Post by Coopsgirl on Aug 18, 2009 8:02:01 GMT -6
From 1921 to 1924, Frank Cooper attended Grinnell College in Iowa with the intention to become a commercial artist upon graduation. He and his college sweetheart were planning to get married, but first, she wanted him to have a stable job. He left college after three years and set out to find employment first in his home state of Montana as a cartoonist for a Helena newspaper and then in Los Angeles where his parents had recently relocated to. Unfortunately for young Frank, his girl met and married another man while he was searching for work. While in L.A. he found several temporary low paying jobs including painting scenes at a theater and selling baby portrait packages door to door.
In late ’24/early ’25, Frank got in touch with a couple of friends from back home who were now working as extras in the movies. The story goes he just ran into them as he was walking down the street one day but that seems to be a Hollywood embellishment. No matter how he met up with them, they convinced him that there was good money to be made, $20 a day or more (about $240 today), as a cowboy extra especially if you could do stunt work. Frank got a job alongside his pals working at the studios known as “Poverty Row”. These smaller companies were often used by the major studios to film second unit work or to provide extras. They also made their own low budget features as well.
It turned out Frank could fall of a horse with the best of ‘em but after a few months of punishing work, he began to want more, especially once he learned that Tom Mix made as much as $17,500 a week ($213,000 today) making Western pictures. He continued to do stunt and extra work but also began to get some bit parts which gave him actual screen time even though it was often only a few minutes. These films included The Eagle (1925), Tricks (1925), Watch Your Wife (1926), Three Pals (1926), and The Enchanted Hill (1926) to name just a few.
This still wasn’t enough for Frank who in 1926 was now 25 years old and knew he couldn’t go on as a bit part player forever. Taking matters in his own hands, he paid to have some headshots and a screen test made. This was quite unheard of at the time as most screen tests were done by the studio upon showing interest in a prospective new actor but no one would give him the time of day. In the short screen test, he rode his horse hard towards the camera, jumped off and rolled on the ground then popped up, took off his cowboy hat and smiled at the camera. Armed with his pictures, screen test, and determination to make it, Frank set out to find his place in the movies.
Nan Collins, his first agent, wasn’t able to do much for him as far as getting him work, but she did have a profound influence on his career just the same. There were already a couple of Frank Cooper’s working in Hollywood and one on trial for killing his wife in Chicago so she told him that name would have to go. She renamed him after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Frank joked that he was glad she wasn’t from Poughkeepsie then accepted his new moniker: Gary Cooper.
Major films of the 1920s and their release dates:
The Winning of Barbara Worth - Oct 14, 1926
It - Feb 5, 1927
Children of Divorce - Apr 2, 1927
Arizona Bound - Apr 9, 1927
The Last Outlaw - July 2, 1927
Wings - Aug 1, 1927
Nevada - Aug 8, 1927
Beau Sabreur - Jan 7, 1928
Doomsday - Feb 18, 1928
Legion of the Condemned - Mar 10, 1928
Half a Bride - Jun 16, 1928
The First Kiss - Aug 25, 1928
Lilac Time - Oct 18, 1928
The Shopworn Angel - Dec 29, 1928
Wolf Song - Mar 30, 1929
Betrayal - May 11, 1929
The Virginian - Nov 9, 1929
Dates from the AFI Catalog 1921-1930.
In late ’24/early ’25, Frank got in touch with a couple of friends from back home who were now working as extras in the movies. The story goes he just ran into them as he was walking down the street one day but that seems to be a Hollywood embellishment. No matter how he met up with them, they convinced him that there was good money to be made, $20 a day or more (about $240 today), as a cowboy extra especially if you could do stunt work. Frank got a job alongside his pals working at the studios known as “Poverty Row”. These smaller companies were often used by the major studios to film second unit work or to provide extras. They also made their own low budget features as well.
It turned out Frank could fall of a horse with the best of ‘em but after a few months of punishing work, he began to want more, especially once he learned that Tom Mix made as much as $17,500 a week ($213,000 today) making Western pictures. He continued to do stunt and extra work but also began to get some bit parts which gave him actual screen time even though it was often only a few minutes. These films included The Eagle (1925), Tricks (1925), Watch Your Wife (1926), Three Pals (1926), and The Enchanted Hill (1926) to name just a few.
This still wasn’t enough for Frank who in 1926 was now 25 years old and knew he couldn’t go on as a bit part player forever. Taking matters in his own hands, he paid to have some headshots and a screen test made. This was quite unheard of at the time as most screen tests were done by the studio upon showing interest in a prospective new actor but no one would give him the time of day. In the short screen test, he rode his horse hard towards the camera, jumped off and rolled on the ground then popped up, took off his cowboy hat and smiled at the camera. Armed with his pictures, screen test, and determination to make it, Frank set out to find his place in the movies.
Nan Collins, his first agent, wasn’t able to do much for him as far as getting him work, but she did have a profound influence on his career just the same. There were already a couple of Frank Cooper’s working in Hollywood and one on trial for killing his wife in Chicago so she told him that name would have to go. She renamed him after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Frank joked that he was glad she wasn’t from Poughkeepsie then accepted his new moniker: Gary Cooper.
Major films of the 1920s and their release dates:
The Winning of Barbara Worth - Oct 14, 1926
It - Feb 5, 1927
Children of Divorce - Apr 2, 1927
Arizona Bound - Apr 9, 1927
The Last Outlaw - July 2, 1927
Wings - Aug 1, 1927
Nevada - Aug 8, 1927
Beau Sabreur - Jan 7, 1928
Doomsday - Feb 18, 1928
Legion of the Condemned - Mar 10, 1928
Half a Bride - Jun 16, 1928
The First Kiss - Aug 25, 1928
Lilac Time - Oct 18, 1928
The Shopworn Angel - Dec 29, 1928
Wolf Song - Mar 30, 1929
Betrayal - May 11, 1929
The Virginian - Nov 9, 1929
Dates from the AFI Catalog 1921-1930.