Jeff Coopwood

Although born in Chicago, Illinois, he grew up in Miami, Florida. He was named "Best Actor" by the state's International Thespian Society his senior year of high school. He was also a three-time state speech and debate champion and two-time national speech and debate finalist. He graduated from the University of Miami, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre. While obtaining the B.F.A., he also sang for four seasons with the Greater Miami Opera, now the Florida Grand Opera, where he performed with such international artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Vickers, Cesare Siepi, Renata Scotto, Mirella Freni, and Plácido Domingo, among many others. After graduation, he appeared in the Broadway National Tour of "Timbuktu!," starring the legendary Eartha Kitt, and subsequently starred in several major stage productions in theatres throughout the United States and Canada. He also taught, coached and lectured in speech and debate at several high schools and colleges, including Harvard, Northwestern, Georgetown, Marquette, Emory, Penn, Chicago and Miami. During his coaching career, his students won regional, state and national championships in speech & debate at both the high school and college level, and he was twice named National Coach of the Year. He was the Emmy-nominated, original host of the "$100,000 Fortune Hunt" and also hosted "Know Your Heritage," both nationally syndicated tv game shows, airing primarily on Chicago superstation WGN-TV. He studied broadcast journalism and television production at UCLA and was for years a regular host of the pledge drives for PBS/KCET. He also obtained an M.A. with distinction, from CSUDH. His work includes stage, television, film, commercials, broadcasting, and a significant body of work doing voice-overs in television and feature films. He is an Emmy nominee for his voice work on the tv film "Percy & Thunder," starring James Earl Jones; and is one the few performers to work on both the "Star Wars," "Star Trek" and the "Spider-Man" franchises. He also did voice work for Marvel/Disney's "Black Panther" and Paramount/Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." Among his most memorable work is the voice of the "Borg" in the film "Star Trek: First Contact," where he voiced the now iconic line "Resistance is futile." He is also the voice of Captain Panaka in four Star Wars videogames: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace;" "Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds," "Star Wars: Obi-Wan" in addition to "Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo," while also voicing that game's narrator. http://jeffcoopwood.com/ In 2020, he released a vocal recording of musical theatre favorites called "Jeff Coopwood on Broadway." https://jeffcoopwoodmusic.com/ Partial client list: Coca-Cola Ford McDonald's Toyota TruGreen Diet Dr. Pepper Libby's Heinz Adobe BMO Harris Seagram's Well Fargo Ameristar Atlanta Hawks Union Bank Century 21 Burger King Lincoln Mercury Adidas Home Depot IBM Southwest Airlines TGI Fridays Comcast KFC AT&T Tuffy Time Warner Hyundai Budweiser Cadillac Partial voice character list: FILM: The Borg ("Resistance is futile."): "Star Trek: First Contact" FILM: Tim: "The Wild Thornberrys" TV FILM Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: "Freedom Song" VG: Robbie Roberson: "Spider-Man 2" VG: Captain Panaka: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" VG: Captain Panaka: " "Star Wars: Obi Wan" VG: Captain Panaka, Narrator: "Star Wars: Episode I - Battle for Naboo" VG: Captain Panaka: "Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds" VG: Ernie: "Shark Tale" VG: Kerghan: "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura" VG: Leon Vance: "NCIS" (VG) TV FILM: Race Announcer: "Naked" TV: Announcer, Big Daddy: "Dexter's Laboratory" TV FILM: Ringside Announcer: "Percy & Thunder" FILM: Game Announcer: "Love & Basketball" TV: Announcer: "House of Buggin'" FILM: Stadium Announcer: "Soul of the Game" TV: Stadium Announcer: "Moesha" FILM: Radio Disc Jockey: "The Meteor Man" VG: Strike Soldier, B2 pilot, Enemy Soldier, Civilian: "Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf"