Jeff Cooper

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, George Frederick Cooper attended Prince of Wales School and Central Collegiate. He became a police cadet but eventually headed to Toronto for acting jobs on the CBC. He went to Hollywood and landed contracts with Warner Bros and Universal Studios in the early 1960s. Warner initially gave him the stage name of Kyle Thomson in 1961, but he soon changed it to Jeff Cooper in order to use his own last name at least, there already being an actor named George Cooper. He played a cavalry soldier in 1966's "Duel at Diablo" with Garner and Poitier and a hippy in 1968's "The Impossible Years" with Niven, and was a biker in the first Billy Jack film, 1967's "The Born Losers." His biggest role was in 1972 when he starred as Kaliman the Incredible, one of South America's most popular comic book heroes. The film was made by a Mexican film studio and was an enormous hit in Mexico. Cooper also made films in Europe and Egypt, and in 1978, he starred in a martial arts feature called "Circle of Iron" with David Carradine and Christopher Lee. It was originally written by Bruce Lee, who had intended to star in it but abandoned the project shortly before his untimely death. To hedge his bets, Cooper got a real estate license but that same day, he landed the role of Dr. Simon Ellby on the TV show "Dallas." He never did sell a home. In 1995, he returned to Hamilton to care for his ailing mother. Wife Colette said he had become "a private person" since he returned to Hamilton and had mostly spent his final years in Hamilton learning how to play guitar, taking nature walks, working out at the downtown YMCA, and reading profusely. He was 82 at the time of his death.