Paul Colt's Blog, page 29
February 15, 2020
James Coburn
With relatively few Western films to his credit, why does James Coburn make my list of big screen Western stars? Two reasons. He played one of The Magnificent Seven in one of my all-time favorite Western films. Then you might ask, what’s the second reason he makes my list? He inspired one of my characters. Let’s have some fun with that. There is a signed book in it for up to three people who correctly identify the character. Winners announced next week.
Coburn was a natural at rough-cut, tough-guy characters. He got his Western start as Pernell Roberts’ sidekick in Ride Lonesome with Randolph Scott. That was followed by Face of a Fugitive, both in ’59. The Magnificent Seven (’60) really launched his star. He was given the part on the recommendation of his friend and fellow Seven member Robert Vaughn.
Like many tough-guy stars of the time, he found a ready market for his talent as a guest star bad guy in episodes of small screen Western TV series. Coburn appeared on Bonanza, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Restless Gun and Klondike.
Sam Peckinpah cast Coburn as a one-armed Indian scout in Major Dundee (’65). Waterhole No. 3 (’67) followed at Paramount. Coburn had a connection with director Sergio Leone, as did others of the rugged, tough-guy persuasion. Leone first tried to cast him in A Fist Full of Dollars; but couldn’t come up with enough money to turn Coburn’s head. That film may have been the biggest box office sensation nobody with a name wanted a part in. Fortunately for Clint Eastwood he was perfect for The Man with No Name. Leone got Coburn and Rod Steiger in ’71 with Duck, You Sucker! Also known as (hint) A Fist Full of Dynamite. Coburn’s role as a rodeo rider in The Honkers (’72) cratered at the box office. A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die (’73) fared better. Peckinpah brought Coburn back in ’73 as Pat Garrett in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Coburns Western resume rounded out with a minor part in Young Guns II.
James Coburn suffered a fatal heart attack in 2002 at 74.
Next Week: Steve McQueen
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Coburn was a natural at rough-cut, tough-guy characters. He got his Western start as Pernell Roberts’ sidekick in Ride Lonesome with Randolph Scott. That was followed by Face of a Fugitive, both in ’59. The Magnificent Seven (’60) really launched his star. He was given the part on the recommendation of his friend and fellow Seven member Robert Vaughn.
Like many tough-guy stars of the time, he found a ready market for his talent as a guest star bad guy in episodes of small screen Western TV series. Coburn appeared on Bonanza, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Restless Gun and Klondike.
Sam Peckinpah cast Coburn as a one-armed Indian scout in Major Dundee (’65). Waterhole No. 3 (’67) followed at Paramount. Coburn had a connection with director Sergio Leone, as did others of the rugged, tough-guy persuasion. Leone first tried to cast him in A Fist Full of Dollars; but couldn’t come up with enough money to turn Coburn’s head. That film may have been the biggest box office sensation nobody with a name wanted a part in. Fortunately for Clint Eastwood he was perfect for The Man with No Name. Leone got Coburn and Rod Steiger in ’71 with Duck, You Sucker! Also known as (hint) A Fist Full of Dynamite. Coburn’s role as a rodeo rider in The Honkers (’72) cratered at the box office. A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die (’73) fared better. Peckinpah brought Coburn back in ’73 as Pat Garrett in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Coburns Western resume rounded out with a minor part in Young Guns II.
James Coburn suffered a fatal heart attack in 2002 at 74.
Next Week: Steve McQueen
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
February 8, 2020
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson came by his tough-guy persona honestly. He was born to poor circumstances in Pennsylvania coal country Charles Dennis Buchinsky. He worked the mines before serving as a B-29 gunner in WW II. He took up his acting career after the war.
His early career had him limited to bit parts, including his first Western, Riding Shotgun (’53) with Randolf Scott. He followed that with a strong Indian part in Apache (’54) and later that year Vera Cruz. He landed the lead villain role to Alan Ladd in Drum Beat as the Modoc renegade Captain Jack.
