Gary Cooper From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Gary Cooper (disambiguation). Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952) Born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901(1901-05-07) Helena, Montana, United States Died May 13, 1961 (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, United States Years active 1925[1]–1961 Spouse(s) Veronica Balfe (1933-1961) [show]Awards won Academy Awards Best Actor 1941 Sergeant York 1952 High Noon Academy Honorary Award 1961 Lifetime Achievement Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 1952 High Noon Other awards NYFCC Award for Best Actor 1941 Sergeant York Walk of Fame - Motion Picture 6245 Hollywood Blvd Frank James “Gary” Cooper (May 7 1901 – May 13 1961) was an American film actor and iconic star. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made. His career spanned from 1925 until shortly before his death, and comprised more than one hundred films. During his lifetime, Cooper received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning twice, for Sergeant York and High Noon. He also received an Honorary Award in 1961 from the Academy. Decades later, the American Film Institute named Cooper among the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars, ranking 11th among males from the Classical Hollywood cinema period. In 2003, his performances as Will Kane in High Noon, Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees, and Alvin York in Sergeant York made the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list, all of them as heroes. Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Childhood 1.2 Hollywood 1.3 Congressional testimony 1.4 Personal life 1.5 Death from cancer 1.6 Legacy 2 Filmography 2.1 Feature films (1925-1932) 2.2 Feature films (1933-1951) 2.3 Feature films (1952-1961) 2.4 Short subjects 2.5 TV work 3 Notes 4 External links [edit] Biography [edit] Childhood Cooper was born Frank James Cooper in Helena, Montana, one of two sons of a Bedfordshire, England, farmer turned American lawyer and judge, Charles Henry Cooper, and Kent, England-born Alice (née Brazier) Cooper.[2] His mother hoped for their two sons to receive a better education than that available in Montana and arranged for the boys to attend Dunstable Grammar School in Bedfordshire, England between 1910 and 1913. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mrs. Cooper brought her sons home and enrolled them in a Bozeman, Montana, high school. When he was 13, Cooper injured his hip in a car accident. He returned to his parents' ranch near Helena to recuperate by horseback riding at the recommendation of his doctor. Cooper studied at Iowa's Grinnell College until the spring of 1924, but did not graduate. He had tried out, unsuccessfully, for the college's drama club.[3] He returned to Helena, managing the ranch and contributing cartoons to the local newspaper. In 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles. Gary, unable to make a living as an editorial cartoonist in Helena, joined them,[4] moving there that same year,[1] reasoning that he "would rather starve where it was warm, than to starve and freeze too."[5] [edit] Hollywood Failing as a salesman of electric signs and theatrical curtains, as a promoter for a local photographer and as an applicant for newspaper work in Los Angeles,[4] Cooper found work as an actor in 1925.[1] He earned money as an "extra" in the motion picture industry, usually cast as a cowboy. He is known to have had an uncredited role in the 1925 Tom Mix Western, Dick Turpin.[6] The following year, he had screen credit in a two-reeler, Lightnin' Wins, with actress Eileen Sedgewick as his leading lady. After the release of this short film, he accepted a long-term contract with Paramount Pictures. He changed his name to Gary in 1925, following the advice of casting director Nan Collins,[7] who felt it evoked the "rough, tough" nature of her native Gary, Indiana.[8] Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur (1936)."Coop", as he was called by his peers, went on to appear in over 100 films. He became a major star with his first sound picture, The Virginian, in 1929. The lead in the screen adaptation of A Farewell to Arms (1932) and the title role in 1936's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town furthered his box office appeal. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the role of Rhett Butler in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.