Biography
George Melville Cooper, known professionally as Melville Cooper, was an English actor born on 15 October 1896 in Aston, Birmingham. He made his stage debut at Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of eighteen and appeared in London productions before turning to film in the early 1930s. In 1934 he moved to the United States, where he was frequently cast as ineffectual snobs or crooks.
His notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice (1940), the Coroner in Rebecca (1940), Gerald in The Lady Eve (1941) and Mr Tringle in Father of the Bride (1950). As his film work diminished in the 1950s he appeared on television, including as a panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and returned to the stage. Cooper died in Los Angeles in 1973.