In 1954 in the midst of Joe McCathy’s House Unamerican Activities Committee investigations of communism in Hollywood, Buchinsky changed his Eastern European sounding handle to Bronson. He also headed down the guest bad-guy circuit with appearances on episodes of Sheriff of Cochise, Colt .45, Yancy Derringer, Have Gun Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
He joined my personal big screen Western stars list in 1960 as Bernardo O’Reilly in one of my all-time favorites, The Magnificent Seven. While that was enough to get him on my list, Bronson’s filmography more than justifies his place here, though he owed much of it to Europe and the spaghetti Western phenomenon. Sergio Leone called Bronson one of the greatest actors he ever worked with. He offered Bronson, The Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars (’64). Bronson turned it down, leading to the launch of legendary Clint Eastwood.
Bronson learned his lesson with Guns of Diablo (’65), followed by Villa Rides and Once Upon a Time in the West and Guns for San Sebastian (’68), Red Sun (’71), Chato’s Land (’72), Chino (’73), Breakheart Pass (’75), From Noon Till Three (’76), The White Buffalo (’77) and Death Hunt (’81). In all Bronson appeared in twenty-two Westerns over the course of his career. He definitely belongs in this series.
Charles Bronson passed away on August 30, 2003 at the age of 81. Adios Bernardo.
Next Week: James Coburn
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
His early career had him limited to bit parts, including his first Western, Riding Shotgun (’53) with Randolf Scott. He followed that with a strong Indian part in Apache (’54) and later that year Vera Cruz. He landed the lead villain role to Alan Ladd in Drum Beat as the Modoc renegade Captain Jack.
In 1954 in the midst of Joe McCathy’s House Unamerican Activities Committee investigations of communism in Hollywood, Buchinsky changed his Eastern European sounding handle to Bronson. He also headed down the guest bad-guy circuit with appearances on episodes of Sheriff of Cochise, Colt .45, Yancy Derringer, Have Gun Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
He joined my personal big screen Western stars list in 1960 as Bernardo O’Reilly in one of my all-time favorites, The Magnificent Seven. While that was enough to get him on my list, Bronson’s filmography more than justifies his place here, though he owed much of it to Europe and the spaghetti Western phenomenon. Sergio Leone called Bronson one of the greatest actors he ever worked with. He offered Bronson, The Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars (’64). Bronson turned it down, leading to the launch of legendary Clint Eastwood.
Bronson learned his lesson with Guns of Diablo (’65), followed by Villa Rides and Once Upon a Time in the West and Guns for San Sebastian (’68), Red Sun (’71), Chato’s Land (’72), Chino (’73), Breakheart Pass (’75), From Noon Till Three (’76), The White Buffalo (’77) and Death Hunt (’81). In all Bronson appeared in twenty-two Westerns over the course of his career. He definitely belongs in this series.
Charles Bronson passed away on August 30, 2003 at the age of 81. Adios Bernardo.
Next Week: James Coburn
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
February 1, 2020
Lee Van Cleef
Lee Van Cleef graduated high school in 1942 at age 17 to enlist in the Navy during World War II, serving aboard a mine sweeper in the European theater. He took up acting after the war and got his first break when he was cast for a part in High Noon. In a curious way it would define his career.
High Noon director Stanley Kramer wanted Van Cleef to play the supporting role of Deputy Harvey Pell. He asked Lee to soften his appearance for the part by having his sharp featured nose fixed. Van Cleef declined. It cost him the more prominent speaking part, relegating him to a minor appearance as gunfighter Jack Colby. Van Cleef may not have known it at the time; but the decision to keep his nose, angular features and intense eyes, cast him perfectly as the villain.
Following his cameo in High Noon Van Cleef’s early career might best be described as guest villain appearances on the small screen. He did guest bad guy episodes for The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Range Rider, Sky King, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, The Adventures of Champion, The Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, The Untouchables, The Alaskans, Have Gun Will Travel, Colt .45, Cimarron City, Laramie, Gunsmoke and Bonanza. He appeared in a Western films too including The Tin Star, Gunfight at the OK Corral and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, bad guy in one and all.
