Lessons From My Father GARY COOPER

THE ONLY DAUGHTER OF THE HIGH NOON HERO SHARES HER FAVORITE MEMORIES WITH CLOSER

- Lisa Chambers, Fortune Benatar

Two-time Oscar winner Gary Cooper was one of the biggest celebrities in the world in his heyday, with glittery co-stars like Audrey Hepburn and famous friends such as Pablo Picasso a nd Ernest Hemingway. But he was also a protective dad. “My father taught me boxing,” his daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, shared with Closer at a recent screening of her father’s most celebrated film, High Noon. “He said, ‘Look, not every man is going to be a gentleman, and you’re going to be an attractive woman. Let me give you a few pointers.’ He taught me the graceful art of self-defense!”

That straightforward yet understated offer was fitting coming from an actor who often played reluctant heroes that epitomized an American ideal. Gary’s inner sensitivity shone through in his roles, from his first talking part as a good-natured cowboy in The Virginian to his turn as dying ballplayer Lou Gehrig in