View source for Merian C. Cooper

{{short description|American filmmaker}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
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| image              = MSS2008 B50 CooperHeadshot.jpg
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| caption            = Cooper in 1927
| birth_name         = Merian Caldwell Cooper
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1893|10|24}}
| birth_place        = [[Jacksonville, Florida]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1973|04|21|1893|10|24}}
| death_place        = [[San Diego, California]], U.S.
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| alma_mater         = {{hlist|[[United States Naval Academy]]|[[Georgia Institute of Technology]]}}
| occupation         = {{hlist|[[Film director]]|[[Movie producer]]|[[Military officer]]|[[Aviator]]}}
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| module             = {{Infobox military person
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| allegiance                ={{flag|United States|1912}}<br />{{flagu|Poland}}
| branch                    = {{Army|United States}} <br /> {{Air force|Poland}}
| serviceyears              ={{ubl|1913–1915|1916–1919|1919–1921|1941–1973}}
| rank                      = [[Brigadier General]] (US) <br /> [[Podpułkownik]]  (PL)
| battles                   ={{hlist|[[Border War (1910–1919)|Border War]]|[[World War I]]|[[Polish-Soviet War]]|[[World War II]]}}
| awards                    =  {{hlist|[[Mexican Border Service Medal]]|[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]| [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]|[[Order of Virtuti Militari]]|[[Cross of Valour (Poland)|Cross of Valour]]}}
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'''Merian Caldwell Cooper''' (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker, actor, producer and air officer. In film, his most famous work was the 1933 movie ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'', and he is credited as co-inventor of the [[Cinerama]] film projection process. He was awarded an [[Academy Honorary Award|honorary Oscar]] for lifetime achievement in 1952 and received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 1960. He was a passionate anti-communist.<ref name="MP" />{{rp|225}}

Before entering the movie business, Cooper fought in the [[World War I]] as a pilot in the [[United States Army Air Service]] and later in the [[Polish Air Force]]. He had a distinguished career as the founder of the [[Kościuszko's Squadron|Kościuszko Squadron]] during the [[Polish–Soviet War]] and was a Soviet prisoner of war for a time. He got his start in film as part of [[the Explorers Club]], traveling the world and documenting adventures. He was a member of the board of directors of Pan American Airways, but his love of film took priority. During his film career, he worked for companies such as [[Pioneer Pictures]], [[RKO Pictures]], and [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. In 1925, he and [[Ernest B. Schoedsack]] went to [[Iran]] and made ''[[Grass (1925 film)|Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life]]'', a documentary about the [[Bakhtiari people]].

==Early life==
Merian Caldwell Cooper was born in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], to lawyer John C. Cooper and Mary Caldwell.<ref name="DArc" /> He was the youngest of three children. At age six, Cooper decided that he wanted to be an explorer after hearing stories from the book ''Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa''.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|10,14}} He was educated at [[The Lawrenceville School]] in New Jersey and graduated in 1911.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|19}}<ref name="lawrenceville school">{{cite web|title=Notable Alumni|url=http://www.lawrenceville.org/about/history/notable-alumni/index.aspx|website=The Lawrenceville School|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-date=November 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109003646/http://www.lawrenceville.org/about/history/notable-alumni/index.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After graduation, Cooper received a prestigious appointment to the [[U.S. Naval Academy]],<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|19}} but was expelled during his senior year for "hell raising and for championing air power".<ref name="monkey back">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Dinitia |title=Getting That Monkey Off His Creator's Back |date=August 13, 2005 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/movies/MoviesFeatures/13kong.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> In 1916, Cooper worked for the ''Minneapolis Daily News'' as a reporter, where he met [[Delos Lovelace]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lovelace|first1=Delos|last2=Wallace|first2=Edgar|title=King Kong|date=2005|publisher=Modern Library|location=New York|isbn=978-0-345-48496-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pia9EEgSk00C&pg=PR12|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref> In the next few years, he also worked at the ''Des Moines Register-Leader'' and the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|22}}