In 1965, Sergio Leone cast Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More. He followed that with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. As with Clint Eastwood the Dollar Spaghettis vaulted Lee Van Cleef to stardom. He owned Spaghetti Westerns thereafter with The Big Gundown (’66), Death Rides a Horse (’67). Day of Anger (’67), Sabata (’69), Return of Sabata (’71) and Take a Hard Ride (’75) with Jim Brown. He wrapped up his western screen career with God’s Gun (’76) and Kid Vengeance (’77).
Lee Van Cleef passed away of heart disease in 1989 at the age of 64. The inscription on his grave marker reads: “Best of the Bad.” Not a bad trade for a nose job.
Next Week: Charles Bronson
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
High Noon director Stanley Kramer wanted Van Cleef to play the supporting role of Deputy Harvey Pell. He asked Lee to soften his appearance for the part by having his sharp featured nose fixed. Van Cleef declined. It cost him the more prominent speaking part, relegating him to a minor appearance as gunfighter Jack Colby. Van Cleef may not have known it at the time; but the decision to keep his nose, angular features and intense eyes, cast him perfectly as the villain.
Following his cameo in High Noon Van Cleef’s early career might best be described as guest villain appearances on the small screen. He did guest bad guy episodes for The Adventures of Kit Carson, The Range Rider, Sky King, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, The Adventures of Champion, The Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, The Untouchables, The Alaskans, Have Gun Will Travel, Colt .45, Cimarron City, Laramie, Gunsmoke and Bonanza. He appeared in a Western films too including The Tin Star, Gunfight at the OK Corral and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, bad guy in one and all.
In 1965, Sergio Leone cast Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More. He followed that with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. As with Clint Eastwood the Dollar Spaghettis vaulted Lee Van Cleef to stardom. He owned Spaghetti Westerns thereafter with The Big Gundown (’66), Death Rides a Horse (’67). Day of Anger (’67), Sabata (’69), Return of Sabata (’71) and Take a Hard Ride (’75) with Jim Brown. He wrapped up his western screen career with God’s Gun (’76) and Kid Vengeance (’77).
Lee Van Cleef passed away of heart disease in 1989 at the age of 64. The inscription on his grave marker reads: “Best of the Bad.” Not a bad trade for a nose job.
Next Week: Charles Bronson
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 25, 2020
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood is a big screen western star who got his start on the small screen. His early years in Hollywood were a struggle limited to a succession of bit parts. All that changed in 1958 when he signed on to play Rowdy Yates in the CBS western series Rawhide. By 1963 he’d tired of the traditional ‘white hat’ western character and jumped at the chance to play the enigmatic anti-hero Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western film, A Fistful of Dollars. The film was followed by For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. The Dollars trilogy, as it would be known, made Eastwood a star.
Western film credits include Hang ‘Em High (’68), Two Mules for Sister Sara (‘70), Joe Kidd (‘72), High Plains Drifter (‘73), The Outlaw Josey Wales (’76) and Bronco Billy (’80) in which Eastwood plays a character most closely identified to himself. Pale Rider (’85) was based on the western classic Shane, the title referencing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Eastwood saved the script for Unforgiven (’92) until he was old enough to play the lead part in his last Western.
Unforgiven is considered the fourth best Western film of all time behind Shane, High Noon and John Ford’s classic The Searchers. Distinguished company indeed. NYT film critic Vincent Canby summed up Eastwood’s performance for which he won Best Actor, “Tall . . . Lean . . . mysteriously possessed . . . the presence of some fierce force of nature, which may be why the landscapes of the mythic, late 19th century West become him . . . “
With 40 Academy Award nominations and 13 wins, 32 Golden Globe nominations and 8 wins Clint Eastwood’s acting and directing career reads like a Hollywood highlight reel for the last sixty years. Play Misty for Me (’71), Heartbreak Ridge (’86), The Bridges of Madison County (’95), Million Dollar Baby (’04), Flags of Our Fathers (’06), Letters from Iwo Jima (’06), Gran Torino (’08), Invictus (’09), J. Edger (’11), American Sniper (’14) and Sully (’16).
Clint Eastwood’s personal life was every bit as prolific as his professional performance. Call it a ‘zest’ for life, or as Dirty Harry once said, “Go ahead. Make my day.” ‘Nuf said.
