Difference between revisions of "Gary Cooper" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | '''Gary Cooper''' (born '''Frank James Cooper''' [[May 7]], [[1901]] – [[May 13]], [[1961]]) was a two-time [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning [[United States|American]] film [[actor]] of [[England|English]] heritage. His career spanned almost 40 years beginning in the 1920s until the year of his death. He appeared in over 100 films and was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style as well as his stoic, individualistic, | + | '''Gary Cooper''' (born '''Frank James Cooper''' [[May 7]], [[1901]] – [[May 13]], [[1961]]) was a two-time [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning [[United States|American]] film [[actor]] of [[England|English]] heritage. His career spanned almost 40 years beginning in the 1920s until the year of his death. He appeared in over 100 films and was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style as well as his stoic, individualistic, understated, but sometimes intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited for the many [[Western movie|Westerns]] in which he appeared. |
| − | Cooper received five [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], winning twice. He also received an Honorary Award from the Academy in 1961. In 1999, the [[American Film Institute]] named Cooper among the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars|Greatest Male Stars of All Time]], ranking him at Number 11. | + | Cooper received five [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], winning twice. He also received an Honorary Award from the Academy in 1961. In 1999, the [[American Film Institute]] named Cooper among the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars|Greatest Male Stars of All Time]], ranking him at Number 11. He is considered one of the icons of a time of simple American values symbolized especially by his portrayal of quiet, unassuming heroes, whose actions spoke much louder than their words. |
==Childhood== | ==Childhood== | ||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
[[Image:Gary Cooper Eleanor Roosevelt.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cooper with Eleanor Roosevelt in 1950 in a photo taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt]] | [[Image:Gary Cooper Eleanor Roosevelt.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cooper with Eleanor Roosevelt in 1950 in a photo taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt]] | ||
| − | Gary Cooper had several high-profile relationships with various actresses throughout his career, including [[Clara Bow]], [[Lupe Vélez]], American-born socialite-spy Countess Carla Dentice di Frasso (née Dorothy Caldwell Taylor | + | Gary Cooper had several high-profile relationships with various actresses throughout his career, including [[Clara Bow]], [[Lupe Vélez]], American-born socialite-spy Countess Carla Dentice di Frasso (née Dorothy Caldwell Taylor), [[Patricia Neal]], [[Grace Kelly]], and [[Marlene Dietrich]]. |
| − | On December 15, 1933, Cooper wed Veronica "Rocky" Balfe, ([[May 27]], [[1913]] - [[February 16]] [[2000]]). Balfe was a New York [[Roman Catholic]] socialite who had briefly acted under the name of [[Sandra Shaw]]. She | + | On December 15, 1933, Cooper wed Veronica "Rocky" Balfe, ([[May 27]], [[1913]] - [[February 16]] [[2000]]). Balfe was a New York [[Roman Catholic]] socialite who had briefly acted under the name of [[Sandra Shaw]]. She introduced her husband to tennis, golf, and skiing, and he in turn took her fishing. If Cooper was still became involved with his leading ladies, he became discreet about it. She separated from his wife from 1951 to 1954, however, living mainly in Europe and becoming known as an international playboy. In the spring of 1954, Cooper returned home. That summer he and Rocky had a new home built in the Holmby Hills district of [[Los Angeles]]. Their reconciliation was a lasting one, and in 1959 Cooper converted to Roman Catholicism. |
| − | + | 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 [[Civil War]] in [[William Wyler]]'s ''[[Friendly Persuasion]]'' (1956). His final motion picture was a British film, ''[[The Naked Edge]]'' (1961), directed by [[Michael Anderson]]. In one of his final projects, he also served as the narrator for an [[NBC]] documentary, ''The Real West,'' in which he helped clear up myths about famous Western figures. | |
| − | Cooper | + | [[Image:W samo poludnie 4 6 89-Tomasz Sarnecki.jpg|thumb|Polish Solidarity movement poster features Gary Cooper in his famous ''High Noon'' role.]] |
| − | [[ | + | In April 1961, Cooper was too ill to attend the [[Academy Awards]] ceremony, so his close friend [[James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart]] accepted Cooper's 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." A month later, Cooper was dead of [[prostate cancer]]. He was first interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in [[Culver City, California]]. Several years later, after his wife remarried and relocated to her home area in New York State, his body was exhumed and re-buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery, [[Southampton, New York|Southampton]], [[New York]]. |
