By Hailey Paul | July 23, 2020
This article was originally published on roadtovintage.com
Gary Cooper was one of Hollywood's greatest actors. Over a thirty-five-year career that spanned from the silent movie era through the end of the golden age of classic Hollywood, he was always best known for playing the all-American hero and for his many cowboy roles, particularly for High Noon. But there was much, much more going on behind those blue eyes.
Behind his heartthrob on-screen hero persona, Coop's personal life was a litany of lies, love-affairs, and scandalous love-triangles. Peel back the veneer of those rugged good looks and you'll find a tortured artist and a cheating, rampant womanizer. So let's dive into the rollercoaster life, Hollywood career and personal life of this cinema legend.
Call Me Frank
Gary Cooper was born Frank James Cooper in Helena, Montana, on May 7th, 1901. He was the youngest of Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper's (1865–1946) two sons. In 1906, dad Charles purchased 600-acre Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch about 50 miles north of Helena near the town of Craig. Where else did you expect Amerca's most famous cowboy actor to grow up, if not a cattle ranch?
Cooper and his brother Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. With a name like Frank James Cooper and growing up on a cattle ranch, he was destined to be a cowboy. But hold on to your horses, because he wasn’t gonna stay Frank James for too long...
Un-American Hero
Gary Cooper was the epitome of the American Dream. Tall, dark, handsome, charming, and not afraid to get his hands dirty, he made a Hollywood career out of playing all-American heroes. Although – while he was born in the USA – both his parents were actually from England, making him first-generation American. His father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire and his mom was from Gillingham, Kent. His parents married and settled in Montana.
Since Alice wanted her sons to have a la-di-dah English education, she took them both back to England in 1909. Frank (Gary) studied Latin, French, and English history until 1912. While he adapted reasonably well to English school discipline, he hated the formal Eton collars he had to wear. Alice took her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Montana.
He Was in a Tragic Accident
When Gary was 15 – when he was still a Mini Cooper – he was involved in a really bad car accident which he was lucky to survive. Although he escaped with his life, the accident was always with him for the rest of his life. He severely injured his hip and – upon his doctor's recommendation – he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine Ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. Because it was 1916 and chiropractic's weren't invented yet, horse riding was prescribed for most ailments… because Montana. Food poisoning? Go horse riding. Arthritis? Afternoon horse trek. Pregnant? Two weeks horse riding.
The accident and subsequent misguided, almost medieval treatment left their marks. If you’ve seen many of Cooper’s films, you’ll know that – despite his talent in front of the camera – it’s noticeable that every single one of his characters walks with Cooper’s characteristic slightly stiff, off-balanced walk or slight limp. Put him on a horse and you’ll notice he has a slightly angled horse riding style.
He Gave Tours In Yellowstone National Park
In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college". He took art courses at Montana Agricultural College. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College, Iowa. He did well academically but, ironically, was not accepted into the school's drama club!
While attending college, in order to make extra money in the summer, Frank put his expert cowboying skills to use as a tour guide in Yellowstone National Park. He drove tourists around in an open-top bus, showing them the scenery and presumably protecting tourists’ picker-nick baskets from Yogi Bear. If you took a tour of Jellystone Yellowstone National Park in 1922 and 1923, little would you have known that your tour guide would go on to become one of the most famous actors in Hollywood.
He Started Out as a Stuntman
In 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent movies and his horsemanship gave him the edge over other actors. He appeared in The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in westerns, Cooper labeled stunt work – which often injured horses and riders – "tough and cruel."
Hoping to move beyond the dangerous stunt work and snag better roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins as his agent. She suggested he change his name to Gary, which was inspired by her hometown of Gary, Indiana as she believed there were already too many actors named Frank Cooper in Hollywood. He immediately liked the name. It’s a good job she didn’t suggest his own hometown as then he’d have been called Craig Cooper.
Hollywood, Here I Come!
Not long after his career in movies started, newly-christened Gary Cooper began landing film roles in westerns and non-western films. He played a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), a Roman guard in the silent version of Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to receive acting credits and with them, more screen time. In Tricks (1925), IMDB says he played a bit part and is lower on the bill than two horses named Beverly and Star! Gary had a long way to go if he wanted to become a star. A celebrity, not the horse.
Cooper's first major role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky. He played an engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's ranch-life gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity". The film was an unmitigated success. Film reviewers said Cooper shone brightly as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a five-year contract with Paramount Pictures on $175 a week.
His Girlfriend Tried to Kill Him. Twice.
While filming The Wolf Song in 1929, Cooper became romantically entangled with Mexican firecracker and actress Lupe Vélez. Famed for her fiery disposition – she once attacked Cooper with a knife, hurting him so badly he needed stitches – their tumultuous relationship lasted barely two years. But cowboys will be cowboys and Coop couldn’t keep his gun holstered in his pants, even for an actress as beautiful as Lupe Vélez. Mind you, she did have some serious competition from one Marlene Dietrich.