Next Week: Lee Van Cleef
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Western film credits include Hang ‘Em High (’68), Two Mules for Sister Sara (‘70), Joe Kidd (‘72), High Plains Drifter (‘73), The Outlaw Josey Wales (’76) and Bronco Billy (’80) in which Eastwood plays a character most closely identified to himself. Pale Rider (’85) was based on the western classic Shane, the title referencing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Eastwood saved the script for Unforgiven (’92) until he was old enough to play the lead part in his last Western.
Unforgiven is considered the fourth best Western film of all time behind Shane, High Noon and John Ford’s classic The Searchers. Distinguished company indeed. NYT film critic Vincent Canby summed up Eastwood’s performance for which he won Best Actor, “Tall . . . Lean . . . mysteriously possessed . . . the presence of some fierce force of nature, which may be why the landscapes of the mythic, late 19th century West become him . . . “
With 40 Academy Award nominations and 13 wins, 32 Golden Globe nominations and 8 wins Clint Eastwood’s acting and directing career reads like a Hollywood highlight reel for the last sixty years. Play Misty for Me (’71), Heartbreak Ridge (’86), The Bridges of Madison County (’95), Million Dollar Baby (’04), Flags of Our Fathers (’06), Letters from Iwo Jima (’06), Gran Torino (’08), Invictus (’09), J. Edger (’11), American Sniper (’14) and Sully (’16).
Clint Eastwood’s personal life was every bit as prolific as his professional performance. Call it a ‘zest’ for life, or as Dirty Harry once said, “Go ahead. Make my day.” ‘Nuf said.
Next Week: Lee Van Cleef
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 18, 2020
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda hailed from Grand Island, Nebraska. He got his acting start in college summer stock where he met life-long friend and then roommate, Jimmy Stewart. He got his first break in film in 1935 when 20th Century Fox cast him as the leading man in The Farmer Takes a Wife. He persuaded his pal Jimmy to take a Hollywood screen test and we know the rest of that story.
Like so many great Western stars of the era, Fonda’s Western credits begin with John Ford, in Jesse James (’39), Fonda played Frank James. He teamed up with Ford again in Drums Along the Mohawk and The Return of Frank James (’40). World War II saw Fonda enlist in the Navy, serving as an Air Combat Intelligence Officer in the Pacific Theater.
After the war, Fonda resumed his Western film career with The Ox-bow Incident (’43), directed by William Wellman. He continued working with John Ford as Wyatt Earp in the classic My Darling Clementine (’46). Fonda’s Western Credits include Fort Apache (’48), The Tin Star (’57), Warlock (’59) and The Deputy, a Western series for NBC TV (’59-’60). Once again partnered with Ford, Fonda starred in the 1962 epic, How the West Was Won. The West took a lighter turn with Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West and The Cheyenne Social Club. Paired with old Pal Jimmy Stewart their characters banter over politics in a subtext to their off screen differences, Fonda a staunch Democrat and Stewart a conservative Republican.
Henry Fonda’s non-western credits are legendary. The Grapes of Wrath, 12 Angry Men, Mr. Roberts, Midway and Yours Mine and Ours to name a few. On Golden Pond (’81) with Katherine Hepburn and daughter Jane put an exclamation point on his acting career and the finger on his personal life. He won Best Actor Academy Award for it along with a Golden Globe.
Married five times, Fonda had uneasy relationships with his children. Son Peter titled his book, Don’t Tell Dad. Jane and her father were oil and water for most of their lives. Henry Fonda didn’t do emotion, leaving his children starved for fatherly affection. Fonda passed away August 12, 1982 from heart disease with his children at his bedside.
Next Week: Clint Eastwood
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Like so many great Western stars of the era, Fonda’s Western credits begin with John Ford, in Jesse James (’39), Fonda played Frank James. He teamed up with Ford again in Drums Along the Mohawk and The Return of Frank James (’40). World War II saw Fonda enlist in the Navy, serving as an Air Combat Intelligence Officer in the Pacific Theater.
