Another classic film star bio, Gary Cooper by Larry Swindell, is my latest read. Kind of on a movie personality kick. Cooper was born to British parents who had emigrated to Montana. His father loved the West, his mother hated it. Cooper actually spent a few years at school in England, but otherwise was raised in Montana and the outdoors and the mountain country were his natural home, which explains why he was so good in Westerns. Unlike so many other movie stars, Cooper did not have a big desire to become one as a child or teen and sort of got into the movies as a bit of an accident. He was an excellent rider and had a friend who was doing stunts and doubling in Hollywood and who encouraged Cooper to come do the same. At the time movies were still silent. Cooper eventually made an impression on the right person, with a bit of aggressive self-promotion on his part, and began picking up small roles, which quickly grew bigger.
Unlike many silent film stars, he made a seamless transition to the “talkies”. For someone with no training, Cooper was a natural on film, his acting was subtle and believable. He rarely over-acted, often using silence and certain gestures and facial expressions to convey a mood or message. Cooper was sometimes derided as being unintelligent and only being himself in the movies, but this was contradicted by many people. While he started in Westerns, he intentionally branched out to other action films and even comedies and dramas. He essentially managed his own career and had a pretty good sense of which producers and directors and co-stars to work with. Cooper’s business acumen must have been pretty good, because he made a lot of money and entered into precedent-setting contracts.
He was a ladies man, as many male stars were, and many female stars were similarly adept at playing the field. But he found a life partner whom he essentially stayed with and they had a daughter that he adored. There were some rough patches and some infidelity episodes, most notably with Patricia Neal, but he marriage endured and became stronger. Cooper made many friends and had few, if any, enemies in a very competitive business. He was regarded as kind and thoughtful. Cooper died relatively young, from cancer, which like a number of stars, probably had to do with excessive smoking.
The movie I remember him best for was High Noon and other notable films included Meet John Doe and Mr. Deeds goes to town. If you like movies, you will enjoy these bios.