==Early military service==
===Georgia National Guard===
In 1916, Cooper joined the Georgia [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] to help chase [[Pancho Villa]] in Mexico.<ref name="hoover">{{cite web|title=Memoirs of King Kong Director and War Hero at Hoover|url=http://www.hoover.org/news/memoirs-king-kong-director-and-war-hero-hoover|website=Hoover Institution|publisher=Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University|date=4 March 2014|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427054908/http://www.hoover.org/news/memoirs-king-kong-director-and-war-hero-hoover|archive-date=2015-04-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was called home in March 1917. He worked for the ''El Paso Herald'' on a 30-day leave of absence. After returning to his service, Cooper was appointed lieutenant; however, he refused the appointment hoping to participate in combat. Instead, he went to the Military Aeronautics School in [[Atlanta]] to learn to fly. Cooper graduated at the top of his class.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|24–25}}

===World War I===
[[File:Cooper AEF death.jpg|thumb|Death statement from when Cooper was presumed dead in 1918]]
[[File:Merian Cooper.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Merian C. Cooper in [[Polish Air Force]] uniform]]
In October 1917, six months after the [[American entry into World War I]], Cooper went to [[Western Front (World War I)|France]] with the 201st Squadron. He attended flying school in [[Issoudun]]. While flying with his friend, Cooper hit his head and was knocked out during a 200-foot plunge. After the incident, Cooper suffered from shock and had to relearn how to fly. Cooper requested to go to [[Clermont-Ferrand]] to be trained as a bomber pilot. He became a pilot with the [[20th Aero Squadron]] (which later became the [[1st Day Bombardment Group]]).<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|26–27}}

Cooper served as a [[Airco DH.4|DH-4 bomber]] pilot with the [[United States Army Air Service]] during [[World War I]].<ref name="trueadventure">{{cite book |last=West |first=James E. |author-link=James E. West (Scouting) |title=The Boy Scouts Book of True Adventure |year=1931 |publisher=Putnam  |location=New York |oclc=8484128}}</ref> On September 26, 1918, his plane was shot down. The plane caught fire, and Cooper spun the plane to suck the flames out. Cooper survived, although he suffered burns, injured his hands, and was presumed dead. German soldiers saw his plane landing and took him to a prisoner reserve hospital.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|8,38–41}} The death certificate on this page was sent to Cooper's family.  The Army had believed him killed but he was captured by the Germans and taken as a Prisoner of war (POW). Cooper's father received a letter from Merian around the time the death certificate arrived. Merian C. Cooper sent the copy back to the Army with the notation on top "In the language of Mark Twain Your death has been greatly exaggerated."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7787194 | title=National Archives NextGen Catalog }}</ref>

Captain Cooper remained in the Air Service after the war; he helped with [[Herbert Hoover]]'s [[United States Food Administration|U.S. Food Administration]] that provided aid to Poland. He later became the chief of the Poland division.<ref name="american polish">{{cite web|title=Merian C. Cooper – Forgotten hero of two nations|url=http://www.americanpolishcooperationsociety.com/2016/01/merian-c-cooper-forgotten-hero-of-two-nations/|website=American Polish Cooperation Society|access-date=11 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812231834/http://www.americanpolishcooperationsociety.com/2016/01/merian-c-cooper-forgotten-hero-of-two-nations/|archive-date=August 12, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In the early spring of 1919, while supplying the besieged Poles in [[Lviv]] during the [[Polish–Ukrainian War]], he claimed to have first discussed US air support for the Polish eastern flank with General [[Tadeusz Rozwadowski]] who commanded the city's defence.<ref name="MP">{{citation |last=Patelski |first=Mariusz |title=Ochotnicy amerykańscy w wojnie polsko-bolszewickiej. Z działalności dyplomatycznej gen. Tadeusza Jordan Rozwadowskiego |journal=Zeszyty Historyczne |volume=132 |year=2000 |url=https://static.kulturaparyska.com/attachments/ca/20/77cbc141fc6025c952b1542002dc5d0b33c46231.pdf#page=217}}</ref>{{rp|218}}