After the war, Fonda resumed his Western film career with The Ox-bow Incident (’43), directed by William Wellman. He continued working with John Ford as Wyatt Earp in the classic My Darling Clementine (’46). Fonda’s Western Credits include Fort Apache (’48), The Tin Star (’57), Warlock (’59) and The Deputy, a Western series for NBC TV (’59-’60). Once again partnered with Ford, Fonda starred in the 1962 epic, How the West Was Won. The West took a lighter turn with Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West and The Cheyenne Social Club. Paired with old Pal Jimmy Stewart their characters banter over politics in a subtext to their off screen differences, Fonda a staunch Democrat and Stewart a conservative Republican.
Henry Fonda’s non-western credits are legendary. The Grapes of Wrath, 12 Angry Men, Mr. Roberts, Midway and Yours Mine and Ours to name a few. On Golden Pond (’81) with Katherine Hepburn and daughter Jane put an exclamation point on his acting career and the finger on his personal life. He won Best Actor Academy Award for it along with a Golden Globe.
Married five times, Fonda had uneasy relationships with his children. Son Peter titled his book, Don’t Tell Dad. Jane and her father were oil and water for most of their lives. Henry Fonda didn’t do emotion, leaving his children starved for fatherly affection. Fonda passed away August 12, 1982 from heart disease with his children at his bedside.
Next Week: Clint Eastwood
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 11, 2020
Jimmy Stewart
Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania Jimmy Stewart came from a small town background. His father owned a hardware store his son was to take over one day. Stewart met life-long friend Henry Fonda in school. A recently discovered actor in 1935, Fonda encouraged Stewart to take a Hollywood screen test. The direction of Stewart’s life changed.
Jimmy enjoyed early success in his career in the years prior to the outbreak of World War II. His films included his first Western work, Destry Rides Again (‘39). With the outbreak of the war, Stewart enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a private. A licensed pilot, he immediately applied for a commission, which he eventually received soon after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Stewart had to talk his way out of recruiting and training duties to win assignment to a combat unit, a bomber wing he served with distinction, earning 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal. Stewart rose to the rank of Brigadier General by war’s end. President Ronald Reagan appointed him an Air Force Major General in retirement.
Jimmy’s film career continued after the war. His gritty Western persona emerged in the 50’s under the direction of Anthony Mann in five feature films. In the 60’s Stewart teamed up with mega-star director John Ford in films including the epic How the West Was Won (’62) one of my all-time favorites, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence with John Wayne and Lee Marvin as a psychotic killer. Stewart’s pacifist lawyer (Rance Stoddard) faces a show down with Marvin’s Liberty. Wayne (tough-guy, Tom Doniphon) has Stewart’s back. Liberty is killed by Tom while Stoddard gets the credit. Years later then Senator Stoddard attempts to set the record straight with a reporter on the occasion of Doniphon’s funeral. He evokes one of the great lines in all of Western film when the reporter says, “When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Stewart’s Western credits conclude with John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist (’76). Jimmy Stewart’s career credits go on and on with roles in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, You Can’t Take It With You, It’s A Wonderful Life and The Spirit of St. Louis to name a few. A genuine nice guy, he was married to the same woman until her death in ‘94. In 1996 at 89 Jimmy Stewart elected to forego his pacemaker and died eight months later.
Next Week: Henry Fonda
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Jimmy enjoyed early success in his career in the years prior to the outbreak of World War II. His films included his first Western work, Destry Rides Again (‘39). With the outbreak of the war, Stewart enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a private. A licensed pilot, he immediately applied for a commission, which he eventually received soon after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Stewart had to talk his way out of recruiting and training duties to win assignment to a combat unit, a bomber wing he served with distinction, earning 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal. Stewart rose to the rank of Brigadier General by war’s end. President Ronald Reagan appointed him an Air Force Major General in retirement.
