<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Cooper</span>

Gary Cooper

<p><b>Gary Cooper</b> (born <b>Frank James Cooper</b>; May 7, 1901<span>&nbsp;</span><span>–</span><span> </span>May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the <a href="/en/Academy_Award_for_Best_Actor" title="Academy Award for Best Actor" class="wl">Academy Award for Best Actor</a> twice and had a further three nominations, as well as an <a href="/en/33rd_Academy_Awards" title="33rd Academy Awards" class="wl">Academy Honorary Award</a> 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 <a href="/en/American_Film_Institute" title="American Film Institute" class="wl">American Film Institute</a> (AFI) ranked Cooper at number<span class="nowrap"><span>&nbsp;</span></span>11 on its list of the <a href="/en/AFI's_100_Years...100_Stars" title="AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars" class="wl">25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema</a>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">American actor (1901–1961)</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Gary Cooper, Born, Died, Resting place, Other...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox biography vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:125%;"><div class="fn" style="display:inline">Gary Cooper</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Gary_Cooper_(1952).jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Gary_Cooper_(1952).jpg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Photo of Gary Cooper" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg/220px-Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="1793" data-file-height="2391" data-file-type="bitmap" height="293" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg/330px-Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg/440px-Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg 2x"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Cooper in 1952</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Born</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display:inline" class="nickname">Frank James Cooper</div><br><span style="display:none">(<span class="bday">1901-05-07</span>)</span>May 7, 1901<br><div style="display:inline" class="birthplace"><a href="/en/Helena,_Montana" title="Helena, Montana" class="wl">Helena, Montana</a>, U.S.</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">May 13, 1961<span style="display:none">(1961-05-13)</span> (aged<span>&nbsp;</span>60)<br><div style="display:inline" class="deathplace"><a href="/en/Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles" class="wl">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="/en/California" title="California" class="wl">California</a>, U.S.</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Resting place</th><td class="infobox-data label"><a href="/en/Basilica_of_the_Sacred_Hearts_of_Jesus_and_Mary_(Southampton,_New_York)" title="Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Southampton, New York)" class="wl">Sacred Hearts Cemetery, New York</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Other<span>&nbsp;</span>names</th><td class="infobox-data nickname">Coop</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Education</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Grinnell_College" title="Grinnell College" class="wl">Grinnell College</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Occupation</th><td class="infobox-data role">Actor</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Years<span>&nbsp;</span>active</th><td class="infobox-data">1925–1961</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Political party</th><td class="infobox-data org"><a href="/en/Republican_Party_(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" class="wl">Republican</a><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Spouse</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display:inline;white-space:nowrap;"><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:normal;"><a href="/en/Veronica_Cooper" title="Veronica Cooper" class="wl">Veronica Balfe</a></div><span> </span><div style="display:inline-block;"><span>​</span></div><span>(</span><abbr about="#mwt23" typeof="mw:ExpandedAttrs" data-mw="{&quot;attribs&quot;:[[{&quot;txt&quot;:&quot;title&quot;},{&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<span typeof=\&quot;mw:Nowiki\&quot; data-parsoid=\&quot;{}\&quot;>married</span>&quot;}]]}">m.</abbr><span>&nbsp;</span>1933<span>)</span><wbr><span>​</span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Children</th><td class="infobox-data">1</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="http://garycooper.com" class="external text" target="_blank">garycooper<wbr>.com</a></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Signature</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span><a href="/en/File:Gary_Cooper_signature.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Gary_Cooper_signature.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Gary_Cooper_signature.svg/150px-Gary_Cooper_signature.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1370" data-file-height="615" data-file-type="drawing" height="67" width="150" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Gary_Cooper_signature.svg/225px-Gary_Cooper_signature.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Gary_Cooper_signature.svg/300px-Gary_Cooper_signature.svg.png 2x" alt="Gary_Cooper_signature.svg"></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>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 <a href="/en/Silent_film" title="Silent film" class="wl">silent film</a> era through to the end of the golden age of <a href="/en/Classical_Hollywood_cinema" title="Classical Hollywood cinema" class="wl">classical Hollywood</a>. 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.</p>

<p>Cooper began his career as a film <a href="/en/Extra_(acting)" title="Extra (acting)" class="wl">extra</a> and <a href="/en/Stunt_performer" title="Stunt performer" class="wl">stunt rider</a>, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, <i><a href="/en/The_Virginian_(1929_film)" title="The Virginian (1929 film)" class="wl">The Virginian</a></i>. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as <i><a href="/en/A_Farewell_to_Arms_(1932_film)" title="A Farewell to Arms (1932 film)" class="wl">A Farewell to Arms</a></i> (1932) and <i><a href="/en/The_Lives_of_a_Bengal_Lancer_(film)" title="The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)" class="wl">The Lives of a Bengal Lancer</a></i> (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero, a champion of the common man in films such as <i><a href="/en/Mr._Deeds_Goes_to_Town" title="Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" class="wl">Mr. Deeds Goes to Town</a></i> (1936), <i><a href="/en/Meet_John_Doe" title="Meet John Doe" class="wl">Meet John Doe</a></i> (1941), <i><a href="/en/Sergeant_York_(film)" title="Sergeant York (film)" class="wl">Sergeant York</a></i> (1941), <i><a href="/en/The_Pride_of_the_Yankees" title="The Pride of the Yankees" class="wl">The Pride of the Yankees</a></i> (1942), and <i><a href="/en/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls_(film)" title="For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)" class="wl">For Whom the Bell Tolls</a></i> (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as <i><a href="/en/The_Fountainhead_(film)" title="The Fountainhead (film)" class="wl">The Fountainhead</a></i> (1949) and <i><a href="/en/High_Noon" title="High Noon" class="wl">High Noon</a></i> (1952). In his final films, he played nonviolent characters searching for redemption in films such as <i><a href="/en/Friendly_Persuasion_(1956_film)" title="Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)" class="wl">Friendly Persuasion</a></i> (1956) and <i><a href="/en/Man_of_the_West" title="Man of the West" class="wl">Man of the West</a></i> (1958).</p>



Gary Cooper was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. 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 ranked Cooper at number 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema. 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. 