===Kościuszko Squadron===
The contract for the formation of a volunteer American flight squadron was signed by Rozwadowski, Cooper and Major [[Cedric Fauntleroy]] at the Wagram Hotel in Paris on August 26, 1919.<ref name="MP" />{{rp|218}} On his arrival in Poland, Cooper met with cold reception from the [[Chief of State (Poland)|Chief of State]] [[Józef Piłsudski]], who considered the Americans "paid mercenaries". They were nonetheless dispatched to Lviv in October 1919 and drafted into the Polish military as the [[Kościuszko Squadron]] in December.<ref name="MP" />{{rp|219–20}} Cooper then provided air combat support for the [[Polish Army]] in the [[Polish–Soviet War]].<ref name="hoover" /> On July 13, 1920, his plane was shot down, and he spent nearly nine months in a Soviet [[prisoner of war camp]]<ref name="american polish" /> where the writer [[Isaac Babel]] interviewed him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/babel.htm |title=Isaac Babel |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308090843/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/babel.htm |archive-date=March 8, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He escaped just before the war was over and made it to [[Latvia]]. For his valor he was decorated by Polish [[commander-in-chief]] [[Józef Piłsudski]] with the highest Polish military decoration, the [[Virtuti Militari]].<ref name="american polish" />
[[File:CooperAtLatvianBorder.jpg|thumb|right|Cooper at the Latvian border after escaping the Soviet POW camp]]

During his time as a POW, Cooper wrote an autobiography: ''Things Men Die For''.<ref name="hoover" /> The manuscript was published by [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] in New York (the Knickerbocker Press) in 1927. However, in 1928, Cooper regretted releasing certain details about "Nina" (probably Marjorie Crosby-Słomczyńska) with whom he had relations outside of wedlock. Cooper asked Dagmar Matson, who had the manuscript, to buy all the copies of the book possible. Matson found almost all 5,000 copies that had been printed. The books were destroyed, while Cooper and Matson each kept a copy.<ref name="hoover" /><ref name="open library">{{cite book|title=Things Men Die For: About the Book|ol=6703214M}}</ref>

An [[interbellum]] Polish film directed by [[Leonard Buczkowski]], ''[[Gwiaździsta eskadra]]'' (The Starry Squadron), was inspired by Cooper's experiences as a Polish Air Force officer. The film was made with the cooperation of the Polish army and was the most expensive Polish film prior to [[World War II]]. After World War II, all copies of the film found in Poland were destroyed by the Soviets.<ref name="naszemiasto">{{cite web|last1=Snusz|first1=Zbyszek|title="Gwiaździsta eskadra" – film kręcony z gigantycznym rozmachem w 1930 roku|url=http://poznan.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/gwiazdzista-eskadra-film-krecony-z-gigantycznym-rozmachem-w,1550277,art,t,id,tm.html|website=Naszemiasto|date=September 25, 2012|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref>

==Career==
===Cooper and Schoedsack===
[[File:Grass (1925) - Ernest Schoedsack & Merian Cooper.jpg|thumb|240 px|left|Cooper (right) alongside [[Ernest Schoedsack]] in a scene from ''[[Grass (1925 film)|Grass]]'' (1925).]]
After returning from overseas in 1921, Cooper got a job working the night shift at ''[[The New York Times]]''. He was commissioned to write articles for ''[[Asia (magazine)|Asia]]'' magazine. Cooper was able to travel with [[Ernest Schoedsack]] on a sea voyage on the ''Wisdom II''. As part of the journey, he traveled to Abyssinia, or the [[Ethiopian Empire]], where he met their prince regent, Ras Tefari, later known as Emperor [[Haile Selassie I]]. The ship left Abyssinia in February 1923. On their way home, the crew narrowly missed being attacked by pirates, and the ship was burned down.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|81–83,95–104}} His three-part series for ''Asia'' was published in 1923.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|106}}

After returning home, Cooper researched for the [[American Geographical Society]]. In 1924, Cooper joined Schoedsack and [[Marguerite Harrison]] who had embarked on an expedition that would be turned into the film ''[[Grass (1925 film)|Grass]]'' (1925).<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|111}} They returned later the same year. Cooper became a member of the Explorers Club of New York in January 1925 and was asked to give lectures and attend events due to his extensive traveling. ''Grass'' was acquired by [[Paramount Pictures]].  Cooper and Schoedsack's first film gained the attention of [[Jesse Lasky]], who commissioned the duo for their second film,  ''[[Chang (movie)|Chang]]'' (1927). They also produced the film ''[[The Four Feathers (1929 film)|The Four Feathers]]'',<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|132–137,162}} which was filmed among the fighting tribes of the Sudan. These films combined real footage with staged sequences.<ref name="trueadventure"/>

