Bradley Cooper Remembers One of His Last Days with His Dad and the ‘Heroic People’ Who Helped Them

Bradley Cooper is opening up about his close relationship with his father, Charlie Cooper, who died in 2011 at age 71 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

“My dad was somebody I idolized,” Cooper, 50, says in the new PBS documentary Caregiving, which he also executive produced. “I used to dress up like him when I was a kid in kindergarten and get made fun of because I wanted to wear a little suit and tie.”

Cooper says watching his stockbroker dad go from a strong and healthy man to someone who eventually needed hospice care was a transformative experience.

“Like most people, I didn’t even think about caregiving until my dad was diagnosed,” he says in the film. The documentary, he notes, was a way to focus on the often-unsung network of people who have to step up for their loved ones.

“To go from [dressing up like him] to giving him a bath is quite a traumatic thing … he was at a point where he needed a lot of care,” Cooper says. “I was lucky enough that I was able to be there for him, and I certainly also benefited from the help we got.”

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The new documentary, now streaming on PBS, is narrated by Uzo Aduba and follows both the families who need care as well as the challenges they face trying to afford and coordinate the help they need.

It also shines a light on caregivers — because, as Rosalynn Carter is quoted as saying in the film, “There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who currently are caregivers. Those who will be caregivers. And those who will need caregiving.”

In the film, Cooper adds of the aides that helped his dad, “These are heroic people that are caregivers, period. Their ability to focus and give all of themselves is something I stand in awe of.”

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Cooper also attended a screening of the movie at the United Nations on June 12 where he shared an anecdote about one of the last events he was able to attend with his dad: a Philadelphia Phillies game.

“The one thing that I learned was the humor, the comedy throughout everything,” he said of being able to embrace funny moments amid all the sorrow.

He recalled how his father was taking so long in the bathroom, during the game — when father and son also got to sit in the dugout together — that Cooper began to panic he’d actually died in there.

“I never liked being late to anything, so they’re getting late on the field. I was like, Is going to be — is he going to die in the bathroom at the stadium?” Cooper said to laughter. “So that’s what my brain just did, went into that memory of anxiety … remembering him in the bathroom.”

“But,” he added, “that’s what you do to cope.”

Caregiving is now streaming on PBS. Producers are encouraging viewers to share their own stories at #CaregivingPBS and #ShareYourCaregivingStory

Source People.com