While filming Morocco in 1930, co-star Marlene Dietrich was the smitten kitten and wanted a piece of Coop. It didn’t take long for Vélez to become so jealous of her German-born love rival, she insisted on accompanying the duo on set every day and sitting in Cooper’s lap to make sure Dietrich didn’t try anything! Eventually, Vélez attempted to shoot Cooper when he was boarding a train for Chicago, but being no cowgirl, she missed. Coop didn’t learn his lesson…
He Went Behind Clark Gable’s Back
Just one year later, on the set of the 1931 film I Take This Woman, Cooper embarked on a love affair with his female co-star Carole Lombard. While this wasn’t anything unusual in Hollywood (especially when Coop was involved!) what made this relationship particularly remarkable was that Lombard was already married to fellow Hollywood star Clark Gable at the time.
After everything had ended, Lombard supposedly told Gable that she had a much better time with Cooper than she ever had with him and err... how do we put this politely… that Coop had a far bigger gun! Legend says that soon after, Clark Gable went out and bought himself a Duesenberg car that was much longer than Gary Cooper’s (car, not “gun”!)
Roman Holiday
After his ahem… rocky relationships with Vélez and Lombard, Cooper experienced depression. By May 1931, he had lost 40 pounds and was feeling lonely and isolated by his sudden fame and wealth. So he packed a bag, left Hollywood, and sailed to Algiers. Followed by Italy, where he lived for the next year. With a Countess. A married Countess.
American-born, eccentric Dorothy Caldwell-Taylor was married to an important Italian figure which made her Countess Dorothy di Frasso. She took Cooper in when he was terribly depressed and the two spent a lot of their time in her place – Villa Madama – in Rome and even took a 10-week safari in Africa! The two had great camaraderie and upon her arrival in Hollywood, it looked to some like they might even tie the knot.
Actor, Cowboy, Artist, Cartoonist
Cooper was a jack of all trades, with one of his numerous skills being drawing. Back in 1924, he spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Montana, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
At one point, he had intentions of retiring from acting, leaving behind his life as Hollywood's highest-paid, dandiest, best-dressed actor behind and becoming a political cartoonist. Luckily, he didn't give up acting as then there would never have been High Noon.
Hot Property
In 1936, Paramount Studios prepared Cooper a new contract that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week. But Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films in as many years with a guaranteed $150,000 per picture. Paramount sued Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruling hereby decreed Cooper's new contract with Goldwyn afforded him sufficient time to honor both contracts.
Cooper continued to make movies with both Paramount and MGM and, by 1939, the United States Treasury reported he was was the country's highest wage earner, with $482,819 per annum. Which is the equivalent to $9 million today. Back then, it was enough to buy all of Montana.
He Turned Down The Lead Role In Gone with the Wind
A workaholic, there was rarely a time when Coop wasn’t making a movie and he always gave every role 110%. Although he had a few flops (who doesn’t?) like box-office failures Souls at Sea (1937) and The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) there’s one film that he passed on that he perhaps regretted.
He was offered the leading role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind but turned it down. He’s even quoted as saying "Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history" and "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." The movie went on to achieve legendary status so Gable had the last laugh, which must have made him feel slightly better about Coop stealing his wife. Many say Coop regretted not taking the opportunity to play Rhett Butler. Or maybe… frankly my dears, he didn’t give a damn!
He Loved Playing The Hero
Whether he was playing a cowboy, a soldier, or a freedom fighter, Gary Cooper always had to be the hero. If you watch his movies, he's often the only character who sticks to a strict moral code while others are villains or somewhere in between. As he matured, he became more and more a tragic hero.
At one point, Cooper was discussing the development of one of his characters with a screenwriter. While shooting ideas back and forth with Niven Busch – who was struggling with the script of The Westerner (1940) and trying to fine-tune Cooper's character – Coop told Busch, 'If you're in doubt, just make me the hero and it will be fine." Now, that may sound vain, but it was the wise producer in him that knew what audiences wanted.
Phoenix From The Flames
Whatever that Countess did to him in Italy and Africa, she put a rocket under him! When he came back to the USA, Coop was like a phoenix from the flames and began portraying a new breed of American hero. He became a champion of the common man in films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), and Sergeant York (1941).
The role of Sergeant Alvin C. York was created for Cooper and he didn’t even have to audition because the real Sergeant York – one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I – specifically asked for Cooper to play him. In the movie, the cowboy-turned-militiaman shows off his Wild West rootin’ tootin’ gun shootin’ skills by blasting his initials (AY) into a tree from horseback while drunk. Once a cowboy, always a cowboy!