| − | + | ==Legacy== | |
| + | Gary Cooper symbolized the simple values of a time when life was less morally ambiguous than it appears to be today. At his death, the [[Rome]] newspaper ''Corriere Della Sera'' declared the end of "the frontier and of innocence which had or was believed to have an exact sense of the dividing line between [[good and evil]]." | ||
| − | + | 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]]. His name has also been immortalized in [[Irving Berlin]]'s song "[[Puttin' on the Ritz]]" with the line, "Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper, (super duper)." | |
| − | 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]]. His name has also been immortalized in [[Irving Berlin]]'s song "[[Puttin' on the Ritz]]" with the line, "Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper, (super duper)" | ||
| − | [[Charlton Heston]] often cited Cooper as a childhood role model, and later got to work with him on ''The Wreck of the Mary Deare'' (1959). Heston praised Cooper for doing his own stunts despite his age and poor health. | + | [[Charlton Heston]] often cited Cooper as a childhood role model, and later got to work with him on ''The Wreck of the Mary Deare'' (1959). Heston praised Cooper for doing his own stunts despite his age and poor health. [[Morgan Freeman]] while being interviewed on [[The Adam Carolla Show]] in 2007, stated that watching Cooper as a young man had inspired him to act. |
| − | [[Morgan Freeman]] while being interviewed on [[The Adam Carolla Show]] in 2007, stated that watching Cooper as a young man had inspired him to act. | ||
==Filmography== | ==Filmography== | ||
| Line 203: | Line 202: | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
| − | + | *Arce, Hector. ''Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography''. Bantam Books (July 1980). ISBN 978-0553141306. | |
| − | *Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography. Bantam Books (July 1980). ISBN 978-0553141306. | ||
*Janis, Mary Cooper. Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover). Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 1999). ISBN 978-0810941304. | *Janis, Mary Cooper. Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover). Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 1999). ISBN 978-0810941304. | ||
| − | *Meyers, Jeffrey. Gary Cooper | + | *Meyers, Jeffrey. ''Gary Cooper''. Aurum Press Ltd (March 25, 2005). ISBN 978-1845130466. |
| − | *Selznick, David O. Memo from David O. Selznick : The Creation of "Gone with the Wind" and Other Motion Picture Classics, as Revealed in the Producer's Private Letters, Telegrams, Memorandums, and Autobiographical Remarks | + | *Selznick, David O. ''Memo from David O. Selznick: The Creation of "Gone with the Wind" and Other Motion Picture Classics, as Revealed in the Producer's Private Letters, Telegrams, Memorandums, and Autobiographical Remarks''. Modern Library; Modern Library Pbk. Ed edition (March 7, 2000). ISBN 978-0375755316. |
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| − | + | ||
*{{imdb name|id=0000011|name=Gary Cooper}} | *{{imdb name|id=0000011|name=Gary Cooper}} | ||
*{{tcmdb name|id=38681|name=Gary Cooper}} | *{{tcmdb name|id=38681|name=Gary Cooper}} | ||
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*[http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Cooper/cooper.htm Reel Classics - Gary Cooper] | *[http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Cooper/cooper.htm Reel Classics - Gary Cooper] | ||
*[http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/22384/High-Noon/overview New York Times ''High Noon'' Review Summary] | *[http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/22384/High-Noon/overview New York Times ''High Noon'' Review Summary] | ||
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| − | |||
{{Persondata | {{Persondata | ||
Revision as of 03:51, 9 November 2007
| Gary Cooper | |
 Gary Cooper | |
| Birth name: | Frank James Cooper |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | May 7 1901 |
| Birth location: | Helena, Montana, U.S. |
| Date of death: | May 13 1961 (aged 60) |
| Death location: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. (prostate cancer) |
| Height: | 6' 3" |
| Notable role(s): | Longfellow Deeds in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls |
| Academy Awards: | Best Actor 1941 Sergeant York 1952 High Noon Academy Honorary Award (1961) |
| Spouse: | Veronica Balfe, stage name Sandra Shaw (1933 - 1961) (his death) 1 child |
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor of English heritage. His career spanned almost 40 years beginning in the 1920s until the year of his death. He appeared in over 100 films and was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style as well as his stoic, individualistic, understated, but sometimes intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited for the many Westerns in which he appeared.
