Actors - Patience Cooper

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	Actors - Patience Cooper

Patience Cooper (1905–1983) was an Indian film actress. An Anglo-Indian from Calcutta (in West Bengal), Cooper had a successful career in both silent and sound films.

Stage career

Cooper started out as a dancer in Bandmann's Musical Comedy, a Eurasian troupe. She later joined Jamsetji Framji Madan's Corinithian Stage Company (a theatre company which later became Madan Theatres Limited, a company involved in production, distribution and exhibition of films in India) as an actress.

Film Career

Starting with her first film, Vishnuavtar (Incarnations of Vishnu) in 1921, Cooper acted in over 40 films, until she retired in 1944 after acting in her last film, Iraada (Intent). Cooper was often cast in the role of a sexually troubled but innocent woman, always at the centre of moral dilemmas, often caused by the men in her lives. Cooper was the first actor in Indian films to play double roles. She played the role of two sisters in Patni Pratap (1923) and the role of a mother and daughter in Kashmiri Sundari (Beauty of Kashmir) (1924).

The low number of women, especially Hindus, in the film industry during the 1920s (due to conservative attitudes) meant Parsi and Anglo-Indian actresses, like Cooper, were in demand. Her distinctively Anglo-Indian features, like dark eyes, sharp features, ebony hair and light skin tone, allowed technicians to experiment with the imported technique of eye-level lighting and achieve the Hollywood look, an appearance similar to Hollywood stars of the silent era. Her appearance in a string of successful films has led her to being called the first ever female Indian film star.

Filmography

1944, Iraada
1943, Rani
1937, Fakhre Islam
1936, Noor-e-Wahadat
1935, Asmat Ka Moti
1934, Kanya Vikraya
1934, Khyber Pass
1933, Madhur Murli
1933, Nakli Doctor
1933, Zehari Saap
1932, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
1932, Bilwamangal
1932, Chatra Bakavali
1932, Educated Wife
1932, Hathili Dulhan
1932, Pati Bhakti
1931, Bibhaha Bibhrat
1931, Bharati Balak
1930, Rajsingha
1930, Kal Parinaya
1923, Bharat Ramani
1929, Kapal Kundala
1928, Bhrantri
1927, Durgesh Nandini
1927, Chandidas
1927, Jana
1926, Jaidev
1926, Krishnakanter Will
1926, Dharampatni
1926, Profulla
1925, Sati Lakshmi
1924, Patni Pratap
1923, Nurjehan
1923, Matri Sneha
1922, Bhagirathi Ganga
1922, Nartaki Tara
1922, Pati Bhakti
1922, Ramayan
1922, Ratnavali
1921, Dhruva Charitra
1921, Mohini
1921, Nala Damayanti
1921, Vishnuavtar

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