Miriam 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 1923 but was rediscovered by the film community in the 1960s, and toured colleges lecturing about silent films.

Biography

Cooper got along well with D. W. Griffith, saying he had been a perfect gentleman. However, when they first arrived in California, Cooper mistook his mannerisms as insulting (he had failed to return a hello to her one day). She complained to Mae Marsh, who trying to win Griffith's favor, and Marsh told Griffith. The next day on set, Griffith called Cooper "The Queen of Sheba". They worked out the misunderstanding but she recalled that, much to her annoyance, the nickname stuck for years afterwards. She claimed to have never been romantic with Griffith, like Lillian Gish or Mae Marsh. However, she did mention in her autobiography that he tried to kiss her once after offering her a ride home. After the release of "Birth of a Nation", Cooper's train stopped in Chicago, where Griffith was staying. He sent her a telegram asking her to see him in his hotel room but Cooper was unable to reach him. According to her, this stopped his romantic intentions with her. Though aware of Griffith's struggles later in life, she hadn't seen him since leaving for New York in 1916; she did visit his grave during her visit to Kentucky for "The D.W. Griffith Film Festival".

Cooper got along well with most of Griffith's company including Dorothy Gish, Mary Alden, and Mae Marsh. She also was friends with Norma Talmadge, Mabel Normand, and Pola Negri. Though they were not close, she was fond of Lillian Gish. Cooper didn't get along with Teddy Sampson and she greatly disliked Theda Bara, whom she felt was trying to steal Raoul Walsh away from her during the making of "Carmen" and "The Serpent". In later years Cooper was good friends with Carole Lombard, whom she helped get some of her first roles. Cooper and Walsh were good friends with Charlie Chaplin in 1924. Chaplin was going through some troubling times and she found him gloomy and needy. She enjoyed him more once his personal life was back in order and he was much more cheery.

Cooper met Raoul Walsh in 1914 when she joined Griffith's California Company. After Mae Marsh turned Walsh down for an Easter Mass date Walsh and Cooper began dating in 1915. Walsh had been Griffith's assistant director and asked Cooper if she would speak to Griffith about making him a director. On her advice Griffith made him a director a few weeks later. After directing one picture for Griffith, Walsh was signed to Fox Studios which filmed in New York while Cooper still had to film in California. The couple married in February 1916 and Cooper left the Griffith company to join Walsh in New York. Cooper intended to quit pictures to be a housewife and mother, but Walsh's gambling and cheating were big problems for her. One of the first nights she suspected him of cheating, she swallowed a bottle of carbolic acid and had to have her stomach pumped. However, Walsh continued to cheat during the marriage. As their successes grew, more trouble arose from debts and Cooper's resentment at being known as the Director's wife, something she was surprised at as she had thought she never wanted the spotlight.

After Kindred of the Dust, Walsh admitted he didn’t think he loved her anymore. The marriage dragged on as both sides accused the other of cheating. Though they reconciled by 1925, Cooper was certain he was again cheating, this time with Ethel Barrymore, whom she confronted. Afterward, she threatened to divorce him. Walsh pleaded for forgiveness but Cooper found he was cheating with a young society girl who he was engaged to. The final moment came when Walsh began an affair with Cooper's friend Lorraine Miller. Cooper was furious and began divorce proceedings, threatening to put infidelity as her reason. However, in the days of morality clauses, this could have caused Walsh his contract and William Fox talked her out of it. Instead she put 'irreconcilable differences'. The divorce was big news in Hollywood, with Gloria Swanson throwing Walsh a party, while Norman Kerry and Erich von Stroheim threw Cooper one. Not too long after Walsh, married Miller.

Cooper desperately wanted children but was unable to conceive. Though she never learned the reason, she suspected it had to do with her kidney illness. She and Walsh adopted two boys: Jackie and Bobbie. After the divorce, both boys lived with her until their teenage years. Jackie got in trouble with the law several times, and Bobbie idolized him. At the advice of her preacher, Cooper sent Jackie to live with Walsh. On a visit, Bobbie asked to live there as well. Cooper and Walsh had been suing each other during the 1930s and Walsh later had the boys sue her as well. Cooper never heard from either of her sons again and was unsure if they were still alive as of the 1970s.

Her nieces are sisters Olympic swimmer and gold medal winner Donna de Varona, and television actress Joanna Kerns.