===Pan American Airways===
From 1926 to 1927, Cooper discussed with John Hambleton the plans for [[Pan American Airways]], which was formed in 1927.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|180}} Cooper was a member of the board of directors of Pan American Airways.<ref name="flyinf to rio">{{cite book|last1=Schwartz|first1=Rosalie|title=Flying Down to Rio: Hollywood, Tourists, and Yankee Clippers|date=October 2004|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-58544-421-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JD-9X8dDaikC&pg=PA18|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> During his tenure at Pan Am, the company established the first regularly scheduled transatlantic service.<ref name="american polish" /> While he was on the board, Cooper did not devote his full attention to the organization; he took time in 1929 and 1930 to work on the script for ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''. By 1931, he was back in Hollywood.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|182,183}} He resigned from the board of directors in 1935, following health complications.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|258}}

===''King Kong''===
{{main|King Kong (1933 film)}}
{{see also|King Kong#Ownership_rights}}
Cooper said that he thought of ''King Kong'' after he had a dream that a giant gorilla was terrorizing New York City. When he awoke, he recorded the idea and used it for the film.<ref name="picture box">{{cite web|last1=Krizanovich|first1=Karen|title=The big monkey with a big backstory: The Legend of King Kong|url=http://www.pictureboxfilms.com/blog/the-big-monkey-with-a-big-backstory-the-legend-of-king-kong|website=Picture Box Films|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> He was going to have a giant gorilla fight a [[Komodo dragon]] or other animal, but found that the technique of interlacing that he wanted to use would not provide realistic results.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|194}}

[[File:King-Kong-1933-RKO.jpg|thumb|''King Kong'' movie poster]]
Cooper needed a production studio for the film, but recognized the great cost of the movie, especially during the [[Great Depression]]. Cooper helped [[David Selznick]] get a job at [[RKO Pictures]], which was struggling financially. Selznick became the vice president of RKO and asked Cooper to join him in September 1931, although he had only produced three films thus far in his career.<ref name="living dangerously">{{cite book|last=Cotta Vaz|first=Mark|title=Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong|date=2005|location=New York|publisher=[[Villard (imprint)|Villard Books]]|isbn=978-1-4000-6276-8|url=https://archive.org/details/livingdangerousl00vazm}}</ref>{{rp|202–203}} Cooper began working as an executive assistant at age thirty-eight.<ref name="Lasky1984">{{cite book|last1=Lasky|first1=Betty|title=RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All|date=1984|publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc.|location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey|isbn=0-13-781451-8|url=https://archive.org/details/rkobiggestlittle00lask}}</ref>{{rp|74}} He officially pitched the idea for ''King Kong'' in December 1931. Shortly after, he began to seek actors and build full-scale sets, although the screenplay was not yet complete.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|207–208}}

The screenplay was delivered to Cooper in January 1932. Schoedsack contributed to the film, focusing on shooting scenes for the boat sequences and in native villages, leaving Cooper to shoot the jungle scenes. In February 1933, the title for the film was registered for copyright.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|218–223}} Throughout filming there were creative battles. Critics at RKO argued that the film should begin with Kong. Cooper believed that a film should begin with a "slow dramatic buildup that would establish everything from characters to mood&nbsp;..." so that the action of the film could "naturally, relentlessly, roll on out of its own creative movement", and thus chose not to begin the film with a shot of Kong. The iconic scene in which Kong is atop of the [[Empire State Building]] was almost canceled by Cooper for legal reasons, but was kept in the film because RKO bought the rights to ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|The Lost World]]''.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|229,231}}

Overlapping with the production of ''King Kong'' was the making of ''[[The Most Dangerous Game (film)|The Most Dangerous Game]]'', which began in May 1932. Cooper once again worked with Schoedsack to produce the film.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|214}}

