CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Gary Cooper’s Early Years
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For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.
Gary Cooper is known for some of the most iconic shots and soliloquies in cinema history. From his long stare across the town in the famous, wide, crane shot ahead of the climactic showdown in High Noon, to his tear-jerking speech as Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees, you can’t examine Hollywood’s Golden Era without highlighting Cooper’s contributions to the industry.
Born Frank James Cooper on May 7, 1901 in Helena, Montana, Gary’s parents sent him overseas to gain an “English education.” He returned to America before his 11th birthday and spent his teenage years living the life of a cowboy.
When he was 15, he was injured in a car accident. According to Larry Swindell’s “The Last Hero: the Biography of Gary Cooper,” his doctor’s misguided recommendation included Cooper’s recuperation consisting of horseback riding. This caused a permanent disability and left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk now so familiar to film followers.
While still attending high school he also enrolled in an art school where many of his drawings and watercolor paintings received acclaim and attention in the community. While his credibility grew as an artist while enrolled in Iowa’s Grinnell College (he was named the school yearbook’s art editor), he ironically was turned down for a position in the school’s drama club.
Aside from selling editorial cartoons to a local newspaper, Cooper struggled to find work as an artist and, after two years, left to join Poverty Row, working silent film Westerns as an extra (for $5 a day) or as a stuntman (for $10/day).
Cooper’s first important film role was a supporting part in 1926’s The Winning of Barbara Worth starring Ronald Colman. Cooper relied on his own persona for the role, and the film’s success, based largely on Cooper’s performance, helped garnish major attention. MGM reportedly rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Paramount Pictures for $175 per week.
While Cooper had an unremarkable career in silent films, his first “synchronized sound” film, Lilac Times, proved to be one of the most successful pictures of 1928.
Cooper then starred in The Virginian a year later, directed by Victor Fleming (Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind) and helped to establish the standard Western codes and conventions that are still used to this day.
While other leading men struggled to adjust to “talkies,” Gary’s deep, clear and natural–yet understated–delivery endeared him to audiences worldwide.
Meanwhile, Paramount, anxious to cash in on Cooper’s popularity, began starring him in as many films as they could.
Just SOME of his films in 1931 alone include Fighting Caravans with French actress Lili Damita, the Dashiell Hammett crime film, City Streets, co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, I Take This Woman with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health. He had lost thirty pounds during that period and left Hollywood for Italy, where he lived for the next year.
Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, along with director and script approval.
Cooper would soon star in one of his most memorable roles in A Farewell to Arms, which would prove to be one of Gary’s most challenging performances. The film also ignited a long-standing relationship with the original story’s famous writer, Ernest Hemingway. Plus, a series of iconic performances and film classics would soon follow–and several future Showplace blog entries about Coop, yet to come!
You can see Cooper star in 1932’s A Farewell to Arms this Tuesday, May 25, at 9am (also featuring Helen Hayes) on RCN-TV. Also, keep checking back to the “Showplace” for more insights on this great actor in early Hollywood history.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.
