Gary Cooper, en el altar de Hollywood
Subtítulo “Era carismático, con un gran sentido del humor y de la justicia, muy sencillo, pero nada artificial”. Así define su hija María Cooper a su padre en el libro El universo de Gary Cooper donde recopila algunas de sus vivencias.

Para muchos es la mejor encarnación del héroe noble, del hombre de una pieza. Tan auténtico que nunca pudo hacer de villano en sus casi 100 películas. Su épica aventura, ahora recibe el homenaje de su hija en un libro. “Era carismático, con un gran sentido del humor y de la justicia, muy sencillo, pero nada artificial”. Así define su hija María Cooper a su padre en el libro El universo de Gary Cooper donde recopila algunas de sus vivencias.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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These are pensive times we are living in. Hoping that all of you are staying safe and staying healthy. 🙏 . . . #garycooper #staysafe #stayhealthy #stayhome

Una publicación compartida por Gary Cooper (@gary_cooper_official) el 25 de Abr de 2020 a las 6:56 PDT

Encarnó al héroe con el rostro más noble y con elegancia, bien como legionario en Marruecos, como sargento de Tennesse, o valiente en Sólo ante el peligro. Dicen que este galán que montaba a caballo con estilo de gentleman inglés se sabía mejor las curvas de sus compañeras de reparto que sus guiones. “Una de las expresiones favoritas de mi padre, era “No hay caballo que no pueda ser montado. Ni hay jinete que no pueda ser descabalgado”.

Se enamoró de Ingrid Bergman en Por quién doblan las campanas, besó a Sara Montiel en Veracruz, le costó un escándalo su amor por Patricia Neal en El manatial. Y la lista sigue con nombres como Clara Bow, Lupe Vélez, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman. Tenía los ojos más amables del mundo dijo Audrey Hepburn. Se casó con Veronica Balfe, la chica de King Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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🚗Gary Cooper always loved cars from his teen years onwards. Not only loved them, he knew a lot about maintaining them and had little ideas about improving performance (check out his love affair of the Duesenbergs of the mid-1930s). . This jaguar was a favorite – definitely not a family car but one he could take out and “open her up” wherever the highway and traffic allowed. He really must have loved it because it was not an easy car for him to fold his 6’3 plus body into – bad back, old hip injury and all. But the smile on his face when he drove it was pure joy. He had it souped up even more than it was when it came from the manufacturer. In fact, it ran so hot that he had to have them put in 2 sets of air vents on the top of the hood so the engine didn’t overheat. He said to a good friend, Peter Lawford, one day as Pete came over to visit and had to converse with my father as he was on his back working under the car, “Hey Pete, you know you can fiddle with me, you can fiddle with my wife, but you can’t fiddle with my car.” . Special thanks to @thehollywoodgarage for their recent post of this very photo which brought back wonderful memories. . #garycooper #hollywoodcars #hollywoodgarage #vintagecars #oldcars #jaguar #vintagejaguar #carcollector

Una publicación compartida por Gary Cooper (@gary_cooper_official) el 15 de Abr de 2020 a las 12:08 PDT

Uno de los mejores elogios que le dedicó la crítica es que era tan natural que parecía que vivía al otro lado de la pantalla, hacia sencillo lo que a otros actores les costaba. Y eso que llegó a Los Ángeles, no para ser actor sino como caricaturista, era un buen dibujante y pensó en ganarse así la vida. Pero empezó de extra como cowboy por su elegancia en el caballo y después llegaron grandes películas, como Marruecos, Adiós a las Armas, Bola de fuego, o Sargento York, que le valió un Oscar.

Y los mejores directores del planeta, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra. Cálido, vigoroso, indestructible, en los años 20 levantaba suspiros en las oscuras salas de los cines. Cuando fue elegido el hombre más elegante de Hollywood señaló, “no sé una maldita cosa acerca de cómo vestir. Yo solo confió en el momento y mantengo mis zapatos lustrados”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It was rare that my mother and I would join my father on location but it was Christmastime and we wanted to be together as a family so there we were in Cuernavaca, Mexico while the shooting was taking place in the nearby countryside and at the foot of the mountains. It was very rugged territory around Uruapan with a mixture of jungles, black volcanic rock and sinister looking black sand. The Director was a longtime family friend, Henry Hathaway, who had in fact directed my father in 7 previous films. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ For the most part, we were all based in Cuernavaca and it was wonderful to be around the Hathaways whom I called Uncle Henry and Aunt Skip. Henry was a passionate and exacting Director and the frustrations of this location drove him crazy. I’ll never forget one complex scene in particular. The “good guys” are trapped in a ravine with cliffs rising high above them, over 1,000 feet, creating a narrow escape route for my father and his team. Of course, the Indians did not like their territory being invaded by the “white man” and were not friendly. The great dramatic shot was supposed to have my father and friends trapped in this ravine with the canyon walls looming over them. Hundreds of Indians on horseback were supposed to appear at the rime of the mesa. A great shot if they were lined up like the Rockettes. They were supposed to appear all at the once silhouetted against the blue cloudless sky. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This was not the day of cellphones. The walkie-talkies we had were not working and Henry was obliged to yell all directions through a gigantic bullhorn. But I guess the wind was blowing the wrong direction because Henry’s instructions seemed to be of no avail. The Indians who were supposed to appear all at once at the rim of the plateau didn’t seem to hear him and with retake after retake, there were only clumps of Indians, not looking very threatening – no dramatic effect at all. Henry yelled and cursed, turned crimson in rage – I was afraid a heart attack was imminent. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀More @mariacooperjanis

Una publicación compartida por Gary Cooper (@gary_cooper_official) el 10 de Abr de 2020 a las 7:15 PDT

Sus andares asimétricos y su altura, 1.90 m, construyeron una silueta venerada, que lo mismo trataba a la Reina de Inglaterra que a quien le arreglaba la bicicleta. Amante de la justicia y fiel a sus amigos. La cineasta Pilar Miró le dedicó una película Gary Cooper que estás en los cielos. Sin duda en el altar de Hollywood este santo merece estar en lo más alto.