A rangy and intense character actor with a knack for playing taciturn authority figures, Chris Cooper found favor with audiences in the late 1990s and 2000s in such films as “Seabiscuit” (2003), “The Bourne Supremacy” (2004), and “Breach” (2007). His turn as an ex-military officer with a secret in “American Beauty” (1999) offered him his big break and some of his best reviews, but it was his turn as real-life orchard poacher John Laroche in “Adaptation” (2003) that earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Born Christopher Cooper in Kansas City, MO on July 9, 1951, he grew up on a cattle ranch