Bradley Cooper Opens Up About Late Father's 'Incredibly Stressful' Fight With Cancer
The actor spoke at the launch of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
— -- Bradley Cooper recently reflected on his late father, who died from cancer in 2011, and explained why he has renewed hope for other families battling the disease.
"I just want to tell you about my father, Charles J. Cooper. He passed away from lung cancer in 2011," Cooper said at the Los Angeles launch of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, launched by Napster co-founder Sean Parker.
"I was in a very lucky position because I was able to put everything on hold in all aspects of my life and completely focus on taking care of him."
Cooper, 41, said watching his father fight and later succumb to cancer was "just simply overwhelming, incredibly stressful, complex and all-consuming."
"I can't even imagine how much more difficult it is for those patients and the families that are less fortunate than I was that simply can't afford to pay for both treatment and rent," he added.
Cooper and other celebrities who attended the gala, including Katy Perry, John Legend, Orlando Bloom and Sean Penn, celebrated the institute's $250 million founding grant, which will be distributed to six cancer centers across the United States.
The actor added that he will work with Parker to help families fighting cancer so they can focus their efforts on beating the disease.
"My hope is that one day every person fighting cancer will receive the full support they need to maintain their quality of life from the day of diagnosis to the end of their treatment, regardless of economic or social status," he explained.
"This is the start," Cooper continued, "and, hopefully, 20 years from now we’re going to look back and cancer isn’t going to be this scary thing; it's not going to be a death sentence."
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