Gary Cooper

GARY COOPER May 7, 1901 - May 13, 1961 Gary Cooper, the strong, silent hero of the screen, died of cancer at 12:27 p.m. Saturday in the quiet of his Holmby Hills home. The 60-year-old actor's death, awaited by his family and friends and by Cooper himself for two weeks, ended a long fight with the disease, the nature of which did not become publicly known until his confinement last month. The tall, drawling Cooper, winner of two Academy Awards in a film career that spanned 35 years, had received messages of hope from all over the world, including a call from President Kennedy. Cooper's wife, Veronica, their daughter, Maria, the family doctor, a priest and two male nurses were with Cooper when the end came in a bedroom of his estate at 200 Baroda Dr. Beverly Hills, California. Fears for the actor's health arose a year ago after a prostate operation. He denied then that there was a malignancy. Five weeks later, a cancerous portion of his colon was removed, but he still wouldn't admit it. From then on, doctors acknowledged later, it was only a matter of time. Cooper, heavily drugged for the last 10 days to ease the intense pain, received the last rites of the Catholic Church on Friday. A long-time friend, the Rt. Rev. Daniel Sullivan of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Beverly Hills, said he was able to talk with Cooper briefly on Thursday. Catholic Convert "Although he was weak, I was amazed how alert he was," Father Sullivan commented. The priest reported that Cooper had been unconscious all day and died while sleeping peacefully under sedation. He said the wife and daughter took the death calmly. And he disclosed that Mrs. Cooper had known since December that her husband's illness was incurable. Cooper, reared as an Episcopalian, was converted in 1959 to Catholicism, the faith of his wife and daughter. He had received no visitors for two weeks, and his family remained constantly at his bedside. Gary Cooper, Hollywood's homespun hero, was another product of its big star era—the same era in which names like Clark Gable, John Wayne, Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power became household words to millions. It was an era which Hollywood itself believes is gone forever. Cooper brought to the screen a personality that was all his own. His taciturn drawl, shy grin and the loose-jointed way he carried his 6 ft. 3 in. frame came to typify something as American as buckwheat cakes. Moreover, he was Hollywood's own creation. He came here almost directly from a ranch near Helena, Mont., his birthplace, rather than by way of the stage, radio or other entertainment media. Aspired to Be Artist The son of a state supreme court justice, Cooper originally aspired to be an artist and from 1922 to 1924 he studied art at Grinnell College in Iowa. But in Los Angeles he found he could make more money as a screen extra and stunt man. He was introduced to many Hollywood figures by Grace Kingsley, a film society columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Cooper accompanied her on some assignments. But the film colony was unimpressed. "He's too bashful," was the usual comment. Cooper acquired an agent, Nan Collins, then a casting director at United Studios. It was Miss Collins who suggest he change his real name from Frank James Cooper to Gary Cooper. The new name clicked.