Editing Gary Cooper (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Gary Cooper 1903.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photo of Gary Cooper dressed as a cowboy at the age of two|Cooper dressed as a cowboy, 1903]]

Frank James Cooper was born in [[Helena, Montana]], on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of [[English people|English]] immigrant parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and [[Charles H. Cooper|Charles Henry Cooper]] (1865–1946).<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 1, 4–5, 198, 259.</ref> His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from [[Houghton Regis]], England<ref>Meyers 1998, p. 1.</ref> and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and [[Montana Supreme Court]] justice.<ref>Arce 1979, pp. 17–18.</ref> His mother hailed from [[Gillingham, Kent|Gillingham]], England, and married Charles in Montana.<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 4–5.</ref> In 1906, Charles purchased the {{convert|600|acre|ha|adj=mid}} Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch,<ref>Arce 1979, p. 18.</ref><ref>Swindell 1980, p. 10.</ref> about {{convert|50|mi|spell=in}} north of Helena, near [[Craig, Montana|Craig]].<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 7–8.</ref> Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt and fish.<ref>Meyers 1998, p. 8.</ref><ref>Swindell 1980, p. 25.</ref> Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.<ref name="meyers-6">Meyers 1998, p. 6.</ref>

Alice wanted their sons to have a British education, so she took them back to the United Kingdom in 1909 to enroll them in [[Dunstable Grammar School]] in [[Dunstable]], England. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis.<ref name="meyers-10-12">Meyers 1998, pp. 10–12.</ref><ref>Benson 1986, pp. 191–95.</ref> Cooper studied Latin, French and English history at Dunstable until 1912.<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 19.</ref> While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the formal [[Detachable collar|Eton collar]]s he was required to wear.<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 21.</ref> He received his [[confirm]]ation in the [[Church of England]] at the [[Church of All Saints, Houghton Regis|Church of All Saints]] in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911.<ref name="meyers-13">Meyers 1998, p. 13.</ref><ref name="dunstable" /> His mother accompanied their sons back to the U.S. in August 1912 and Cooper resumed his education in Montana, at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.<ref name="meyers-6" />

At age fifteen, Cooper injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate with horseback riding.<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 29.</ref> The misguided therapy left Cooper with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style.<ref name="meyers-17">Meyers 1998, p. 17.</ref> He left [[Helena High School]] after two years in 1918 and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy.<ref name="meyers-17" /> In 1919, his father arranged for his son to attend [[Gallatin County High School (Bozeman, Montana)|Gallatin County High School]] in [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]],<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 33.</ref><ref name="meyers-21">Meyers 1998, p. 21.</ref> where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics.<ref name="meyers-21" /><ref name="arce-21">Arce 1979, p. 21.</ref> Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [his] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".<ref name="arce-21" />

While in high school in 1920, Cooper took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College (now [[Montana State University]]) in Bozeman.<ref name="meyers-21" /> His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of [[Charles Marion Russell]] and [[Frederic Remington]].<ref name="meyers-15-16">Meyers 1998, pp. 15–16.</ref> Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's ''[[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark]] Meeting Indians at [[Ross' Hole]]'' (1910), which still hangs in the [[Montana State Capitol|state capitol building]] in Helena.<ref name="meyers-15-16" /> 
[[File:Gary Cooper Grinnell College 1922.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|alt=Photo of Gary Cooper and classmates at Grinnell College, 1922|Cooper at [[Grinnell College]] (top row, second from the left), 1922]]

In 1922, to continue his art education, Cooper enrolled in [[Grinnell College]] in [[Grinnell, Iowa]]. He did well academically in most of his courses,<ref name="swindell-41">Swindell 1980, p. 41.</ref> but was not accepted into the school's drama club.<ref name="swindell-41" /> His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory and he was named art editor for the college yearbook.<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 46.</ref> During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at [[Yellowstone National Park]] as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses.<ref>Meyers 1998, p. 24.</ref><ref>Swindell 1980, p. 43.</ref> Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in [[Chicago]] looking for work as an artist and then returned to Helena,<ref>Swindell 1980, pp. 47–48.</ref> where he sold editorial cartoons to the local ''Independent'' newspaper.<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 49.</ref>

In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the state supreme court bench and moved with his wife to [[Los Angeles]] to administer the estates of two relatives,<ref name="meyers-26">Meyers 1998, p. 26.</ref><ref>Dickens 1970, p. 3.</ref> and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request.<ref name="meyers-26" /> After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana,<ref name="arce-23">Arce 1979, p. 23.</ref><ref>Swindell 1980, p. 52.</ref> who were working as film [[Extra (acting)|extra]]s and [[Stunt performer|stunt rider]]s in low-budget [[Western (genre)|Western]] films for the small movie studios on [[Poverty Row]].<ref name="meyers-27">Meyers 1998, p. 27.</ref> They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director.<ref name="arce-23" /> Wanting money for a professional art course,<ref name="meyers-26" /> Cooper worked as a film extra for five dollars a day and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions; Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.<ref name="meyers-27" />