Known to have been one of the most loved actors in Hollywood in the thirties and forties, especially in the western genre. Let’s discover the story of Gary Cooper and the path that led him to success.
Who was Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper, stage name of Frank James Cooper (Helena, May 7, 1901 – Beverly Hills, May 13, 1961), was an American actor. He grew up first in England with his mother Alice and then moved to Montana with his father following a car accident. Thanks to the work of her father, a well-known lawyer, one lives comfortable life on a ranch also learning to ride a horse once recovered.
During his life he dreams of becoming a professional draftsman, only to discover her later passion for cinema. He moved to Los Angeles trying to make art his job wanting to become a trader, but once he recognized the failure of the work he started working as an extra in Hollywood to get just a year later his first acting role in a short film. .
The beginning of Gary Cooper’s career
Once the project is finished, he gets a long-term contract from Paramount and decides to call himself “Gary Cooper”. Very important roles begin to arrive such as the one in “Morocco” alongside Marlene Dietrich or the well-known comedy by Frank Capra “Happiness has arrived” with which he gets his first Oscar nomination in the category “Best Actor”.
The new decade proved to be a great success for him as in 1942 he realized the dream of seeing a nomination for the well-known prize, a real recognition as Best Actor for the film “Sergeant York”. His name does not stop appearing in the list of well-known film awards and indeed gets two other nominations for “The idol of crowds”, also from 1942 and “For whom the bell tolls”, based on the well-known novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. More than ten years after his first victory, he gets his second Oscar with “High Noon” in which he is remembered for the memorable role of Sheriff Will Kane.
Private life and accolades to Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper’s private life has always been sought to have more information. They are however known different love stories in which he was involved including the one with colleagues Clara Bow and Lupe Velez. In 1933 he promises eternal love to Veronica Balfe who briefly worked as an actress despite being a wealthy New York high society woman with whom he also brings Mary into the world. Although the world knew him with husband status, there was no shortage of gossip about alleged flirtations with other women including Grace Kelly.
Undoubtedly though, it wasn’t his love life that got him one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Gary Cooper was in fact a great actor, loved above all for his western roles that allowed him to receive a tribute to memorial in the Museum of Cowboy and West Memories in Oklahoma City. In a historical period dominated by the stars, he was the antidivo par excellence. In fact, he is also remembered for his personality and his character driven by great values.