Gary Cooper

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Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in High Noon

Ray Milland, Gary Cooper, and Robert Preston in Beau Geste (1939)

Promotional poster for High Noon (1952).

Bergman, Ingrid; Paxinou, Katina; Cooper, Gary; For Whom the Bell Tolls

Gary Cooper

American actor

Also known as: Frank James Cooper

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 9, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

Original name:: Frank James Cooper

Born:: May 7, 1901, Helena, Mont., U.S.

Died:: May 13, 1961, Los Angeles (aged 60)

Awards And Honors:: Academy Award (1961); Academy Award (1953); Academy Award (1942); Academy Award (1953): Actor in a Leading Role; Academy Award (1942): Actor in a Leading Role; Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1961); Golden Globe Award (1953): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Married To:: Sandra Shaw (married 1933)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Only the Brave" (1930); "The Adventures of Marco Polo" (1938); "The Wolf Song" (1929); "Task Force" (1949); "Today We Live" (1933); "Half a Bride" (1928); "The Last Outlaw" (1927); "Along Came Jones" (1945); "Peter Ibbetson" (1935); "Garden of Evil" (1954); "Now and Forever" (1934); "Beau Sabreur" (1928); "Springfield Rifle" (1952); "Vera Cruz" (1954); "Variety Girl" (1947); "A Man from Wyoming" (1930); "The General Died at Dawn" (1936); "His Woman" (1931); "The Westerner" (1940); "City Streets" (1931); "It's a Big Country: An American Anthology" (1951); "Desire" (1936); "Doomsday" (1928); "Saratoga Trunk" (1945); "Design for Living" (1933); "Good Sam" (1948); "Unconquered" (1947); "One Sunday Afternoon" (1933); "You're in the Navy Now" (1951); "Nevada" (1927); "High Noon" (1952); "The First Kiss" (1928); "Betrayal" (1929); "Lilac Time" (1928); "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1943); "Devil and the Deep" (1932); "If I Had a Million" (1932); "Operator 13" (1934); "Souls at Sea" (1937); "They Came to Cordura" (1959); "Paramount on Parade" (1930); "Fighting Caravans" (1931); "Ball of Fire" (1941); "North West Mounted Police" (1940); "Seven Days Leave" (1930); "The Fountainhead" (1949); "Dallas" (1950); "Morocco" (1930); "I Take This Woman" (1931); "Wings" (1927); "Starlift" (1951); "Cloak and Dagger" (1946); "The Real Glory" (1939); "The Hanging Tree" (1959); "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" (1955); "Love in the Afternoon" (1957); "Sergeant York" (1941); "Ten North Frederick" (1958); "The Texan" (1930); "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" (1959); "Friendly Persuasion" (1956); "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942); "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935); "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" (1938); "Return to Paradise" (1953); "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926); "Beau Geste" (1939); "The Naked Edge" (1961); "Arizona Bound" (1927); "The Plainsman" (1936); "Bright Leaf" (1950); "A Farewell to Arms" (1932); "The Legion of the Condemned" (1928); "The Virginian" (1929); "Children of Divorce" (1927); "The Wedding Night" (1935); "Casanova Brown" (1944); "The Story of Dr. Wassell" (1944); "Man of the West" (1958); "Boum sur Paris" (1953); "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936); "Alice in Wonderland" (1933); "Meet John Doe" (1941); "The Spoilers" (1930); "Distant Drums" (1951); "The Shopworn Angel" (1928); "Blowing Wild" (1953); "The Cowboy and the Lady" (1938)

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Gary Cooper (born May 7, 1901, Helena, Mont., U.S.—died May 13, 1961, Los Angeles) was an American motion-picture actor whose portrayal of homespun characters established him as a glamorized image of the average man. He was one of Hollywood’s most consistently popular and beloved stars.

The son of a Montana Supreme Court justice, Cooper left Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1924 and went to Hollywood, where he earned a living as a cowboy extra and stunt rider. His agent changed his name, and he advanced to leading parts in modestly budgeted westerns that were often box-office hits. A major stroke of luck was his being cast in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926). He rose to stardom in The Virginian (1929), one of his first talking pictures, and became one of Hollywood’s leading male actors with his appearances in such films as Morocco (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932), Design for Living (1933), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), Desire (1936), The Plainsman (1937), Beau Geste (1939), and The Westerner (1940).

*Meet John Doe*(From left) Walter Brennan, Gary Cooper, and Barbara Stanwyck in *Meet John Doe* (1941), directed by Frank Capra.

Cooper often played a brave, laconic, and somewhat reticent man whose upright character compels him to perform heroic actions that he does not purposely seek. He typified the role of the unsophisticated man fighting for what he thought was right in two films directed by Frank Capra, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Meet John Doe (1941). Among Cooper’s other important films were Sergeant York (1941), Ball of Fire (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), and The Fountainhead (1949). His role as the aging town marshall in High Noon (1952) is considered Cooper’s finest performance and the film one of the greatest westerns ever made. Among his last films are Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Love in the Afternoon (1957).

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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Cooper won the Academy Award for best actor in 1941 (for Sergeant York) and 1952 (for High Noon) and in 1961 was honoured with a Special Academy Award for his career and the international reputation he won for the film industry.

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