Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style.

Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946).

His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior.

Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice.

His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana.

In 1906, Charles purchased the 600 acre Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about 50 mi north of Helena near Craig, Montana.

Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt and fish.

Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.

Alice wanted their sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis.

Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena.

He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911.

Cooper studied Latin, French and English history at Dunstable until 1912.

While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the formal Eton collars he was required to wear.

His mother accompanied their sons back to the U.S. in August 1912 and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.

When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident.

On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding.

The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style.

He left Helena High School after two years in 1918 and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy.

In 1919, his father arranged for his son to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics.

Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [his] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".

Cooper was still attending high school in 1920, when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman.

His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington.

In 1922, to continue his art education, Cooper enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club.

His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory and he was named art editor for the college yearbook.

Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films.

He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of classical Hollywood.

His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range included roles in most major film genres.

His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen.

Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.

Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles.

After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he became a movie star with his first sound picture, playing the title role in 1929's The Virginian.

In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935).

During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero, a champion of the common man in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943).

He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952).

In his final films, he played nonviolent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).

He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as an Academy Honorary Award in 1961 for his career achievements.

He was one of the top-10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years.

The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at number11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.