Cinemaazi remembers Patience Cooper on her death anniversary
5 Apr 1993
Remembering Patience Cooper, considered by many to be the first Indian film star, on the occasion of her death anniversary. An Anglo-Indian from Calcutta born around 1905, she started off as a dancer in a Eurasian troupe called Bandmann’s Musical Comedy, before she was signed up by Madan’s Corinthian Stage Company. Strikingly beautiful, she went on to play the lead in several Madan Theatres pictures such as Nala Damayanti (1920), Dhruva Charitra (1921), Pati Bhakti (1922), Ratnavali (1922) and Noorjehan (1923). Established in silent films she also successfully made the transition to talkies. With Cooper’s sharp eyes and skin tone, technicians were able to achieve the ‘Hollywood look’, experimenting with eye-level lighting. Playing some of the earliest double roles in Indian films in Patni Pratap (1923), as well as Kashmiri Sundari (1925), Patience starred as leading lady through the 30s. Featuring in Iraada (1944) and Khan Saheb (1946), which were among her last films, she migrated to Pakistan in 1947. Changing her name to Sabra Begum, she adopted and cared for several children. Patience Cooper passed away on 5 April, 1993 in Karachi.
