Eye Candy Post of the Day: Gary Cooper

[dangermousie]

Today's eye-candy entry is Gary Cooper, one of my favorite actors and (to be honest) one of the most gorgeous men I've ever seen, when he was younger.

He is the classic Hollywood star of such favorites of mine as Meet John Doe (which is bitterly funny and touching at the same time), Ball of Fire (where he plays a stuffy linguistics professor falling for a stripper. Yup), Mr. Deeds goes to Town (about a small-town eccentric who inherits a fortune), Pride of the Yankees (about Lou Gehrig. And I don't even like baseball), For Whom the Bell Tolls (best Hemingway adaptation ever), High Noon (one of my Top 10 movies) etc etc etc.

But yeah, talent aside, he was damn hot. And I like his fashion sense.

Yum:





Lounging Hotness:



And more:



A homeless man picked to be a figurehead in Meet John Doe, with Barbara Stanwyck:



On a studio lot, looking uber-stylish with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple:



In High Noon, with Grace Kelly:



Early movies:





Climax of Meet John Doe:



Pose from "Farewell to Arms" with Helen Hayes:



Publicity shot from For Whom the Bell Tolls, with Ingrid Bergman:



With Marlene Dietrich in the screwball "Desire:"



A cowboy even Brokebackers could love:



With Barbara Stanwyck, in Ball of Fire:



Stylish:









In the climax of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, with Jean Arthur:



Weary Sheriff in High Noon (for which he got his second BA Oscar):



In Ball of Fire:

Comments

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

He was really handsome when he was young. As he got older, his looks get a little too rugged for me (I'm the pretty boy lover, after all). I understand why he was a boy toy there for a while.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's funny because I first saw his 'newer' movies, and I thought he was very attractive, in a rugged, manly kinda way (which was fine with me, because I like them that way) but then I remember watching Morocco (which was made in 1931) and being absolutely blown away by how gorgeous he was. The same thing happened to me with another classic movies star: Robert Taylor. I first saw him in a 1951 version of "Quo Vadis" and thought he was a handsome man in Roman style. And then I saw him in 1936 "Camille" and he was just inhumanly beautiful.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Some men are just like that. It's interesting how people age, some more gracefully than others (Paul Newman dares you to find a time he was ever not attractive while the age fairy has finally caught up to Robert Redford and is attempting to beat the snot out of him). Some people just have an aura, even though they're really not that attractive when you break it down. Funny thing, beauty.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

the age fairy has finally caught up to Robert Redford and is attempting to beat the snot out of him

ROFL. This is a quote of the day, right here.

Alsom that icon is to die for.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

This is a quote of the day, right here.

She seems to be angry about not being able to get to Newman, so just whales on Redford instead. Also, she's gaining on Brad Pitt, and when she gets him there's going to be hell to pay.

Also that icon is to die for

I love Jon Stewart with the light of a thousand suns.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

when she gets him there's going to be hell to pay

*waits gleefully for the day*

This is beginning to sound like a plot of some vengeance-themed movie.

[morwen_peredhil]

*flail*

Since we got the Tivo I have been recording a lot of old movies from TCM. A few months ago I watched Meet John Doe and fell head over heels for Mr. Cooper. Gah. So gorgeous.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. I love him because somehow his characters are always both strong and vulnerable at the same time. That scene where Barbara Stanwyck brings him back and gives him a meal just kinda kills me every time because somehow he just gets across both his embarassment and his hunger so...spot on.

And the scene where the rally goes all wrong and he gets toppled from the pedestal? His characters break so beautifully. And yet never completely broken.

Have you seen Mr Deeds Goes to Town? I love that one even more than Meet John Doe.

[morwen_peredhil]

I have not seen it, but it's now in my Netflix queue.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's so good! It's hilarious and sad and romantic and everything. And I also love Jean Arthur. *hops up and down, bites lip not to shower you with more recs*

[thekatebeyond.livejournal.com]

I always remember him from Love in the Afternoon (one of my favorite classic films, because it presses the button for the father figure kink), so I forget how simply stunning he was when he was younger.

That first picture, though, shows why he'd be gorgeous young or old. He has such beautiful features (such long eyelashes! such fabulous lips!) and the profile really shows that.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, Love in the Afternoon. I kinda liked it, but I thought the age difference was too weird. Now, if Cooper made that movie in the 40s...

But still, the ending always gets me, and it's so funny and crazy and swoony romantic.

He has such beautiful features (such long eyelashes! such fabulous lips!) and the profile really shows that.

Oh yes. As my grandma would say "it's all about the bone structure" :P

[ex-beautyof.livejournal.com]

:=D so glad you included some with Barbara Stanwyck.

*swoon* I Love Gary Cooper. I love his acting because it was sorta low-key, but in a really great way...

I like Robert Taylor for that matter too *g*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Icon!!!!

it was sorta low-key, but in a really great way

Yeah. Somehow it just feels real.

I like RT too. I think he is an underrated actor, but largely because: Yum.

[ex-beautyof.livejournal.com]

Yeah Taylor is so unfairly underrated, I mean he was a fair actor and he did movies in almost every genre and I love THAT! hehe he sure was handsome, plus he was married to Stanwyck for many years *g*

*thank you for such an awesome post* :=D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

A Robert Taylor present :)

[ex-beautyof.livejournal.com]

*faints* I've always loved picture... thanks =D

[missmarch.livejournal.com]

*sigh* This post makes my night. Well, this post and my team winning and an excellent BSG. I've always thought young Gary Cooper was incredibly beautiful. He and Greta Garbo should have mated and had some otherworldly children.

I also think he was underrated as an actor and very versatile. He could play a Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant or John Wayne role.

My favorite photograph is the Steichen one, when he was so very very young. No many should be that pretty.

Thanks!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

He and Greta Garbo should have mated and had some otherworldly children

Oh yes. *sigh*

And I agree about him being a versatile actor. He had this amazing ability to really get under your skin.

No man should be that pretty

Oh yeah...