[1][2] He was a featured member of the Our Gang ensemble in 1929–1931, starred in the television series The People's Choice (1955–1958) and Hennesey (1959–1962), and played journalist Perry White in the 1978–1987 Superman films.

His most notable performances explore his crush on schoolteacher Miss Crabtree, (portrayed by June Marlowe) in the trilogy Teacher's Pet, School's Out, and Love Business.

[4] While under contract to Hal Roach Studios, in 1931 Cooper was loaned to Paramount to star in Skippy, directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog.

[4] Cooper was in great demand, resulting in Roach selling the actor's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. Cooper acted with Wallace Beery in The Champ (1931—Beery's Oscar-winning role); a wittily comedic romp titled The Bowery (1933) with George Raft, Fay Wray and Pert Kelton; Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1934) with Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone and Nigel Bruce; and a father-son circus story about a one-armed animal trainer titled O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935).

Cooper served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, remaining in the reserves until 1982, retiring at the rank of captain and receiving the Legion of Merit.

[10] He starred in two television sitcoms, NBC's The People's Choice with Patricia Breslin and as the title character in CBS's Hennessy with Abby Dalton.

From 1964 to 1969, Cooper was vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures Screen Gems TV division.

In 1964, Cooper appeared in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone episode "Caesar and Me", and in 1968 a made-for-television film, Shadow on the Land.

[14] Cooper served in the United States Navy during World War II and remained active in the Naval Reserve for the next several decades, reaching the rank of captain.

[16] Cooper participated in several automobile racing events, including the record-breaking class D cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The title refers to an incident during the filming of Skippy, when Norman Taurog, who was the director, needed Cooper to cry a number of times on camera.

Later that same day, his mother came to the set, and showed Cooper a better way for an actor to experience emotions in the scene–by studying the script, and empathizing with the character he was portraying.

For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Cooper was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star located at 1507 Vine Street.