[9] When Cooper turned down the role, he was passionately against it. He is quoted as saying, "Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I’m glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling flat on his nose, not me".[10][11] Alfred Hitchcock wanted him to star in Foreign Correspondent (1940) and Saboteur (1942). Cooper later admitted he had made a "mistake" in turning down the director. For the former film, Hitchcock cast look-alike Joel McCrea instead. In 1942, he won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as the title character in Sergeant York. Alvin York refused to authorize a movie about his life unless Gary Cooper portrayed him. In 1953, Cooper won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon, considered his finest role. Ill with an ulcer, he wasn't present to receive his Academy Award in February 1953. He asked John Wayne to accept it on his behalf, a bit of irony in light of Wayne's stated distaste for the film.[12] Cooper continued to appear in films almost to the end of his life. Among his later box office hits was his portrayal of a Quaker farmer during the American Civil War in William Wyler's Friendly Persuasion in 1956. His final motion picture was a British film, The Naked Edge (1961), directed by Michael Anderson. Among his final projects was narrating an NBC documentary, The Real West, in which he helped clear up myths about famous Western figures. Cooper appeared in live radio "remakes" of several of his films.[13] [edit] Congressional testimony While filming Good Sam, Cooper testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 23 1947, characterized as a "friendly" witness. Asked if he had observed "communistic influence in Hollywood", Cooper named no one in particular but said he had "turned down quite a few scripts because I thought they were tinged with communistic ideas"[1]; he also said he had heard statements such as "don't you think the Constitution of the United States is about a 150 years out of date?" and "perhaps this would be a more efficient government without a Congress"— statements he characterized as "very un-American." He also told the committee the following:[1] Several years ago, when communism was more of a social chit-chatter in parties for offices, and so on when communism didn't have the implications that it has now, discussion of communism was more open and I remember hearing statements from some folks to the effect that the communistic system had a great many features that were desirable. It offered the actors and artists — in other words, the creative people — a special place in government where we would be somewhat immune from the ordinary leveling of income. And as I remember, some actor's name was mentioned to me who had a house in Moscow which was very large — he had three cars, and stuff, with his house being quite a bit larger than my house in Beverly Hills at the time — and it looked to me like a pretty phony come-on to us in the picture business. From that time on, I could never take any of this pinko mouthing very seriously, because I didn't feel it was on the level. Cooper's testimony occurred a month before the Hollywood blacklist was established. [edit] Personal life Cooper had high-profile relationships with actresses Clara Bow, Lupe Vélez, and the American-born socialite-spy Countess Carla Dentice di Frasso (née Dorothy Caldwell Taylor, formerly wife of British pioneer aviator Claude Grahame-White).. On December 15 1933, Cooper wed Veronica Balfe, (May 27 1913 - February 16 2000), known as "Rocky." Balfe was a New York Roman Catholic socialite who had briefly acted under the name of Sandra Shaw. She appeared in the film No Other Woman, but her most widely seen role was in King Kong, as the woman dropped by Kong. Her third and final film was Blood Money. Her father was governor of the New York Stock Exchange, and her uncle was Cedric Gibbons. During the 1930s she also became the California state women's skeet champion. They had one child, Maria, now Maria Cooper Janis, married to classical pianist Byron Janis. Eventually, his wife persuaded Cooper to become a Roman Catholic in 1958. After he was married, but prior to his conversion, Cooper had affairs with several famous co-stars, including Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, and Patricia Neal. Cooper's daughter Maria, when she was a little girl, famously spat at Neal,[14] but many years later, the two became friends. Cooper separated from his wife between 1951 and 1954. Cooper was friends with Ernest Hemingway and spent many vacations with the writer in Sun Valley, Idaho. [edit] Death from cancer In April 