Cooper received five Oscar nominations for Best Actor, winning twice. He also received an Honorary Award from the Academy in 1961. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Cooper among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking him at Number 11. He is considered one of the icons of a time of simple American values symbolized especially by his portrayal of quiet, unassuming heroes, whose actions spoke much louder than their words.
Childhood
Cooper was born Frank James Cooper in Helena, Montana, the son of a Bedfordshire, England farmer turned American lawyer and judge, Charles Henry Cooper, and Kent, England-born Alice (née Brazier) Cooper.[1] His mother hoped for their two sons to receive a better education than what was available in rough-hewn Montana and arranged for the boys to attend Dunstable School in Bedfordshire between 1910 and 1913. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Mrs. Cooper brought her sons home and enrolled young Frank in a Bozeman, Montana high school.
When he was 13, Cooper injured his hip in an automobile accident. He returned to the ranch his parents owned near Helena to recuperate by horseback riding, at the recommendation of his doctor. A few years later, Cooper began college at Montana Wesleyan in Helena, then transferred to Iowa's Grinnell College, studying graphics and art with intentions of pursuing a career as a commercial artist or cartoonist. There he tried out, unsuccessfully, for the drama club. He attended Grinnell until the spring of 1924 but did not graduate. Returning to Helena, he managed the family ranch and contributed cartoons to the local paper. He also spent a summer working as a seasonal ranger in Yellowstone National Park. In 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles. Unable to make a living as an editorial cartoonist in Helena, Cooper joined them.[2]
Hollywood
Failing as a salesman of both electric signs and theatrical curtains and as a promoter for a local photographer, the 6 ft 3 in (190 cm) Cooper found that he could earn money as an "extra" in the motion picture industry, usually cast as a cowboy or working as a stuntman. He had an uncredited role in the 1925 silent Tom Mix Western, Dick Turpin. Cooper changed his name to Gary that same year, following the advice of casting director Nan Collins, who felt it evoked the "rough, tough" nature of her native [[Ibid., p. 25</ref> A year later, 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 Studios.
"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. Cooper would later admit that he had also made a "mistake" in turning down director Alfred Hitchcock who wanted him to star in Foreign Correspondent (1940) and Saboteur (1942).
In 1941, Cooper won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as the title character in Sergeant York. The real-life World War I pacifist turned Medal of Honor winner Alvin York was adamant about authorizing only Gary Cooper as the actor to portray him in the movie.
In another wartime biopic of an American hero, Cooper portrayed baseball legend Lou Gehrig in Samuel Goldwyn's The Pride of the Yankees (1942), directed by Sam Wood and co-starring Teresa Wright and Walter Brennan. Cooper received the third of his five Best Actor nominations for this classic sports movie.
Ernest Hemingway had invited Cooper to read his latest novel, still in galley form, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" in the summere of 1940. Cooper immediately identified with the story and the part of Robert Jordan. A film adaptation of the novel directed by Sam Wood was released in 1943 starring Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. It received nine Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best actor and best actress; however, only Greek actress Katina Paxinou won an Oscar for the film, for her supporting role portrayal of Pilar.
In 1952, Cooper won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon, considered his finest role. Unfortunately, ill with an ulcer, Cooper was not present to receive his Academy Award in February 1953. John Wayne accepted it on his behalf.