In the 1933 version of ''King Kong'', Cooper and co-director [[Ernest B. Schoedsack]] appear at the end, piloting the plane that finally finishes off Kong. Cooper had reportedly said, "We should kill the sonofabitch ourselves."<ref name="King kong book quote">{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=Edgar|first2=Merian C.| last2=Cooper|title=King Kong|date=2005|publisher=Modern Library|isbn=978-0-8129-7493-5|page=xiii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pia9EEgSk00C&pg=PR13|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> Cooper personally cut a scene in ''King Kong'' in which four sailors are shaken off a tree trunk bridge by Kong, fall into a ravine, and are eaten alive by giant spiders. According to Hollywood folklore, the decision was made after previews in January 1933, during which audience members either fled the theater in terror or talked about the ghastly scene throughout the remainder of the movie. However, more objective sources maintain that the scene merely slowed the film's pace. Despite the rumor that Cooper kept a print of the cut footage as a memento, it has never been found.<ref>{{cite book |author=Morton, Ray |year=2005 |title=King Kong: the history of a movie icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson |location=New York, NY |publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books |isbn=1-55783-669-8}}</ref> In 2021, film historian Ray Morton stated in an interview that, after looking through the films shooting schedule, he found no evidence the sequence was ever filmed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kaijutransmissions.podbean.com/e/the-legacy-of-kong-with-author-ray-morton/ | title=The Legacy of Kong with Author Ray Morton! &#124; the Kaiju Transmissions Podcast }}</ref> In 1963, Cooper argued unsuccessfully that he should own the rights to ''King Kong''; later in 1976, judges ruled that Cooper's estate  owned the rights to King Kong outside the movie and its sequel.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|362; 387}} Selznick left RKO before the release of ''King Kong'', and Cooper served as production chief from 1933 to 1934 with Pan Berman as his executive assistant.<ref name="Lasky1984"/>

In the 2005 remake of ''[[King Kong (2005 film)|King Kong]]'', upon learning that [[Fay Wray]] was not available because she was making a film at [[RKO]], [[Carl Denham]] ([[Jack Black (actor)|Jack Black]]) replies, "Cooper, huh? I might have known."<ref name="cleveland">{{cite news|last1=Dawidziak|first1=Mark|title=Turner Classic Movies celebrates the 75th anniversary of 'King Kong'|url=http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/04/turner_classic_movies_celebrat.html|access-date=8 July 2016|agency=Cleveland.com|date=4 Apr 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011004321/http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/04/turner_classic_movies_celebrat.html|archive-date=October 11, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Pioneer Pictures, Selznick International Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer===
Cooper helped the Whitney cousins form [[Pioneer Pictures]] in 1933, while he was still working for RKO.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|254}} He was named vice president in charge of production for Pioneer Pictures in 1934.<ref name="wall street journal">{{cite news|title=Pioneer Plans Color Films|agency=The Wall Street Journal|date=5 Nov 1934}}</ref> He would use Pioneer Pictures to test his technicolor innovations. The company contracted with RKO in order to fulfill Cooper's obligations to the company, including ''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'' and ''[[The Last Days of Pompeii (1935 film)|The Last Days of Pompeii]]''. Cooper later referred to ''She'' as the "worst picture I ever made."<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|259,263}}

After these disappointments, Pioneer Pictures released a short film in three-strip [[technicolor]] called ''La Cucaracha'', which was well-received. The film won an Academy Award in 1934. Pioneer released the first full-length technicolor film, ''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]'' in 1935.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|267–269}} Cooper helped to advocate and pave the way for the ground-breaking technology of technicolor,<ref name="american polish" /> as well as the widescreen process called [[Cinerama]].<ref name="TCM">{{cite web|title=Merian C. Cooper Productions Sunday, July 3|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/107434|website=TCM|access-date=11 July 2016}}</ref>

Selznick formed [[Selznick International Pictures]] in 1935, and Pioneer Pictures merged with it in June 1936.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|269,274}} Cooper became the vice president of Selznick International Pictures that same year.<ref name="DArc"/> Cooper did not stay long; he resigned in 1937 due to disagreements over the film ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]''.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|275}}