1960 Cooper underwent surgery for prostate cancer after it had spread to his colon. It then spread to his lungs and then, to his bones. Cooper was too ill to attend the Academy Awards ceremony in April 1961, so his close friend James Stewart accepted the honorary Oscar on his behalf. Stewart's emotional speech hinted that something was seriously wrong, and the next day newspapers all over the world ran the headline, "Gary Cooper has cancer". One month later Cooper was dead, six days after his 60th birthday. Cooper was interred in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Culver City, California. Years later, when his wife Veronica remarried and moved to New York, she had Cooper's body moved to Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southampton, New York.[15][16] [edit] Legacy For his contribution to the film industry, Gary Cooper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Blvd. In 1966, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was mentioned in the lyrics to Irving Berlin's song "Puttin' on the Ritz": "Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper, (super duper)". In 2007, Esquire magazine named Gary Cooper one of their five "Best Dressed Men in the History of the World".[17] Charlton Heston often cited Cooper as a childhood role model[citation needed], and later worked with him on The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). Heston praised Cooper[citation needed] for doing his own stunts despite his age and poor health. [edit] Filmography Cooper appeared in both feature films and short subjects. [edit] Feature films (1925-1932) Dick Turpin (1925) - uncredited The Thundering Herd (1925) - uncredited Wild Horse Mesa (1925) - uncredited The Lucky Horseshoe (1925) - uncredited The Vanishing American (1925) - uncredited The Eagle (1925) - uncredited Tricks (1925) - uncredited Three Pals (1926) - uncredited The Enchanted Hill (1926) - uncredited Watch Your Wife (1926) - uncredited The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) Old Ironsides (1926) - uncredited It (1927) - uncredited Arizona Bound (1927) Children of Divorce (1927) The Last Outlaw (1927) Wings (1927) Nevada (1927) Half a Bride (1928) Beau Sabreur (1928) Doomsday (1928) The Legion of the Condemned (1928) Lilac Time (1928) The First Kiss (1928) The Shopworn Angel (1928) The Wolf Song (1929) Betrayal (1929) The Virginian (1929) Seven Days' Leave (1930) Only the Brave (1930) Paramount on Parade (1930) The Texan (1930) A Man from Wyoming (1930) The Spoilers (1930) Morocco (1930) Fighting Caravans (1931) City Streets (1931) I Take This Woman (1931) His Woman (1931) Make Me a Star (1932) - cameo Devil and the Deep (1932) A Farewell to Arms (1932) If I Had A Million (1932) [edit] Feature films (1933-1951) Today We Live (1933) One Sunday Afternoon (1933) Alice in Wonderland (1933) Design for Living (1933) Operator 13 (1934) Now and Forever (1934) The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) The Wedding Night (1935) Peter Ibbetson (1935) Desire (1936) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Hollywood Boulevard (1936) - cameo The General Died at Dawn (1936) The Plainsman (1936) Souls at Sea (1937) Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) Beau Geste (1939) The Real Glory (1939) The Westerner (1940) Northwest Mounted Police (1940) - first color film Meet John Doe (1941) Sergeant York (1941) Ball of Fire (1941) The Pride of the Yankees (1942) For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) Casanova Brown (1944) Along Came Jones (1945) Saratoga Trunk (1945) Cloak and Dagger (1946) Variety Girl (1947) - cameo Unconquered (1947) Good Sam (1948) The Fountainhead (1949) It's a Great Feeling (1949) - cameo Task Force (1949) Bright Leaf (1950) Dallas (1950) You're in the Navy Now (1951) It's a Big Country (1951) Starlift (1951) - cameo Distant Drums (1951) [edit] Feature films (1952-1961) High Noon (1952) Springfield Rifle (1952) Return to Paradise (1953) Blowing Wild (1953) Boum sur Paris (1954) Garden of Evil (1954) Vera Cruz (1954) The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) Friendly Persuasion (1956) Love in the Afternoon (1957) Ten North Frederick (1958) Man of the West (1958) The Hanging Tree (1959) Alias Jesse James (1959) - cameo They Came To Cordura (1959) The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) The Naked Edge (1961) [edit] Short subjects The Slippery Pearls (1931) The Voice of Hollywood No. 13 (1932) Hollywood on Parade (1932) The Hollywood Gad-About (1934) Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1935) La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935) Lest We Forget (1937) Screen Snapshots: Seeing Hollywood (1940) Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 6 (1940) Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 3 (1942) Memo for Joe (1944) Snow Carnival (1949) - narrator Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. (1949) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Premiere (1955) Screen Snapshots: Glamorous Hollywood (1958) Note: Cooper may have been an uncredited extra in the 1923 film The Last Hour[6], though it is unlikely since Cooper told the House Un-American Activities Committee in October 1947 that he moved to Hollywood in 1924 and began acting in 1925.[1] [edit] TV work Cinépanorama (1 episode, 1956) Toast of the Town (3 episodes, 1953, 1955, 1957) Hollywood Glamour on Ice (1957) Glamorous Hollywood (1958) Wide Wide World (1 episode, 1958) The Jack Benny Program (1 episode, 1958) Premier Khrushchev in the USA (1959) - documentary What's My Line? (1 episode, 1959) Hedda Hopper's Hollywood (1960) Project XX (1 episode, 1960) - narrator Lykke og krone (1962) [edit] Notes ^ a b c d e f Actor Gary Cooper: Testimony to House Un-American Activities Committee, from the CNN website for the Peabody Award-winning 1998 documentary Cold War, ^ Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, pp. 17-18 ^ Current Biography 1941, pp 170-71 ^ a b Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, pp. 22-23 ^ Current Biography 1941 ^ a b Gary Cooper at the Internet Movie Database ^ Profile of Cooper from Turner Classic Movies ^ Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, p. 25 ^ Selznick, David O. (2000). Memo from David O. Selznick. New York: Modern Library. pp. 172–173. ISBN 0-375-75531-4. ^ GoneMovie -> Biography Gary Cooper ^ Paul Donnelley (June 1, 2003). Fade To Black: A Book Of Movie Obituaries, 2nd Edition. Omnibus Press. ^ Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, p. 252 ^ "Golden Age of Radio: Gary Cooper" ^ Shearer, Stephen Michael. Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life, Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky, 2006, p. 88 ^ Maria Cooper Janis, Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.: New York, NY (1999), page 167 ^ Find-A-Grave profile for Gary Cooper ^ http://www.esquire.com/style/bestdressedhistory0907 [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gary Cooper Gary Cooper at the Internet Movie Database Gary Cooper at the Internet Movie Database Sergeant York: Of God and Country Gary Cooper at Allmovie Gary Cooper at the TCM Movie Database Profile @ Turner Classic Movies Photographs of Gary Cooper from virtual-history.com Inside High Noon - The Documentary Awards and achievements Preceded by Fredric March for Death of a Salesman Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 1953 for High Noon Succeeded by Spencer Tracy for The Actress Preceded by Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator NYFCC Award for Best Actor 1941 for Sergeant York Succeeded by James Cagney for Yankee Doodle Dandy [show]v • d • eAcademy Award for Best Actor Gary Cooper (1941) · James Cagney (1942) · Paul Lukas (1943) · Bing Crosby (1944) · Ray Milland (1945) · Fredric March (1946) · Ronald Colman (1947) · Laurence Olivier (1948) · Broderick Crawford (1949) · José Ferrer (1950) · Humphrey Bogart (1951) · Gary Cooper (1952) · William Holden (1953) · Marlon Brando (1954) · Ernest Borgnine (1955) · Yul Brynner (1956) · Alec Guinness (1957) · David Niven (1958) · Charlton Heston (1959) · Burt Lancaster (1960) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present) Persondata NAME Cooper, Gary ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cooper, Frank James SHORT DESCRIPTION actor DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1901 PLACE OF BIRTH Helena, Montana, United States DATE OF DEATH May 13, 1961 PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California, United States Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Cooper" Categories: 1901 births | 1961 deaths | Academy Honorary Award recipients | American film actors | American Roman Catholics | American silent film actors | Best Actor Academy Award winners | Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners | Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery | California Republicans | Converts to Roman Catholicism | Deaths from prostate cancer | English Americans | Grinnell College people | People from Helena, Montana | Western film actors | Cancer deaths in California