws Joe and Brock. In 1963, Cooper appeared in Season 1, Episode 18 of Combat as Corporal Cross, second in command to Sergeant Saunders, the role played by series co-star Vic Morrow.

Cooper made multiple appearances on Perry Mason across several years. He played murderer Frank Wells in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Impatient Partner," Davis Crane in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Promoter's Pillbox," and James Grover in "The Case of the Polka Dot Pony." He later returned to the series as murderer Clyde Jasper in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Mischievous Doll" and as Lowell Rupert in "The Case of the Baffling Bug." He also appeared in television pilots for Command (1958), The Reno Brothers (1960), and The Freebooters (1967).

In 2005, Cooper received a Golden Boot Award in recognition of his extensive work in Western film and television. He served in the US Army and, after his stage years in New York, resided in the Greater Los Angeles area for much of his life. He was survived by two daughters from his marriage to his late wife, Pamela R. Cooper.