Gary Cooper
![Cooper in 1952](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Gary_Cooper_%281952%29.jpg)
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he became a movie star with his first sound picture, playing the title role in 1929's ''The Virginian''. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as ''A Farewell to Arms'' (1932) and ''The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'' (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero, a champion of the common man in films such as ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' (1936), ''Meet John Doe'' (1941), ''Sergeant York'' (1941), ''The Pride of the Yankees'' (1942), and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as ''The Fountainhead'' (1949) and ''High Noon'' (1952). In his final films, he played nonviolent characters searching for redemption in films such as ''Friendly Persuasion'' (1956) and ''Man of the West'' (1958). Provided by Wikipedia
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