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Gary
Cooper
1901 - 1961 |
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. The actor Gary Cooper impersonated as nobody else the great, patient character who is looking for a peaceful solution, but who however doesn't recoil of putting in violence for the attainment of the justice. Gary Cooper began his film career in the middle of the 20's in several
western, in which his roles were so tiny that he wasn't mentioned by name.
When the sound film was near at hand, Cooper was convincing with his soft voice wich fitted well to his outside composure. In "The Virginian" (29) he was taciturn but his few sentences were apting. He had his great breakthrough in 1930 when he played at Marlene
Dietrich's side in the movie "Morocco". With this movie he free himself
from the western genre and took part in very different movies.
When he impersonated a comedy role in Ernst Lubitsch's "Design for Living"
(33), he was convincing at the first go and in retrospect one regrets that
he didn't choose more such parts. The best example for his comedy talent
was Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (36),
for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
In the 40's came a whole string of great movies into being like "The Westerner" (40), "Meet John Doe" (41), "Sergeant York" (41), for which he got his first Oscar, "Ball of Fire" (41), "The Pride of the Yankees" (42) - nomination for the Oscar, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (43) - nomination for the Oscar, "The Story of Dr. Wassell" (44), "Along Came Jones" (45) and "Unconquered" (47). The 50's began with experiences movies like "Dallas" (50), "It's a Big Country" (51) and "You're in the Navy Now" (51), but with "High Noon" (52) he catapulted himself into the supreme spheres of stars and got his second Oscar. Of course the following movies couldn't go on from this unique success, moreover Cooper's energy dwindled visibly from movie to movie. He appeared in "Vera Cruz" (54), "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" (55), "Love in the Afternoon" (57), "Man of the West" (58) and "The Hanging Tree" (59). In 1961 Gary Cooper was a last time on camera for the production "The
Naked Edge". When he got the Honorary Award in April 1961 he was already
too weak to receive it in person. One month later he was conquered by cancer
and closed his eyes forever.
Other movies with Gary Cooper:
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