Gary Cooper

Born: Frank James Cooper, May 1, 1901 Helena, Montana
Died: May 13, 1961 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, (prostate cancer)

Only a few motion picture stars ever attained the stature of becoming a legend in their time, but one of the greatest was Gary Cooper.  His tremendous popularity made him an immortal of the silver screen as far as film audiences were concerned.  Who will ever forget his memorable performances in films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Westerner, Pride of the Yankees, For Whom the Bell Tolls and many other fine pictures?  

Gary was one of those rare actors who appealed to both male and female audiences.  His rugged, down-to-earth roles were flavored with just the right amount of strong-but-shy type of he-man, while his drawing power at the box-office could only be equaled by a select few.  In 1999, the American Film Institute named him the number 11 greatest male star of all time.

He was the son of Alice and Supreme Court justice Charles H. Cooper.  While attending school at Bozeman, Montana, he proved to be an unruly student, forcing his parents to enroll him at a private academy in Dunstable, England.  Instead of improving, he grew worse and before reaching the stage where he would be expelled, his father brought him back home and entered him at the Montana Wesleyan College.  It was the same story all over again, with Gary carrying on his shenanigans, but he somehow managed to complete his education at Grinnell College (Class of 1926) in Iowa.

At thirteen, Gary was badly injured in an auto accident and was sent to recuperate on his father's ranch.  It was then that he learned to ride a horse and acquainted himself with real cowboys and ranch life.  In 1921, he took a job as a cartoonist for a Los Angeles newspaper, remaining there until his debut in motion pictures.

Without any previous acting experience, he was given the chance to play bit parts in some silent features during 1924-25, which decided him on an acting career.  In 1926, Gary gave a surprising performance a film called The Winning of Barbara Worth, which co-starred Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky.  Paramount immediately signed him to a long-term contract, alternating him between romantic leads and cowboy roles until he had reached full-fledged stardom.  It took the studio little time to discover just how big a star Gary was as he zoomed to the list of top ten money-making performers on the screen and remained there year after year.

In spite of the fact that Paramount gave him a wide variety of the choicest roles, Gary became known principally for his Westerns.  His tall, lanky frame and natural manner completely captivated his audience, while his pictures ranked with the most successful productions of the times.  Because of his strong, silent characterizations, he was branded as a man of few words until he became a favorite subject of many nightclub performers who did impersonations of him by merely uttering “Yep” and “Nope.”

Although nominated for an Academy Award several times during his career, Gary won his first Oscar in 1941 for his role in Sergeant York and his second award in 1952 for High Noon.  He reportedly earned an estimated $250,000,000 for Paramount before ending his association with the company in 1944.  His first endeavor at producing his own films started with a successful feature called Along Came Jones, which turned out to be an amusing satire on Westerns.

After leaving Paramount, Gary operated his career on a free-lance basis.  But, instead of working for a flat rate, he offered his services to producers at a minimum salary and a percentage of the gross profits of each film.  He was one of the first four stars in Hollywood to work on such terms, the other three being James Stewart, Alan Ladd and John Wayne.  Not too many actors were willing to risk such a transaction but Gary and his three colleagues proved it extremely profitable.

When the Academy Awards for 1960 were being presented on nationwide television in April, 1961, Gary's best friend, James Stewart, shocked the viewers with news that Gary Cooper was desperately ill.  As he accepted a special award for Gary, Stewart made his sad and humble announcement to an astonished public.  

A month later, on May 13, 1961, Cooper died of prostate cancer at his home in Beverly Hills, marking the end of one of the greatest screen personalities of all time.  Survived by his wife, the former Veronica Balfe, whom he had wed in 1933, and a grown daughter, Maria, Gary was buried at Interred at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southampton, Long Island, New York.

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