Pride of the Yankees
And that’s not the only role a real-life person wanted Cooper to play. Cooper taking on the role of Lou Gehrig had nothing to do with a love for baseball or the man himself, The legendary baseball player had died from ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - or Gehring Disease) the previous year.
In fact, Cooper didn’t even really like the sport that much. The thing that inspired Cooper to go for the part of Lou Gehrig was a conversation he had with Gehrig’s recently widowed wife. Eleanor Gehrig told Cooper that if she could have anyone play her husband it would be him, so he agreed.
He Was Good Friends With Ernest Hemingway
Gary had a close relationship with author Ernest Hemingway. Their twenty-year friendship began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Cooper's rugged image was the inspiration for Hemingway’s character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Hemingway even once told a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true.”
The two bonded over their shared love of the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. Because of their friendship, Cooper not only starred in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) but also A Farewell to Arms (1957) both film adaptations of the great American writer’s work. Yet, just a month after Cooper’s death, tragedy struck when Hemingway took his own life.
Affairs To Remember
Hemingway wasn’t the only person to take their own life soon after Coop died. Although Gary was married to New York debutante Veronica “Rocky” Balfe from 1933 until his death, he had affairs with Patricia Neal (more on her in a mo) Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal and a rumored homosexual affair with life-long friend and actor Anderson Lawler, who he lived with while also romantically involved with both Clara Bow and Lupe Vélez. Legend says Vélez once pulled down Cooper’s pants zipper at a party, claiming she could smell Lawler’s cologne on Coop's smoking gun!
However, Coop’s final love affair was with notable Hollywood costume designer, Irene Lentz. Lentz claimed that the two had an affair later in his life, and took her own life by jumping off a building just a year following Cooper’s death. According to blonde bombshell Doris Day, Irene was devastated by the news of his death and told Doris he was “the only man she had ever loved.”
Here’s Looking At You, Kid
Try as he might, Gary couldn’t keep his Colt 45 in his pants. Yet another high-profile star who Coop had an affair with was Ingrid Bergman. The Swedish actress would perhaps become best known for her role as Ingrid in Casablanca but that wasn’t to be released until November 1942. Earlier that summer, the duo became romantically entwined while making For Whom the Bell Tolls.
For a whole year, Cooper and Bergman managed to keep their secret forbidden love under wraps, before bringing things to an end when their next film together; romantic drama Saratoga Trunk wrapped production in 1943.
Entertaining the Troops
Cooper was too old to serve during World War II so, instead, he entertained the troops. In late 1943, he undertook a 23,000-mile tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks. Traveling on a B-24A Liberator Bomber, they toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, and Brisbane – where he met General Douglas MacArthur who told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a theater in Manila in the Philippines when Japanese bombs began falling!
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recital of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned home, he visited military hospitals. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
He Drove One of His Lovers to Insanity
In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with his co-star, young actress Patricia Neal. At just 21, she was 28 years his younger. At first, they kept their affair discreet, but eventually, it became open Hollywood gossip. Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her.
Neal became pregnant with his child, and when Cooper found out, he demanded that she have an abortion. Patricia ended things, and he worked on rebuilding bridges with his wife and daughter. When Patricia later tried to reunite with him, he rejected her. But things were about to take another turn for the worse for poor Patricia.
High Noon
Coop then made one of the most iconic Westerns ever made. High Noon. With its town square midday standoff, this movie set the standard and influenced almost all cowboy movies since. Written by his friend, Carl Foreman and directed by Fred Zinnemann, it co-starred a young actress by the name of Grace Kelly. And, since this is Gary Cooper, you can guess what happened next...
Cooper began another affair with his co-star Grace Kelly. This was devastating news to Patricia Neal – who had been trying to rekindle the relationship with her beau – leading her to suffer a mental breakdown and leave Hollywood forever as her career also suffered due to gossip about the affair.
Wait Till You See Me On The Big Screen!
Many actors and directors who worked with Gary Cooper over the years remarked how unimpressed they were with his performance in front of the cameras, be that on set or in the studio. However, when the film was watched back on the silver screen, audiences, critics, and even those self-same actors and directors were flabbergasted. Coop's performances were somehow mesmerizing.
Sam Wood, who directed Coop in four films including For Whom the Bell Tolls and Pride of the Yankees remarked “on-screen he was perfect,” but off-screen, he thought it was the worst acting he ever saw. In an era of melodrama, one of Cooper's main strengths as an actor was to underplay his characters. He understood that restrained performances added depth.
He Was Investigated By The FBI
As you already know, in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Coop played Robert Jordan, an American fighting in the Spanish Civil War against fascists. But did you know his performance was so impressive that a communist newspaper in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil used his image to support their cause? Sounds hella cool, but it gets worse...