After resigning from Selznick International, Cooper went to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) in June 1937. A noteworthy project that Cooper was involved in was the fantasy film ''War Eagles''. The film, which would have used extensive special effects, was abandoned in approximately 1939 and never finished. Cooper was to return to the Army Air Force.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|276–281}}

===World War II===
Cooper re-enlisted and was commissioned a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] in the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]].<ref name="american polish" /><ref name="ozatwar">{{cite web|title=Colonel Merian C. Cooper|url=http://www.ozatwar.com/people/meriancooper.htm|website=Ozatwar|access-date=11 July 2016}}</ref> He served with Col. [[Robert L. Scott]] in India. He worked as logistics liaison for the [[Doolittle Raid]]. Thereafter, Cooper and Scott worked with Col. [[Caleb V. Haynes]] at [[Dinjan]] Airfield. They all were involved in establishing the Assam-Burma-China Ferrying Command. This marked the beginnings of [[The Hump]] Airlift.

Colonel Cooper later served in China as chief of staff for General [[Claire Chennault]] of the [[Flying Tigers|China Air Task Force]], which was the precursor of the [[Fourteenth Air Force]].<ref name="ozatwar"/>  On October 25, 1942, a CATF raid consisting of 12 B-25s and 7 P-40s, led by Colonel Cooper, successfully bombed the Kowloon Docks at Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gwulo.com/node/18919/view-pages|title=WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China: View pages - Gwulo: Old Hong Kong|website=gwulo.com|access-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>

He served from 1943 to 1945 in the Southwest Pacific as chief of staff for the [[Fifth Air Force]]'s Bomber Command.<ref name="who's who">{{cite book|last1=Rowan|first1=Terry|title=Who's Who in Hollywood|isbn=978-1-329-07449-1|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prqcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|access-date=13 July 2016|year=2015|publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref> At the end of the war, he was promoted to [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]]. For his contributions, he was also aboard the [[USS Missouri (BB-63)|USS ''Missouri'']] to witness [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Japan's surrender.]]<ref name="american polish" />

===Argosy Pictures and Cinerama===
Cooper and his friend and frequent collaborator, noted director [[John Ford]], formed [[Argosy Pictures|Argosy Productions]] in 1946<ref name="John Ford">{{cite web|title=John Ford—Independent Profile|url=http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/argosy_ford.htm|website=Hollywood Renegades|publisher=Cobblestone Entertainment|access-date=13 July 2016}}</ref> and produced such notable films as ''[[Wagon Master]]'' (1950),<ref name="the searchers" />{{rp|112}} Ford's ''[[Fort Apache (film)|Fort Apache]]'' (1948), and ''[[She Wore a Yellow Ribbon]]'' (1949).<ref name="John Ford"/> Cooper's films at Argosy reflected his patriotism and his vision of the United States.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|321}}

Argosy negotiated a contract with RKO in 1946 to make four pictures. Cooper was able to make ''Grass'' a complete picture. Cooper also produced and directed ''[[Mighty Joe Young (1949 film)|Mighty Joe Young]]'', which recruited Schoedsack as director. Cooper visited the set of the film every day to check on progress.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|335,340–342}}

Cooper left Argosy Pictures to pursue the process of [[Cinerama]].<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|350}} He became the vice president of [[Cinerama Productions]] in the 1950s and was also elected a board member. After failing to convince other board members to finance skilled technicians, Cooper left Cinerama with [[Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney]] to form C. V. Whitney Productions. Cooper continued to outline movies to be shot in Cinerama, but C. V. Whitney Productions only produced a few films.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|355–358}} Cooper was the executive producer for Ford's ''[[The Searchers (film)|The Searchers]]'' (1956).<ref name="the searchers">{{cite book|last1=Eckstein|first1=Arthur M.|title=The Searchers: Essays and Reflections on John Ford's Classic Western|date=February 2004|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0-8143-3056-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcQiOl0z2McC&pg=PA117|access-date=11 July 2016}}</ref>{{rp|117}}

== Politics and business ventures ==
In the 1950s, Cooper supported [[Joseph McCarthy]] in his crusade to root out Communists in Hollywood and Washington, D.C.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|386–91}}

