Wyllis Oswald Cooper (January 26, 1899 – June 22, 1955) was an American writer and producer.

Wyllis Cooper
Wyllis Cooper
Born	Wyllis Oswald Cooper (1899-01-26)January 26, 1899 Pekin, Illinois
Died	June 22, 1955(1955-06-22) (aged 56) High Bridge, New Jersey
Occupation	Radio writer
Notable work	Lights Out (1934–1947) Quiet, Please (1947–1949)

He is best remembered for creating and writing theold time radio programsLights Out (1934–1947) andQuiet, Please (1947–1949).

Born Willis Oswald Cooper inPekin, Illinois, he attended Pekin High School, graduating in 1916. He soon joined theU.S. Cavalry where, achieving the rank of Sergeant, he spent time on theMexican border. In 1917, he became a part of theSignal Corps and was sent to France duringWorld War I. While in France he was gassed at theMeuse-Argonne Offensive.^[1] He remained on active duty until 1919 when he left to become an advertising writer, though he maintained his reserve status.

By the late 1920s he was writing advertising copy inChicago and entered radio, writing scripts for the 1929–1931 NBC radio programEmpire Builders. He later worked as continuity editor of CBS Chicago and, in 1933, left to take the same position at NBC Chicago. In 1934, he created his best known dramatic series, a late night horrorradio program calledLights Out, which he also directed. Airing at midnight, the program quickly earned a reputation for its gory deaths and sound effects.

The show would prove to be a long-term success, but in 1936, Cooper capitalized on the fame ofLights Out and resigned from NBC, moving toHollywood, California, where he worked as a screenwriter for film studios. His screenplay for the 1939 filmSon of Frankenstein introduced the much-parodied character ofYgor. He contributed to a few of theMr. Moto films. At the same time, he continued to provide radio scripts for various series includingHollywood Hotel.

Arch Oboler, who took over the writing ofLights Out when Cooper left, would suggest that Cooper was the first person to create a unique form ofradio drama, writing, "Radio drama (as distinguished fromtheatre plays boiled down to kilocycle size) began at midnight, in the middle thirties, on one of the upper NBC floors of Chicago'sMerchandise Mart. The pappy was a rotund writer by the name of Willys(sic) Cooper."^[2]

By 1940, Cooper moved to New York City. Here he changed his name from “Willis” to “Wyllis” in order "to please his wife'snumerological inclinations".^[3] He continued to make a living writing radio scripts for various network programs includingThe Campbell Playhouse, the sponsored successor ofOrson Welles'sMercury Theatre.

DuringWorld War II, he was made a consultant to theSecretary of War and produced, directed and wrote a weekly news and variety propaganda series entitled'The Army Hour.

In 1944, Cooper joined the radio department of New York's Compton Advertising, Inc. In 1947, he created what was arguably his finest radio effort,Quiet, Please. It began over theMutual Broadcasting System network and later moved toABC. He also wrote and directed a crime anthology for NBC entitledWhitehall 1212, which debuted on November 18, 1951. The series was hosted by Chief Superintendent John Davidson, fictional curator of theBlack Museum atScotland Yard. It featured an allegedly British cast and told stories inspired by artifacts held by the famousLondon crime museum. Cooper's show competed with a similar program hosted by Orson Welles which ran on Mutual in 1952.

Astelevision became the dominant entertainment medium, Cooper experimented with various programs includingVolume One, which he wrote and produced.

Cooper resided inGlen Gardner, New Jersey, and died inHigh Bridge, New Jersey, on June 22, 1955.^[4]

• Quiet Please site with discussion forum and MP3 downloads
• Discusses Welles' and Cooper's similar productions inspired by the Black Museum
• "Wyllis Cooper's 'Quiet, Please!'" at theWayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009), by Harriet Cannon (fromWriter's Digest, May 1949