Ralph Cooper
Cooper inThe Duke Is Tops, 1938
Born	(1908-01-16)January 16, 1908 Harlem, New York City, U.S.
Died	August 4, 1992(1992-08-04) (aged 84) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
Other names	The Dark Gable Bronze Bogart
Education	New York University(attended)
Occupations	Actor dancer screenwriter emcee choreographer
Years active	1927–1992
Known for	Founder of theApollo Theater's Amateur Night (1935)
Spouse	Elizabeth (Betti Mays) Cooper ​ ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	2

Ralph Cooper (January 16, 1908 – August 4, 1992), was an Americanactor, screenwriter,dancer and choreographer. Cooper is best known as the originalmaster of ceremonies and founder ofamateur night at theApollo Theater inHarlem, New York City, in 1935. He wrote, produced, directed and acted in ten motion pictures. Titles includeThe Duke Is Tops,Dark Manhattan,Gangsters on the Loose andGang War. Because of his debonair good looks, he was known as "dark Gable" in the 1930s.^[1][2]

Cooper was born on January 16, 1908, inHarlem, New York City.^[3] He worked as a dancer in small downtown clubs nearNew York University, which he attended with plans of becoming a medical doctor. In July 1935, Cooper began the Apollo's Amateur Night which ran every Wednesday night. In 1937, Cooper formed Cooper-Randol Productions with black actorGeorge Randol and soon afterwardsMillion Dollar Productions^[4] with white producersHarry Popkin and his brotherLeo Popkin to producerace films that he often starred in, wrote, produced and directed.^[5] Tino Balio has written that: "Million Dollar, more than any other company, moved black filmmaking away from a marginalized form towards the mainstream, advancing considerably its reputation and ability to attract audiences."^[6] In 1963, after theMarch On Washington, he would narrate an album with thenamesake. The full name of the album wasThe March On Washington (A Chronological History Of Negro Contributions). It was released the same year as the march, and reached No. 102 in theUS.^[7]

The Apollo closed in the mid–1970s, but the contest was restarted in 1985 after the renovations were completed. Cooper was again themaster of ceremonies. His son, Ralph Cooper II, took over the show after his father was hospitalized with cancer in late–1986.^[2] He died on August 4, 1992, from cancer. Cooper is interred inWoodlawn Cemetery inThe Bronx, New York City.^{[citation needed]}

• Lloyd's of London (1936) (uncredited actor in indeterminate role)
• White Hunter (1937, actor)
• Dark Manhattan (1937, actor, director and producer)
• Bargain with Bullets (1937, actor, story and screenwriter)
• Gang Smashers (1938, story)
• The Duke Is Tops (1938, actor, director and screenwriter)
• Gang War (1940, actor)
• Am I Guilty? (1940, actor)

• Ralph Cooper atIMDb

• 1908 births
• 1992 deaths
• Male actors from Manhattan
• American male film actors
• American male screenwriters
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male writers
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• Writers from Manhattan
• People from Harlem
• Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
• Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
• African-American screenwriters
• 20th-century African-American writers
• African-American male writers

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• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2021