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TerenceCooper

  • Actor
Terence-Cooper-Key-Profile.jpg

Northern Ireland-born Terence Cooper was a larger than life actor who got his big break playing one of multiple James Bonds in 1967 farce Casino Royale. Moving to New Zealand in 1976, he played patriarchs in kidult hits Gather Your Dreams and Children of Fire Mountain. But his biggest role was as laconic detective sergeant Doug Mortimer over three seasons of rural police drama Mortimer's Patch. Off-screen, he opened Trouper Cooper's Curry House in Auckland, and was an accomplished watercolour painter. Cooper continued to act into the early 1990s. He died in Queensland on 16 September 1997, at the age of 67.

Screenography

The Grasscutter
1988 As: Jack Macready Television
Pallet on the Floor
1986 As: Brendan O'Keefe Film
Kingpin
1985 As: Dave Adams Film
Sylvia
1985 As: Inspector Bletcher Film
Should I Be Good?
1985 As: Frank Lauber Film

Awards

1981 Feltex Television Awards (New Zealand)
Best Actor

1980 Feltex Television Awards
Best Actor: for Children of Fire Mountain

“He loved the industry. He didn't stand too much on ceremony —he didn't believe in that. But he did believe in quality and pushing the boundaries of excellence. Coop bought a vitality off the screen and into the frame of the work . . . People enjoyed working with him. They didn't know what to expect from him but he was never boring.”

— Mortimer's Patch actor Don Selwyn on Terence Cooper

Related images

Mortimers_Patch_Gallery1.jpg
Terence Cooper takes time to catch-up on a book by Edward Everett Tanner (aka Patrick Dennis), inbetween shots on the set of TV series Mortimer’s Patch.
Photo supplied by Brian ‘The Sarge’ Walden
Mortimers_Patch_Gallery2.jpg
A behind the scenes shot from TV series Mortimer’s Patch, taken on location in Helensville. From left to right: First assistant director Richard Barker, actor Terence Cooper (as Sergeant Doug Mortimer), and actor Don Selwyn (Sergeant Bob Storey).
Photo supplied by Brian ‘Sarge’ Walden
Shirley-Duke-Gallery-1.jpg
A shot from an episode of Mortimer's Patch. Detective Sergeant Doug Mortimer (Terence Cooper) and primary school teacher Jenny Coombes (Shirley Duke).
Supplied by Michael O'Connor