Jimmy’s film career continued after the war. His gritty Western persona emerged in the 50’s under the direction of Anthony Mann in five feature films. In the 60’s Stewart teamed up with mega-star director John Ford in films including the epic How the West Was Won (’62) one of my all-time favorites, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence with John Wayne and Lee Marvin as a psychotic killer. Stewart’s pacifist lawyer (Rance Stoddard) faces a show down with Marvin’s Liberty. Wayne (tough-guy, Tom Doniphon) has Stewart’s back. Liberty is killed by Tom while Stoddard gets the credit. Years later then Senator Stoddard attempts to set the record straight with a reporter on the occasion of Doniphon’s funeral. He evokes one of the great lines in all of Western film when the reporter says, “When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Stewart’s Western credits conclude with John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist (’76). Jimmy Stewart’s career credits go on and on with roles in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, You Can’t Take It With You, It’s A Wonderful Life and The Spirit of St. Louis to name a few. A genuine nice guy, he was married to the same woman until her death in ‘94. In 1996 at 89 Jimmy Stewart elected to forego his pacemaker and died eight months later.
Next Week: Henry Fonda
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 4, 2020
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper’s career spanned 36 years, leading roles in 84 feature films in genre ranging from light comedy to action adventure, drama and 22 westerns. Charles Cooper came by his cowboy creds honestly, growing up on a ranch in Montana. His western work in film began with stunt work on The Virginian, a silent film based on Owen Wister’s classic novel by the same title and Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage. In stepping up to acting roles, he became Gary Cooper.
Cooper’s versatility as an actor is on display in a selection of his best known roles. In Sergeant York (1941), Cooper played the conscientious objector, Medal of Honor World War I hero Alvin C. York. The following year he played ill-fated baseball superstar Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees despite knowing nothing about baseball. And then of course we have the classic Western show down in High Noon (1952), one of my all-time favorites. Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor in all three. We barely scratch the surface with these.
Remember For Whom the Bell Tolls? A Farewell to Arms? The Plainsman to name but a few? In role after role, Cooper defined the American hero, brave, honest and trustworthy. A man every man might admire. It wasn’t so much Cooper playing the role as the role coming to him. He personified the parts he played, rendering them believable. ‘Coop’ was a natural. He turned down the part of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, because he didn’t see himself in the role.
Gary Cooper’s personal life is a story in itself. He married Veronica ‘Rocky’ Balfe in 1936. They had one daughter. The marriage would withstand tempestuous waters over the years. Cooper had multiple affairs with his leading ladies, notably Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Patricia Neal in Fountainhead and later Grace Kelly. The Neal affair became public, resulting in a three year separation from Rocky. When the affair ended reconciliation became possible. On a family vacation in Rome, he attended an audience with Pope Pius XII along with his Catholic wife and daughter. Raised in the Anglican Church, Cooper did not practice religion. Gradually he embraced Catholicism toward the end of his life. Gary Cooper died of cancer in 1961. His star appears on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is inducted in National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Hall of Great Western Performers.
Next Week: Jimmy Stewart
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Cooper’s versatility as an actor is on display in a selection of his best known roles. In Sergeant York (1941), Cooper played the conscientious objector, Medal of Honor World War I hero Alvin C. York. The following year he played ill-fated baseball superstar Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees despite knowing nothing about baseball. And then of course we have the classic Western show down in High Noon (1952), one of my all-time favorites. Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor in all three. We barely scratch the surface with these.
Remember For Whom the Bell Tolls? A Farewell to Arms? The Plainsman to name but a few? In role after role, Cooper defined the American hero, brave, honest and trustworthy. A man every man might admire. It wasn’t so much Cooper playing the role as the role coming to him. He personified the parts he played, rendering them believable. ‘Coop’ was a natural. He turned down the part of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, because he didn’t see himself in the role.
Gary Cooper’s personal life is a story in itself. He married Veronica ‘Rocky’ Balfe in 1936. They had one daughter. The marriage would withstand tempestuous waters over the years. Cooper had multiple affairs with his leading ladies, notably Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Patricia Neal in Fountainhead and later Grace Kelly. The Neal affair became public, resulting in a three year separation from Rocky. When the affair ended reconciliation became possible. On a family vacation in Rome, he attended an audience with Pope Pius XII along with his Catholic wife and daughter. Raised in the Anglican Church, Cooper did not practice religion. Gradually he embraced Catholicism toward the end of his life. Gary Cooper died of cancer in 1961. His star appears on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is inducted in National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Hall of Great Western Performers.
