Melbourne-Cooper, Arthur, 1874 - 1961
Dates
- Existence: 15 April 1874 - 28 November 1961
Biography
Arthur Melbourne Cooper was a British photographer and filmmaker best known for his pioneering work in stop-motion animation.
Arthur was born in 1874 to Thomas M. Cooper a professional photographer in St. Albans. He started to learn photography from his father at a young age and by the time he was sixteen, he was working as his assistant in the family business. By the late 1890s, like many others in the sector, Arthur became involved with the new moving picture technologies and started to work as a cameraman filming and developing topical subjects.
By 1906 Arthur had established his own film production company, the Alpha Trading Company and became one of the founding members of the British Kinematograph Manufacturers Association. Two years later he also established the Alpha Production Works in St Albans. Between 1908 and 1909 Arthur opened some of the first permanent cinemas in the country including Alpha Picture House in Hertfordshire and an additional picture house in Letchworth. The picture houses however were not successful and left Arthur in financial difficulties, which forced him to fold his business and work as an employee making puppet animations for Butcher’s Empire Films and managing a cinema in Harrow.
During Wold War One Arthur served as a munitions inspector in Luton. Upon his release from service, he settled in Blackpool where he worked for Animads, a subdivision of Langford's Advertising Agency Ltd, for whom he made animated advertisements until he retired in 1940.
Arthur died in 1961.
Found in 13 Collections and/or Records:
Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Visits Sidney Acres Interview, 1956
Audio cassette tape. Arthur Melbourne-Cooper visits Sidney Acres, Southend.
Audio Material, 1956 - 1999
Various interviews, eight of them related to recordings conducted by Tjitte de Vries with Brit Acres' and Melbourne-Cooper's descendants and relations.
178E12.10 digitised as part of the British Library's Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project.
Audrey Wadowski with Fred Taylor, Gordon Fisher and Reg Shircliffe, on Birt Acres and Alpha Films Interview, 1962 - 1963
Audio cassette tape number T042. Audrey Wadowski with Fred Taylor, Gordon Fisher and Reg Shircliffe, on Birt Acres and Alpha Films, Barnet, St. Albans. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Birt Acres Collection
This collection contains a small amount of archival items and artefacts which belonged to Birt Acres and his son Sidney Birt Acres. The collection also includes books on early cinema, which were used as research material by Alan Acres, while writing ‘Frontiersman to Film-Maker’, and represent the archive created in the process.
Cooper visits Sidney Birt Acres and BBC Interview of Arthur Melbourne Cooper, 20 July 1958
Audio cassette tape number T001. Side A: A.M. Cooper visits. Sidney B. Acres, Southend 1956 Side B: BBC interview of A.M. Cooper interviewed by Ernest Lindgren Bush House. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Tape N.R. VI and XII. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Interview of Audrey Wadoski with A.M. Cooper, c1900 - 1999
Audio cassette tape number T047. Audrey Wadoski with A.M. Cooper, Coton on B. Acres start filming Bertha Randall, mail trains upside down camera, etc. Part of eight cassette recordings conducted by Tjitte de Vries with Birt Acres' and Melbourne-Cooper' descendants and relations. Tape N.R. XV,. Disc 10, Band 15a, WAV, 194 Mb, 37 mins (a+b). Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Interview with Audrey Wadowski, 1 January 1978
Audio cassette tape interview with Audrey Wadowski, on film lists. London, part of eight cassette recordings conducted by Tjitte de Vries with Birt Acres' and Melbourne-Cooper' descendants and relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Interview with Mrs Acres by Tjitte de Vries, 25 August 1978
Audio cassette tape number T180. Interview with Mrs Acres by Tjitte de Vries (Audrey reading from Luke Dixon MS), Southend. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Interview with Mrs Acres by Tjitte de Vries on Birt Acres, 27 May 1981
Audio cassette tape number T179. Interview with Mrs Acres by Tjitte de Vries on Birt Acres, Southend. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Interview with Tjitte de Vries and Audrey Wadowski about Birt Acres and Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, 15 - 17 August 1978
Audio cassette tape number T181. Interview with Tjitte de Vries and Audrey Wadowski about Birt Acres and Arthur Melbourne-Cooper. London, Holl. Park Avenue. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
Manuscripts and Research Material, c1995 - 2005
Research material related to the life of Birt Acres conducted by his grandson Alan Acres, mainly for writing Fonstiersman to Film-Maker book.
Research Material Related to Birt Acres, c1995 - 2005
Copies of photographs related to Birt Acres, his life and achievements from Tjitte de Vries’ collection, the Melbourne-Cooper Archive and Kensington Science Museum, 41 lose copies of original photographs by Birt Acres, three small photo albums containing colour and photographs showing people and places and ten photographs of Birt Acres camera.
Visit to Mrs Sidney Acres and Interview with Audrey Wadowski About Birt Acres, 21 February 1985
Audio cassette tape number T183. Visit to Mrs Sidney Acres, part 2 also with Audrey Wadowski about Birt Acres. Southend. Part of eight cassette recordings of Tjitte de Vries of Birt Acres and Melbourne-Cooper relations. Copy from Tjitte de Vries, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Archive.
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