Veronica Cooper (née Balfe; May 27, 1913 – February 16, 2000) was an American actress who appeared in '' The Gay Nighties'' and other films under the name Sandra Shaw. She was the wife of the actor

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

and mother of painter Maria Cooper Janis.

Early life

Veronica Balfe was born in Brooklyn to Veronica Gibbons and Harry Balfe, Jr. Following her parents' divorce, she lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

with her mother. Balfe did not see her father for many years, but kept in touch with her grandfather, who owned a ranch in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Balfe saw her father a few years before his death in the 1950s. Her mother married Paul Shields, a successful Wall Street financier. Cooper graduated from the

Todhunter School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

and the Bennett School in Millbrook, New York. While she was in school, she studied dramatics and participated in some amateur productions. An avid sportswoman, Cooper was known to her friends by the nickname, "Rocky."

Career

In 1933, she went to see her uncle,

Cedric Gibbons Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the ...

, in Hollywood. She received a long-term contract with

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

after a screen test. She played parts in ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'', ''

Blood Money Blood money may refer to: * Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim Films * Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey * Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...

'', and ''No Other Woman'', as well as the sleepwalking countess in the Clark & McCullough comedy short '' The Gay Nighties'' (1933). She also played herself in ''Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 3'' (1942), and appeared in a few television shows and documentaries.

Personal life

Balfe married actor

on December 15, 1933, at her mother's home at 778 Park Avenue, New York; the wedding had been planned for the Waldorf Astoria hotel, but the location was probably changed to avoid public attention. In 1937, she gave birth to their daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper. They separated in 1951, and reconciled in 1953, remaining married until his death in 1961. On June 27, 1964, she married plastic surgeon John Marquis Converse in Westport, Connecticut. She was an enthusiastic sportswoman and was the female California

skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did * Skeet Qu ...

champion in the 1930s. She also enjoyed

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

scuba-diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chri ...

. She and her daughter were both devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Death

Balfe died in her home in Manhattan on February 16, 2000, aged 86.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Veronica 20th-century American actresses American socialites American film actresses 1913 births 2000 deaths American Roman Catholics