The newspaper printed that Cooper had given a speech in support of Communism, which you and I know Coop would never, ever do. The spurious report didn’t go unnoticed as it raised a red flag for the FBI. The FBI had their Philadelphia office investigate if Cooper had been holding Communist rallies. The Feds created a 27-page report, although his name was later cleared.
Cooper Risked His Career For A Friend
In 1951, during the Red Scare, one of Cooper’s friends – screenwriter, Carl Foreman – was subpoenaed by the House of Un-American Activities Committee for being a former member of the Communist Party. Always the hero, Coop put his Hollywood acting career and reputation on the line to defend his buddy. This was quite the big deal because if his defense backfired, he was also threatened to be blacklisted. Eventually, Gary succeeded in clearing his friend's name, and neither man was blacklisted. Shouldn’t that be redlisted?
Even though Cooper risked his career for his friend, Cooper was pretty much as far from being a communist sympathizer as you could imagine. Earlier in the 1940s, he co-founded the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals to uphold the American way of life and keep Communist and fascist ideals out of Hollywood movies.
His Marriage Was Saved By The Pope
After marrying Veronica Balfe in 1933, Coop left a trail of affairs and love-triangles in his wake for the next two decades. He'd stay faithful for a while until the cycle started all over again. With so many scandals, it was virtually impossible for him to maintain a stable family life and, by the late 1940s, the rumors caught up with him. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated in May 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. But it was okay because the Pope was gonna make everything alright!
In June 1953, Coop accompanied his wife and daughter to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Veronica and daughter Maria were devout Catholics, you see. The couple had been separated for two years, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. Gary moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Changing My Religion
After visiting The Vatican and having a long and in-depth conversation with Pope Pius XII, Cooper began contemplating his mortality and even began to reflect on his past wrongdoings, so turned to God for help. Cooper had been baptized in the Anglican Church in England way back in 1911 and had been raised in the Episcopal Church in the USA. While he was not a churchgoer for most of his adult life, his friends said he had a deeply spiritual side.
Coop began attending church with Rocky and Maria regularly and met with their parish priest, who offered him a good dose of spiritual guidance. After months of counseling and religious study under the priest, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic in April 1959 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Not Just A Pretty Face
Cooper was known for his rugged good looks and scandalous lifestyle, so many people forget he was also a brilliant actor. Modern-day actors Tom Hanks and Al Pacino both cite him as an inspiration and one of the best actors to have graced Hollywood. In total, Coop was nominated for five Best Actor Academy Awards, winning twice but he actually won three Oscars.
His first Best Actor Oscar came in 1942 for his portrayal of Alvin York in Sergeant York and his second was in 1953 for High Noon. He then received an Academy Honorary Award in 1961, which was accepted by his friend, Jimmy Stewart.
He Kept His Illness A Secret
On April 14, 1960, Coop underwent surgery for prostate cancer, then later had a tumor removed from his intestine. Just after Christmas 1960, Veronica received the news that her husband's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones. Coop was dying. His family decided not to tell him immediately. They holidayed in England and France and Gary even went hiking one last time with his friend Ernest Hemingway. On February 27th, 1961, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned the truth that – in cowboy parlance – he was a goner.
Throughout his battle with cancer, he managed to keep it to himself. He even starred in The Naked Edge, which came out the same year as his death and was his final film. The secret was finally revealed when his friend Jimmy Stewart accepted an Oscar on his behalf at the 33rd Annual Academy Awards. Holding back tears, Jimmy gave a moving speech stating, “We’re very proud of you, Coop. All of us.” In the coming days, he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII, and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
The Big Ranch in the Sky
In his last public statement on May 4th, 1961, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12th and died peacefully the next day, at 12:47 p.m. on Saturday, May 13th, 1961, just after high noon. The star of dozens of Westerns and real-life cowboy joined the big ranch in the sky six days after his sixtieth birthday.
A requiem mass was attended by many of Cooper's friends, including Jimmy Stewart, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Audrey Hepburn, and Marlene Dietrich. Coop was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Coop's remains were moved to Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton, New York. Veronica was buried beside him when she died almost forty years later.
Coop's Legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961; from the end of the silent movie era to the end of the golden age of Hollywood. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films. Whether he played a cowboy, a soldier, an explorer, he was always the American Hero. And he left a trail of broken hearts in his wake as long as the Will Rogers Highway.
You can see his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but his best legacy is his daughter. Maria was truly her father’s daughter and a chip off the old block as she followed her father into horse riding, skiing, hiking, and even acting. Though not as successful as her dad, Maria had a Hollywood career as an actress at first before becoming a producer.
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