Olive Cooper


Olivette "Olive" Cooper was a prolific American screenwriter known for movies like Cocoanut Grove, Bandit King of Texas, and Three Little Sisters. She wrote many of the screenplays for Roy Rogers and Gene Autry vehicles.

Biography

Cooper was born in San Francisco to a well-known theatrical family. Her mother, Georgia Woodthorpe, was an actress, as was her sister, Georgie Cooper. Her nephew, George Stevens, went on to become a celebrated Hollywood director. Her brother Harry was a cinematographer.
She got her start in Bay Area theater productions before moving to Hollywood. She appeared chiefly in character roles and comedic parts. After appearing in a few short films in the early 1930s, she decided to pursue a career as a screenwriter. She wrote dozens of scripts over the course of her career, many of which were Westerns. She often collaborated with directors Joseph Kane, Lew Landers, and Joseph Santley.

Screenwriting credits