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Elizabeth Cooper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Elizabeth Cooper, seeElizabeth Cooper (disambiguation).

In thisPhilippine name,themiddle nameor maternalfamily nameisRosarioand the surname or paternal family name isCooper.
Elizabeth Cooper
Born
Isabel Rosario Cooper

(1914-01-15)January 15, 1914 (or 1909/1912)[1][2][3]
Manila,Philippine Islands
DiedJune 29, 1960(1960-06-29)(aged 46)
Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Other namesDimples Cooper

Elizabeth Cooper[4](bornIsabel Rosario Cooper;January 15, 1914 (or 1909/1912)[1][2][3]– June 29, 1960)[5]was aFilipinafilm actress,vaudevilledancer, and singer. In addition to her brief movie career, Cooper was also known for being the mistress of U.S.GeneralDouglas MacArthur.[6]

Born inManila,she was famous for the first onscreen kiss inPhilippine cinemafor the movie,Ang Tatlong Hambog(1926) when she was around the age of 12. In the 1930s, she met General Douglas MacArthur and became hisparamourwhen she was around the age of 16 and he was in his 50s. He arranged for her to follow him toWashington, D.C.

While serving as Army Chief of Staff in the 1930s, MacArthur filed alibel actionagainst a journalist atThe Washington Post,Drew Pearson.When Pearson added Cooper to his list of witnesses to be deposed, MacArthur dropped the suit. MacArthur subsequently paid Cooper $15,000 to leave Washington, the money allegedly delivered by his aide,Dwight Eisenhower.However, she did not return to the Philippines, and after a few failed attempts inHollywoodand a hair dressing shop in the Midwest, she committed suicide in 1960.[7]

Personal life

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Elizabeth was bornIsabel Rosario Cooperto what may have been a Scottish father Arthur Edmund Cooper and a Chinese-Filipina mother Rosario Lopez, who was ahaciendera(farm estate owner) fromVallehermoso, Negros Oriental.Her death certificate however lists her father as Isaac Cooper and her mother's name as Josephine.[8]She was nicknamed "Dimples". As a teenager, she traveled Southeast Asia as atorch singer/ entertainer.

Film career

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Isabel appeared in a few B-grade Filipino films starting in 1925, under the screen name "Chabing".[9]Two of her films wereMiracles of Love(1925) andAng Tatlong Hambog(1926). In the latter film, Cooper made history with Luis Tuason when they performed the very first kissing scene in aPhilippine film.She was just around 12 years old at the time.

She did not act in any Filipino films after 1930, although the 1941 Tagalog filmIkaw Palais sometimes wrongly attributed to her. "Ikaw Pala" had another actress named Cresencia Aligada acting in it in a supporting role; Aligada also went by the screen name "Dimples," hence the mistaken identity.[10]

After her 1934 break-up with MacArthur, Cooper attempted to find roles in Hollywood, landing some smaller bit roles under the stage name "Chabing" includingThe Chinese Ring(1947),The Art of Burlesque(1950), andI Was an American Spy(1951).

Relationship with Douglas MacArthur

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In 1930, at the age of 16 (or 18/21), Cooper met the American GeneralDouglas MacArthur,then commander of all U.S. troops in thePhilippines.MacArthur's marriage had ended a year earlier. Cooper became his mistress in Manila, a fact the 50-year-old MacArthur hid from his 80-year-old mother.[4]In Manila, the teenaged Cooper lived inPaco.

Five months after they first met, MacArthur returned to the United States; while he intended to bring her to Washington, he could not risk scandal by traveling with her, so he bought her a ticket on a ship to arrive after him. She arrived in Washington and ended up ensconced in an apartment inGeorgetown,Washington, D.C. MacArthur later moved her to the Chastleton Hotel (now a co-op building). According to one biographer of MacArthur,William Manchester,MacArthur "showered [Cooper] with presents and bought her many lacy tea gowns, but no raincoat. She didn't need one, he told her; her duty lay in bed."

In 1933, when the secret affair threatened to become public, MacArthur brought it to an end, reportedly giving her $15,000 and a ticket back to the Philippines. She did not use the ticket and never returned to the Philippines.[11]In 1934, the 20-year-old (or 22/25-year-old) Cooper moved to theMidwestern United States,where she owned a hairdressing salon, before moving toLos Angelesseveral years later.

Cooper tried to find work as an actress inHollywood;however, the only roles that she could manage were those as an extra, such as a geisha and a Filipina nurse in films. In 1946, she was one of Rex Harrison's concubines inAnna and the King of Siam.InUnconquered,she was an unidentified and uncreditedNative American.[12]

Death

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Cooper committed suicide byoverdosing on barbituratesin 1960.[13]She was 46 (or 48/51) years old.[14]She was buried on July 5, 1960, in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[8]

Filmography

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  • 1925Miracles of Love
  • 1926Ang Tatlong Hambog
  • 1927Fate or Consequence
  • 1947The Chinese Ring
  • 1950The Art of Burlesque
  • 1951I Was an American Spy

References

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  1. ^abGonzalez, Vernadette Vicuña (February 5, 2021).Empire's Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper.Duke University Press.ISBN9781478021315.RetrievedApril 6,2022.
  2. ^ab""Empire's Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper" by Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez ".asianreviewofbooks.com.March 27, 2021.RetrievedApril 6,2022.
  3. ^abhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsE1BtsaVKM.Go to 29:20. Retrieved 6 April 2022
  4. ^abKarnow, Stanley(1989). "Isabel Rosario Cooper".In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines.Random House.ISBN978-0394549750.
  5. ^Dates cited inCalifornia Death Index,accessed 23 May 2011.
  6. ^Gonzalez, Vernadette Vicuña (2021).Empire's Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper.Duke University Press.ISBN978-1-4780-2131-5.
  7. ^"Tragic love stories in Philippine history".filipiknow.net.RetrievedNovember 25,2015.
  8. ^abReyes, Isidra (August 11, 2019)."The colorful life and tragic end of the Pinay showgirl who stole MacArthur's heart".ABS-CBN News.
  9. ^Dalisay, Butch (November 21, 2014)."Pinoys on the Potomac".The Philippine Star.RetrievedNovember 25,2015.
  10. ^Santos, Simon (February 17, 2011)."Rare pre-war Tagalog movie posters".Video 48.Simon Santos.RetrievedNovember 25,2015.
  11. ^Lutz, David W. (January 31, 1997)."The Exercise of Military Judgment: A Philosophical Investigation of the Virtues and Vices of General Douglas MacArthur".JSCOPE 97.Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics.
  12. ^Dimples CooperatIMDb.Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  13. ^Yeatter, Bryan L. (2007).Cinema of the Philippines: A History and Filmography, 1897-2005.McFarland & Company. p. 16.ISBN9780786430475.
  14. ^Manchester, William(September 30, 1978).American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964.Little, Brown.ISBN9780316544986.

Bibliography

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