Next Week: Jimmy Stewart
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
December 28, 2019
Jane Russell
Finished in 1941, The Outlaw, Jane Russell’s first western, couldn’t be released until it received approval in 1946. Why you ask? Back in the day, the motion picture industry abidded by a decency code. They couldn’t get Jane’s ample figure past the censorship standards of the time. Imagine that. Either that or the censors enjoyed the reruns too much to let the film go. When The Outlaw finally got its ‘Get out of jail free’ card it was a box office smash that launched Jane Russell’s film career. Who would have guessed?
Russell’s film career bumped along after that without much distinction in parallel to a nascent music career. In 1948 Jane’s film career got a shot in the arm when she was cast in the Western, The Paleface in the role of Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope. Hollywood has been kind to Martha Jane Canary, first Jane Russell and later Doris Day. Really? Martha Jane was closer to calamity than either of her acting imitators; though I had considerable fun with “Princess” Jane and her relationship with Wild Bill Hickok in my early work Desperado Trail (Kindle). But I digress.
The ups and downs of Jane’s film work continued until she caught on with Montana Belle (’52) in the role of Belle Starr. Ah Hollywood at its best. Belle Starr was no Calamity Jane; but she was no Jane Russell either. She also did her banditry in Texas, but what’s a little geography among friends? Later in 1952 Russell reunited with Hope in Son of Paleface, hitting her second box office success for that year. Westerns were kind to Jane Russell’s career. She would do two more Johnny Reno (’66) and Waco again in ’66.
Jane Russell married three times. She married Bob Waterfield in 1943. Waterfield was an All American quarterback at UCLA before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the L.A. Rams as a quarterback and later head coach. They divorced in 1968. Jane Russell out lived her later two husbands. Jane had no children of her own, though she and Waterfield adopted a daughter and a son. She was staunchly pro-life, establishing an international adoption charity.
Jane hosted a Bible study group in her home known as the Hollywood Christian Group. It attracted leading lights of the film industry. She passed away at her home in 2011 from complication of a respiratory disease.
Next Week: Gary Cooper
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Russell’s film career bumped along after that without much distinction in parallel to a nascent music career. In 1948 Jane’s film career got a shot in the arm when she was cast in the Western, The Paleface in the role of Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope. Hollywood has been kind to Martha Jane Canary, first Jane Russell and later Doris Day. Really? Martha Jane was closer to calamity than either of her acting imitators; though I had considerable fun with “Princess” Jane and her relationship with Wild Bill Hickok in my early work Desperado Trail (Kindle). But I digress.
The ups and downs of Jane’s film work continued until she caught on with Montana Belle (’52) in the role of Belle Starr. Ah Hollywood at its best. Belle Starr was no Calamity Jane; but she was no Jane Russell either. She also did her banditry in Texas, but what’s a little geography among friends? Later in 1952 Russell reunited with Hope in Son of Paleface, hitting her second box office success for that year. Westerns were kind to Jane Russell’s career. She would do two more Johnny Reno (’66) and Waco again in ’66.
Jane Russell married three times. She married Bob Waterfield in 1943. Waterfield was an All American quarterback at UCLA before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the L.A. Rams as a quarterback and later head coach. They divorced in 1968. Jane Russell out lived her later two husbands. Jane had no children of her own, though she and Waterfield adopted a daughter and a son. She was staunchly pro-life, establishing an international adoption charity.
Jane hosted a Bible study group in her home known as the Hollywood Christian Group. It attracted leading lights of the film industry. She passed away at her home in 2011 from complication of a respiratory disease.
Next Week: Gary Cooper
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
December 21, 2019
A Christmas Pause
It’s Christmas. Time to pause what we are doing, including these posts, and reflect on the blessings of this past year. I’s time to gather with family and friends and celebrate all we bring to each other. Let’s take a moment to give thanks. Share a blessing with someone who needs one. And have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays.
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
A Christmas Pause
It’s Christmas. Time to pause what we are doing, including these posts, and reflect on the blessings of this past year. I’s time to gather with family and friends and celebrate all we bring to each other. Let’s take a moment to give thanks. Share a blessing with someone who needs one. And have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays.
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
