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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 from the 1920s until the year of his death, and saw him make one hundred films. 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 for the many Westerns he made. 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 at No. 11.
Childhood
When he was thirteen years old he was injured in an automobile accident, and had to move to his father's cattle ranch in Montana to recuperate, which is where he gained his riding skills. During this time he became friendly with 10-year-old Myrna Loy, who lived nearby. He attended Grinnell College and graduated in the class of 1926. HollywoodIn 1923 Cooper moved to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming an artist for advertisements, but was not very successful. After three months he became an extra in the motion picture industry. A year later he had a chance at a real part in a two-reeler with actress Eileen Sedgewick as his leading lady. After the release of this short film he was called to Paramount Studios and offered a long-term contract, which he accepted. He changed his name to Gary in 1925, following the advice of his agent, who felt it evoked the "rough, tough" nature of Gary, Indiana. "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. In the 1939 film Gone with the Wind for the role of Rhett Butler, he was producer David O. Selznick's first choice.[1] When Cooper turned down the role, he was passionately against it. He is quoted 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".[2][3] 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, and for the former film Hitchcock cast look-alike Joel McCrea instead. In 1941, He won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as the title character in Sergeant York. In 1952, Cooper won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon, considered his finest role. Social life
He was friends with Ernest Hemingway, and spent many vacations with the writer in the winter wonderland of Sun Valley, Idaho. Death and legacyIn 1961, Cooper died of prostate cancer six days after his 60th birthday, and was interred in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southampton, New York. He had undergone surgery for prostate cancer and colon cancer in the previous year, but as there were no means of monitoring the progress of cancer in those days it spread first to his lungs and then, most painfully, 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 on the next day newspapers all over the world ran the headline, "Gary Cooper has cancer." One month later, the revered star was dead. 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)." Trivia
FilmographyFeatures
Short Subjects
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