Jimmy Cooper (The O.C.)

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Jimmy Cooper

Tate Donovan as Jimmy Cooper
First appearance Premiere (episode 1.01)
Last appearance The Case of the Franks (episode 4.13) (Flashback)
Cause/Reason Financial Trouble
Information
Gender Male
Age 39 (last appearence)
Occupation Ship Captain
Family Unborn child (aborted by girlfriend Kirsten), Marissa Cooper, daughter (deceased), Kaitlin Cooper, daughter
Relationships Julie Cooper, ex-wife, Hailey Nichol, ex-girlfriend, Kirsten Cohen, ex-girlfriend,
Episode count 36
Portrayed by Tate Donovan
Created by Josh Schwartz

James "Jimmy" Cooper is a fictional character on the FOX television drama The O.C.. The character is played by Tate Donovan.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Season 1

Jimmy Cooper was a financial planner who managed the financial accounts and investments of many Newport Beach residents. Jimmy studied Political Science at USC University of Southern California, but ended up with a career in high profile investments. Jimmy had also taken part in these investments as well. However, after a series of bad investments he was left in a dire financial situation, and he began to siphon money out of his clients accounts in an attempt to earn lost money back. Jimmy came under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for his activities; his scheme was eventually discovered by Greg Fischer, one of his clients. Ultimately, next-door neighbor Sandy Cohen (who is a lawyer) defended Jimmy in court and, as a result, Jimmy avoided jail time. However, he had to repay his clients because of the scheme and eventually went bankrupt. At this time, Jimmy's wife Julie, a gold-digger, also filed for divorce.

Jimmy eventually moved to an apartment flat nearby, and restarted his life. He ultimately entered into a restaurant operation with Sandy. However, he was forced to sell off his shares because of some backroom dealings made by Caleb Nichol (Kirsten Cohen's father). After the sale of his shares, he became rich once again and was able to purchase a yacht befitting of someone living in Newport Beach.

[edit] Season 2

In Season Two, Jimmy failed to fire up a relationship with Hailey Nichol, and began sleeping with his ex-wife, Julie, who was married to Caleb. When the truth was exposed to the community, Jimmy decided that he needed to leave before he messed up anyone else's life. After spending the night with his daughter Marissa at the beach, he departed for Maui. In the Season Two finale episode, Jimmy returned briefly to Newport Beach in order to attend Caleb's funeral and lend support to Julie and Marissa. In a talk with Julie, they jointly resolved to reform into a family unit again, much to the delight of Marissa.

[edit] Season 3

However, at the beginning of Season Three, it was revealed that Jimmy was once again up to his old tricks, blowing a deposit by a man named Don. Don began hounding Jimmy for his money, and Jimmy repeatedly stalled for time. Meanwhile, he convinced Julie that nothing was wrong, and even proposed to her for a second time; she heartily accepted. When Caleb's will was to be read, Jimmy felt he could pay Don back with some of the money that Caleb had left Julie. However, at the reading it was revealed that Caleb had died penniless, leaving a panicked Jimmy in a world of trouble. When Don asked him one last time for his money, Jimmy told him he didn't have it. Don and two of his men drove Jimmy out to the pier and severely beat him. A battered and bruised Jimmy subsequently called Marissa to his boat and told her he had to leave again. Marissa agreed, on condition that Jimmy never return to Newport, as it would be too painful to say goodbye to him for a third time should he return and then leave again. Jimmy also asked Marissa to return his wedding ring to Julie, which she duly did. Jimmy then left Newport once again, leaving a heartbroken Julie and Marissa. In the season three finale, he asks Marissa to stall her life and pending college plans to join him and work on his boat that he is working on. She accepted the offer the day of graduation. His daughter, Marissa dies on the way to the airport after her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Volchok, runs her and Ryan off the road.

[edit] Season 4

Jimmy briefly returns in the episode The Chrismukk-huh?. In an "alternative universe", it seems that if Ryan had never arrived in Newport, Jimmy would have eventually divorced Julie, and married Kirsten. Jimmy's appearance throughout the episode however, was purely non-canonical. He also appeared in flashbacks in The Case of the Franks.

In The Case of the Franks during the 1985 flashbacks, Jimmy, who was dating Kirsten at the time were planning to go to USC together, but Kirsten later discovered she was accepted into Berkeley and when Kirsten told Jimmy, Jimmy storms off and their relationship ends. Also, Kirsten was pregnant with Jimmy's child and she never told him and she later got an abortion and to this day Jimmy still doesn't know Kirsten aborted his child.

THE OC
EPISODES   |   CATEGORY   |   BROADCASTERS  |   SONGS  |   WEBSITE
Primary
Characters
Ryan Atwood | Kirsten Cohen | Sandy Cohen | Seth Cohen
Jimmy Cooper | Julie Cooper | Kaitlin Cooper | Marissa Cooper
Caleb Nichol | Summer Roberts | Taylor Townsend | Luke Ward
Secondary
Characters
Dawn Atwood | Frank Atwood | Trey Atwood | Taryn Baker | Lance Baldwin
Rebecca Bloom | Carter Buckley | Gordon Bullit | Sophie Cohen
Theresa Diaz | D.J. | Holly Fischer | Lindsay Gardner | Johnny Harper
Alex Kelly | Charlotte Morgan | Hailey Nichol | Neil Roberts | Anna Stern
Zach Stevens | Veronica Townsend | Oliver Trask | Kevin Volchok
Places Newport Beach | Orange County | Chino | Berkeley | Providence
Music Mix 1 | Mix 2 | Mix 3 | Mix 4 | Mix 5 | Mix 6
Related Atomic County | Chrismukkah
Key Creators Josh Schwartz | McG | Stephanie Savage | Allan Heinberg
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[edit] Family Tree

Jimmy also has an off-screen brother in Phoenix, who was briefly mentioned in some episodes, including The Nana.

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