Beverley Cooper is a Canadian actor, director, dramaturg, and playwright who works in film, radio, television, and theatre.

Acting

Cooper trained in acting and graduated from

Studio 58 Studio 58 is the professional Drama school, theatre training school at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The school offers a three-year diploma program for acting students and a three-year diploma program for production students. A ...

in Vancouver in 1979. In 1982, ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' critic Gina Mallet named Cooper Best Supporting Actress for her appearance in

Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta. Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...

's ''Dead of Winter'', which had its premiere at the Toronto Free Theatre in October 1982. Cooper went on to initiate such notable roles as Juliet in

Ann-Marie MacDonald Ann-Marie MacDonald (born October 29, 1958) is a Canadian playwright, author, actress, and broadcast host who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MacDonald is the daughter of a member of Canada's military; she was born at an air force base near ...

's ''

Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) ''Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)'' is a 1988 comedic play by Ann-Marie MacDonald in which Constance Ledbelly, a young English literature professor from Queen's University, goes on a subconscious journey of self-discovery. Constance ...

'', a Canadian feminist theatre classic first produced in 1988 by Toronto's

Nightwood Theatre Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women's theatre and is based in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, and Maureen White and was originally a collective. Though it was not the founders' ori ...

, and Fedoysa in the premiere of George F. Walker's award-winning play '' Nothing Sacred''.

Writing

Cooper is most well-known as a playwright. She graduated from the Creative Writing MFA program at the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

in 2013. She has written numerous original pieces and adaptations for CBC Radio Drama. She worked as story editor on the award-winning series, ''

Afghanada ''Afghanada'' is a Canadian radio drama which aired on CBC Radio One and Sirius Satellite Radio. The 103 episode series began on November 3, 2006, and concluded its sixth and final season on December 30, 2011. Overview The half-hour episodes were ...

'', and she also produced the show's second season and directed five of its episodes. Cooper dramatized ''The Englishman’s Boy'' (1998), ''Alias Grace'' (1998), ''Away'', ''The Secret World of Og'' (Silver Medal Award Winner – New York Festival – International Radio Awards, 2006), and adapted

Rohinton Mistry Rohinton Mistry (born 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian writer. He has been the recipient of many awards including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2012. Each of his first three novels were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His ...

’s book, ''A Fine Balance'' (2005), which, liker her original play, ''It Came from Beyond!'', garnered her a nomination for a

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of th ...

Award. Another popular original drama is Cooper's series, ''The Super Adventures of Mary Marvelous''. Cooper's most well-known play is ''Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott'',Pat Donnelly, "Ripped from this headline: New NAC production tackles infamous Steven Truscott case". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', March 5, 2013. which was a shortlisted

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

nominee for the English-language drama in 2009. It was a sold-out hit at the

Blyth Festival Blyth Festival, is a theatrical festival, located in the village of Blyth, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the production and promotion of Canadian plays. In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities ...

in 2008 and 2009, moving on to play Ottawa's

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

in 2013. Cooper's play ''Thin Ice'', co-written with

Baņuta Rubess Baņuta Rubess (born 1956) is a Canadian theatre director, playwright, and professor. She co-wrote '' This is For You, Anna'' as a member of the Anna Project. Rubess was a co-recipient of the 1988 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award for childr ...

, won a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

and a Chalmers Award. Another notable work is ''Janet Wilson Meets the Queen,'' which was nominated for the Prix Rideau Award. Writing credits for television include episodes of '' Ready or Not'', ''

Sesame Park ''Sesame Park'' is the Canadian version of ''Sesame Street'' co-produced by Sesame Workshop and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The series originally functioned as a re-edited version of the original American series, and was named ''Sesam ...

'', and '' Street Legal''. Currently, Cooper is also directing audio books for

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

Plays

*''Nancy Drew, The Case of the Missing Mother'' (co-written with

) *''Clue in the Fast Lane'' (co-written with Ann-Marie MacDonald) *''Psychic Driving'' (radio drama) *''Nellie Bly: Ten Days in a Madhouse'' *''Out of Body'' *''Thin Ice'' (co-written with Baņuta Rubess) *''The Super Adventures of Mary Marvelous'' (radio drama) *''Sheila Goes to War'' (radio drama) *''The Woman in White'' *''Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott'' *''The Eyes of Heaven'' *''The Lonely Diner: Al Capone in Euphemia Township'' *''It Came from Beyond!'' *''If Truth Be Told'' *''Janet Wilson Meets the Queen'' *''The Other: A Strange Christmas Tale''"Strange Christmas tale coming to Millbrook". ''

Peterborough Examiner ''The Peterborough Examiner'' is a newspaper that services Peterborough, Ontario and area. The paper started circulation in 1847, and is currently owned by Torstar and operated by its Metroland division. Between 1942 and 1955, it was edited by Can ...

'', November 8, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Beverley 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian radio writers Canadian stage actresses Canadian television writers Writers from Vancouver Actresses from Vancouver Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian women television writers