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Miriam Cooper (born Marian Cooper and also credited Marion Cooper; November 7, 1891 – April 12, 1976) was a silent film actress who is best known for her work in early film including The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance for D. W. Griffith and The Honor System and Evangeline for her husband Raoul Walsh. She retired from acting in 1924 but was rediscovered by the film community in the 1960s, and toured colleges lecturing about silent films. Early life Miriam Cooper was born to Julian James Cooper and Margaret Stewart Cooper in Baltimore, Maryland on November 7, 1891. Her mother was from a devout Catholic family with a long history in Baltimore. Her paternal grandfather had helped discover Navassa Island and made his wealth from selling guano. Her father was attending Loyola University when he met her mother. Her parents had 5 children in 5 years (one died in infancy) including her sister Lenore and her brothers Nelson and Gordon.When Miriam was young, her father abandoned the family and went to Europe. Until that point the family had lived comfortably in Washington Heights, but Julian Cooper kept the inheritance, leaving the family destitute. They moved to Little Italy, which Cooper despised. Cooper had a troubled relationship with her mother, whom Cooper loved but felt was cold to her. Once during her childhood her mother told her she hated Miriam for looking like her (Miriam's) father. Her mother remarried in 1914.During this time, Cooper found solace by playing in an abandoned Dutch cemetery. She would lie on the graves and daydream. To make her sister Lenore behave, she also became a storyteller, repeating Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and saying it was named for her. Cooper cited these experiences as great influences both on her acting and on her Christian faith.Never intending to be an actress, Cooper originally had trained to be a painter. She attended St. Walpurga's School with the help of the nuns, who arranged her tuition. From there she attended art school at New York's Cooper Union, again with help from the parish. At the suggestion of a friend of her mother's, Cooper posed for Charles Dana Gibson at the age of 21. It was the first painting Gibson had done in oils.Soon after, on a friend's suggestion, Cooper went to Biograph Studios, just to see what they were doing there. Cooper had only seen one flicker behind her mother's back and hadn't been impressed with it. Able to walk right up to the set, the two girls watched the filming of part of "A Blot on The 'Scutcheon", being directed by D. W. Griffith. One of the assistants, Christy Cabanne, approached them and asked if they would like to be extras. They were given the choice of 'page boy' or 'scullery maid'. Cooper did not want to wear slacks, so she chose 'scullery maid'. Her friend backed out, but Cooper stayed for the $5 a day pay.Ford Sterling's wife Teddy Sampson tried to sabotage Cooper's make up, but Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand spotted her and helped her. After shooting, Cooper was asked to stay in costume as Griffith wanted to screen test her. Kalem Company Cooper never heard back from Biograph and, interested in making more money, she approached Edison Studios and Vitagraph, but was turned away. In 1912 Kalem Company hired her and used her as an extra. As her roles grew she was invited to join their stock performance company, which was heading for Florida to film. Cooper was offered $35 a week plus expenses. She was initially hesitant to confess her career to her family but changed her mind when she returned home to find they had been given hand-me-downs from a very large, recently deceased, aunt. Deciding she could no longer live that way, Cooper announced her plans, much to her mother's despair.Filming took place in Jacksonville, Florida with Anna Q. Nilsson and Guy Coombs as the leads. For the 50th anniversary of the American Civil War, the company made several Civil War-themed shorts. For these films, Cooper learned to play drums and ride horseback. She was already able to swim, and these skills were used in several of her shorts.As time passed Cooper's roles grew in size and she received favorable reviews. Feeling her roles were as big as Nilsson's (who was making $65 a week) and much more dangerous, she requested a raise. They fired her that weekend and she returned to New York and to art school at Cooper Union. D. W. Griffith years After returning to New York, Cooper decided once again to try D. W. Griffith. She went to the Biograph offices every day for a week but no one took notice of her. While leaving school one day, she ran again into Christy Cabanne, who had helped her on her first day as an extra. He was excited to have found her as Griffith had been looking for her but since she did not have a telephone number they had been unable to find her. Her first day back at Biograph, Griffith called her into his office five times, but sent her away each time. The final time he asked her to rehearse a scene with Bobby Harron, telling her Bobby was playing her sweetheart, a confederate soldier going off to war. Pleased with what he'd seen, Griffith told her they would leave for California, where he would make a picture about the Civil