GARY COOPER'S DAUGHTER REMEMBERS

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AROUND TOWN WITH ANN WATT

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METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

HOSTS

MARIA COOPER JANIS

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What made Gary Cooper one of the greatest movie stars of his generation and one of the most beloved leading men of all time? The actor’s daughter Maria Cooper Janis (author and film producer) joined in an engaging conversation about her dad with Meir Ribalow, (film historian), last night, as part of the lecture series offered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium), NYC. In a day and age when the children of "the stars" say the most deplorable things about their parents, Maria Cooper Janis's tribute to her legendary father, actor Gary Cooper, offered an endearing remembrance about the personal life of "Coope" and discussion of the on-screen qualities that combined to make Cooper an American male hero.Even those too young to be familiar with Cooper enjoyed listening to Maria’s trip down memory lane about her dad’s friendships with Hemingway, Picasso, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Stewart, and scads more.Just in case you didn’t know: Gary Cooper appeared in 107 movies, 82 of which he starred in. Only 16 of those were filmed in color. And he starred in 14 silent movies; Coop won Oscars for Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952).