Jeff_Coopwood

Jeff Coopwood

Jeff Coopwood (born June 29, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor.

Personal life

Coopwood was born in Chicago to Louise Riley and Jesse Coopwood. Both are deceased. His father, Jesse Coopwood was a legendary jazz radio broadcaster in Gary, Indiana. His mother, Louise Riley, a former gospel radio broadcaster, and talk show hostess in markets from Chicago and parts of Texas, to Miami, Florida, was also a former actress, (who had understudied Eartha Kitt in "Mrs. Patterson" on Broadway), model, charm school owner, and successful publisher.

Career

Coopwood graduated from the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He also obtained a Master of Arts degree from the California State University, Dominguez Hills located in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California.

Although born in Chicago, Coopwood grew up in Miami, Florida, where he graduated from Miami High School (Florida), and was named "Best Actor" in the State of Florida by the International Thespian Society. He was also a three-time State Speech and Debate Champion and two time National Speech and Debate Finalist. While obtaining a B.F.A. in theatre from the University of Miami, he also sang for 4 seasons with the Greater Miami Opera, now known as the Florida Grand Opera. Upon graduation he appeared across the country in the Broadway National Tour of "Timbuktu!", starring the legendary Eartha Kitt, and subsequently starred in several major stage productions in theatres throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Subsequently he went on to teach, coach and lecture in speech and debate at various high schools and colleges across the country, including Harvard University, Northwestern University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, and Emory University, as well as the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Miami. During his teaching career, several of his students won National Championships in Speech & Debate and he was twice named National Coach of the Year. Also coached several national, state and regional championship teams in speech & debate at both the high school and college level.

Upon his return to Chicago, he was the Emmy-nominated host of both '$100,000 Fortune Hunt' and 'Know Your Heritage', both nationally syndicated television game shows. Also an Emmy nominee for his voice-over work and a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, he has become particularly well known for his proficiency with accents, dialects and vocal imitations.

Currently living in Los Angeles, he continues to perform in television, film, commercials, voiceovers, the stage and broadcasting.

Coopwood is probably best known for his work on stage, television, in commercials, as a game show host, and a significant body of work doing voice-overs in feature films.

He is one of the few performers to list work on both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises among his many credits. Among his most famous voice work is as the “Voice of the Borg”, in the film Star Trek: First Contact. His voice was used for the film's Borg speech ending with the now famous line “Resistance is futile.” His voice was digitally layered multiple times to create the unique "Borg" effect.