War. She would make $35 a week. Cooper began work on several pictures for Reliance Majestic, which were made under Griffith's supervision, and began preparations for The Birth of a Nation. She stated she didn't remember being in several films as she was never told which scenes she played ended up in which picture. During this time she acted in one of Griffith's first attempts at a feature, Home, Sweet Home (1914), although she also didn't remember anything about that film.After working several months for the company, Cooper's star was rising and she was given a star dressing room with Mae Marsh. She couldn't recall the start of The Birth of a Nation other than Griffith announced he was making his Civil War picture, and they still did not use scripts. Cooper was given one of the leading roles as the eldest Southern daughter Margaret Cameron. As was standard at the time, Cooper did her own makeup and hair.Cooper lived the role and found her only truly difficult scene came acting opposite Henry B. Walthall, whom she found cold and difficult. After having troubles in rehearsal with the scene, she also had trouble while filming. To get her to act upset in the scene Griffith took her aside and told her that her mother had died. Despite the trick, Cooper was never angry with him for it. Cooper's sister Lenore visited her while filming and ended up as an extra playing Lillian Gish's maid in blackface. While having trouble funding the film, Griffith offered Cooper a chance to invest in it, but Cooper had no money. Had she invested, Cooper would have made thousands back.Cooper was too ill to see the picture when it premiered in Los Angeles. She finally was able to see it in April 1915, in New York. On the advi.... Discover the Miriam Walsh popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Miriam Walsh books.
Best Seller Miriam Walsh Books of 2024
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Peek Issue 2
Peek NewsletterIn the second issue of Peek we explore creativity. Featuring exclusive interviews with Sminky Animation, Jodi Picocult, Will Sliney and more.
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Communications Workbook
Miriam WalshWorkbook tha can be used by students who are studying communications as part of their QQI course.
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Reimagining Creativity for Home Learners
Miriam WalshThis book features ideas that can be used by parents and learners to complete activities developing skills in photo, video, music, drawing and code. This is the first book in the h...
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Reimagining Creativity for Home Learners Part 2
Miriam WalshThis book features ideas that can be used by parents and learners to complete activities developing skills in photo, video, music, drawing and code. This is the second book in the ...
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Peek Issue 6
Peek NewsletterIn this issueu of Peek we explore Typography, Gaming, Fitness, Animal Welfare, Animation and lots more.
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Reimaginging Creativity for Adult Learners Part 2
Miriam WalshOften times students are allowed time to create music or art in K12 education but as the students’ studies progress the creative subject are pushed aside to make time for the subje...
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Pets 4 Paws
Miriam WalshA collection of stories from pets around the world. All money raised from the sale of this book will go to Animal Rescue Cobh and Limerick Feral Cats.
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Peek Issue 3
Peek NewsletterThe third issue of our newslettter. Created by New Directions students from St. John's Central College. Themes of this issue include creatitivty, study skills, future planning and ...
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Digital Media Workbook
Miriam WalshWorkbook that can be used by students who are studying digital media, it allows them to study the changes in digital media and the preproduction, production and postproduction stag...
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Work Experience Work Book
Miriam WalshWorkbook that can be used for students who are completing a work experience placement. This book guides students through the process of analysing their local economy, finding a wor...
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Peek 4
Peek NewsletterIn this issue of Peek we look at culture in our history including history, art, urban exploration and lots more.
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Peek Issue 5
Peek NewsletterIn this issue of Peek we look at creativity including photography, drawing and emoji.
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Re-Evaluating Digital Technology to Enhance Learning
Red ProjectThe use of digital technology in education has been actively promoted for a number of years throughout the EU and generally teachers and educational management have responded posit...
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Reimagining Creativity for Adult Learners
Miriam WalshOften times students are allowed time to create music or art in K12 education but as the students’ studies progress the creative subject are pushed aside to make time for the subje...