American actor

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) 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, a ...

started his career in 1925 as a

film extra A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street ...

and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. He made his official cinematic debut in 1926 in the

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...

production ''

The Winning of Barbara Worth ''The Winning of Barbara Worth'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Henry King, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky and Gary Cooper (who replaced Monte Blue). Based on Harold Bell Wright's novel ''The Winning of Barbara Wo ...

''. He went on to become a contract player with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

where he established himself as a popular leading man prior to the end of the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

era. Cooper's future in the sound era was assured with the release of '' The Virginian'' (1929), his first all-talkie film. For the next 32 years, he would be one of cinema's top money-making stars. From 1936 to 1957, Cooper ranked 18 times among the top ten box office attractions—a record when he died in 1961, and later surpassed only by

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

, who ranked among the top ten 25 times,

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

(21 times) and

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

(20 times). Cooper was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award five times and won twice, for '' Sergeant York'' (1942) and ''

High Noon ''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of ...

'' (1952). The latter film boosted his popularity, resulting in him being the number one box office attraction in 1953. Cooper received a third Academy Award—an honorary one—just prior to his death. His final film, ''

The Naked Edge ''The Naked Edge'' is a 1961 thriller film starring Gary Cooper (in his final film role) and Deborah Kerr. The film was a British-American co-production distributed by United Artists, directed by Michael Anderson and produced by George Glass a ...

'', was released posthumously. As of February 2008, more than half of Gary Cooper's feature films are available on DVD, while others not yet on home video are available for television broadcast. Unfortunately, at least two of his silent films—''Beau Sabreur'' (1928) and ''

The Legion of the Condemned ''The Legion of the Condemned'' (aka ''Legion of the Condemned'') is a 1928 American silent film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Wellman, and Adolph Zukor and distributed by Paramount Pictures.Wynne 1987, p. 62. ...

'' (1928)—are now considered

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

s. Another of his silent films, ''Wolf Song'' (1929), was originally released as a part talkie, but survives only as a silent film. One of Cooper's earliest talkies, ''

Paramount on Parade ''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Ot ...

'' (1930), survives incomplete. The prints that are available for television are missing all but one of the film's Technicolor scenes—a partial restoration of these scenes was done by the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Film Archives. The filmography contains sections for Cooper's work as an extra in the earliest part of his film career, his

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

appearances, his occasional appearances in

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, and a section for a compilation film. Due to its length (92 films), the listing of his feature films is divided in four sections. Cooper's film roles are listed, as well as the names of each film's

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and co-stars. Cooper's awards and nominations are also listed. Except where noted, all of his films were shot in 35mm

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

. All films released prior to ''Lilac Time'' (1928) are silent films and all from ''The Virginian'' (1929) onward are sound films. The films made during the silent-to-sound transition are noted as being either silent or sound films. As an

addendum An addendum or appendix, in general, is an addition required to be made to a document by its author subsequent to its printing or publication. It comes from the gerundive , plural , "that which is to be added," from (, compare with memorandum, ...

Filmography

Feature films as an extra, 1925–26

Feature films, 1926–30

Feature films, 1931–40

Feature films, 1941–50

Feature films, 1951–61

Short films

Compilation films

Television

Radio appearances

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

External links