Wayne's himself criticized the film as "Un-American," referring to the fact that High Noon's screenplay by Carl Foreman was viewed by some as political allegory for the blacklisting occurring at that time in Hollywood. Others, including Copper, defended the film and its screenwriter. Well-known as a politically conservative and anti-communist views, Cooper had previously testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in October 1947. At that time, he was considered a friendly witness; noting scripts that he had seen and turned down "because [I] thought they were tinged with communistic ideas." [3]
Private Life and Twilight
Gary Cooper had several high-profile relationships with various actresses throughout his career, including Clara Bow, Lupe Vélez, American-born socialite-spy Countess Carla Dentice di Frasso (née Dorothy Caldwell Taylor), Patricia Neal, Grace Kelly, and Marlene Dietrich.
On December 15, 1933, Cooper wed Veronica "Rocky" Balfe, (May 27, 1913 - February 16 2000). Balfe was a New York Roman Catholic socialite who had briefly acted under the name of Sandra Shaw. She introduced her husband to tennis, golf, and skiing, and he in turn took her fishing. If Cooper was still became involved with his leading ladies, he became discreet about it. She separated from his wife from 1951 to 1954, however, living mainly in Europe and becoming known as an international playboy. In the spring of 1954, Cooper returned home. That summer he and Rocky had a new home built in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. Their reconciliation was a lasting one, and in 1959 Cooper converted to Roman Catholicism.
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 Civil War in William Wyler's Friendly Persuasion (1956). His final motion picture was a British film, The Naked Edge (1961), directed by Michael Anderson. In one of his final projects, he also served as the narrator for an NBC documentary, The Real West, in which he helped clear up myths about famous Western figures.
In April 1961, Cooper was too ill to attend the Academy Awards ceremony, so his close friend James Stewart accepted Cooper's 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." A month later, Cooper was dead of prostate cancer. He was first interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Several years later, after his wife remarried and relocated to her home area in New York State, his body was exhumed and re-buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southampton, New York.
Legacy
Gary Cooper symbolized the simple values of a time when life was less morally ambiguous than it appears to be today. At his death, the Rome newspaper Corriere Della Sera declared the end of "the frontier and of innocence which had or was believed to have an exact sense of the dividing line between good and evil."
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. His name has also been immortalized in Irving Berlin's song "Puttin' on the Ritz" with the line, "Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper, (super duper)."
Charlton Heston often cited Cooper as a childhood role model, and later got to work with him on The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). Heston praised Cooper for doing his own stunts despite his age and poor health. Morgan Freeman while being interviewed on The Adam Carolla Show in 2007, stated that watching Cooper as a young man had inspired him to act.
Filmography
Features
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Short Subjects
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Notes
- ↑ Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, pp. 17-18
- ↑ Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., 1979, pp. 22-23
- ↑ /SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/06/documents/huac/cooper.html CNN Reports: Cold War Experience; Reds, Episode 6, Historical Documents cnn.com Retrieved November 8, 2007.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Arce, Hector. Gary Cooper: An Intimate Biography. Bantam Books (July 1980). ISBN 978-0553141306.
- Janis, Mary Cooper. Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers (Hardcover). Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 1999). ISBN 978-0810941304.
- Meyers, Jeffrey. Gary Cooper. Aurum Press Ltd (March 25, 2005). ISBN 978-1845130466.
- Selznick, David O. Memo from David O. Selznick: The Creation of "Gone with the Wind" and Other Motion Picture Classics, as Revealed in the Producer's Private Letters, Telegrams, Memorandums, and Autobiographical Remarks. Modern Library; Modern Library Pbk. Ed edition (March 7, 2000). ISBN 978-0375755316.
External links
- Gary Cooper at the Internet Movie Database
- Gary Cooper at the TCM Movie Database
- The Gary Cooper Pages
- Find-A-Grave profile for Gary Cooper
- Photographs of Gary Cooper
- Profile @ Turner Classic Movies
- Reel Classics - Gary Cooper
- New York Times High Noon Review Summary
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cooper, Gary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cooper, Frank James |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Helena, Montana, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 1961 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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