He backed [[Barry Goldwater]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=Merian%20Cooper | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013-10-21| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Cooper founded Advanced Projects Corporation (1966–1972), a technology venture focused on developing [[3D television|3D color television]], whose mission he described as "revolutionizing both theatrical productions and exhibition as well as television".<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|374}}<ref>{{Cite archival metadata |author=James V. D'Arc, John N. Gillespie |title = Advanced Projects Corporation records, 1966-1972, MSS 2008 Series 12. Merian C. Cooper papers, MSS 2008 |url = https://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/archival_objects/122577 |repository = L. Tom Perry Special Collections |location = Provo, UT |date=2000 |access-date = 10 April 2025}}</ref> He served as the chairman of its board and enlisted [[Charles B. Fitzsimons]] as president, inventor [[Wadsworth E. Pohl]] as vice president, Kathy Ryan as executive secretary, and his own son Richard, General [[John R. Alison]] (an old comrade from China), [[William Douglas Burden]], [[Thomas Gardiner Corcoran|Thomas Corcoran]] and lawyer Earl S. Wright as directors.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|374}} The company won the contract to build and operate the [[Ozark Folk Center]] and started the construction of its facility in 1971 before running out of funds and leasing the site to the [[Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism|Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism]] in May 1972.<ref>{{citation |title=Ozark Folk Center State Park |work=[[Encyclopedia of Arkansas]] |date=July 21, 2023 |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ozark-folk-center-state-park-1245/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527190518/https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ozark-folk-center-state-park-1245/ |archive-date=27 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite interview |last=Jennings |first=Jean |interviewer-last=Lea |interviewer-first=Anne |title=Creation and Development of the Arkansas Folk Festival and Ozark Folk Center – An Oral History Project |publisher=Lyon College Regional Studies Center |location=Mountain View, AR |date=June 14, 2003 |url=https://home.lyon.edu/mslibrary/rcol/jennings.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250410175850/https://home.lyon.edu/mslibrary/rcol/jennings.htm |archive-date=10 April 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Awards==
[[File:Merian C. Cooper Star HWF.JPG|thumb|right|Star on [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], at 6525 Hollywood Blvd., with first name misspelled ]] 
For his military service in Poland, Cooper was awarded the Silver Cross of the [[Order of Virtuti Militari]] (presented by [[Piłsudski]]), and [[Cross of Valour (Poland)|Poland's Cross of Valour]].<ref name="hoover" />

In 1927, Cooper was one of 19 prominent Americans who were given the title of "Honorary Scouts" by the [[Boy Scouts of America]] for "...&nbsp;achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure&nbsp;... of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys". The other honorees were [[Roy Chapman Andrews]], [[Robert Bartlett (explorer)|Robert Bartlett]], [[Frederick Russell Burnham]], [[Richard E. Byrd]], [[George Kruck Cherrie]], [[James L. Clark]], [[Lincoln Ellsworth]], [[Louis Agassiz Fuertes]], [[George Bird Grinnell]], [[Charles Lindbergh]], [[Donald Baxter MacMillan]], [[Clifford H. Pope]], [[George Palmer Putnam]], [[Kermit Roosevelt]], [[Carl Rungius]], [[Stewart Edward White]], and [[Orville Wright]].<ref name="time29aug1927">{{cite magazine |date=August 29, 1927 |title=Around the World |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723029,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220054952/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723029,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 20, 2008 |access-date= October 24, 2007 }}</ref>

In 1949, ''[[Mighty Joe Young (1949 film)|Mighty Joe Young]]'' won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, which was presented to Willis O'Brien, the man responsible for the film's special effects.<ref name="LA times">{{cite news|title='Mighty Joe Young' (1949)|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/lat-harry-life11-la0004622614-20000803-photo.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807180931/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/lat-harry-life11-la0004622614-20000803-photo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 August 2016|access-date=8 July 2016|agency=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pitts|first1=Michael R.|title=RKO radio pictures horror, science fiction and fantasy films, 1930–1956.|date=2014|publisher=Mcfarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6047-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=op6vBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA192|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref>

Cooper was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1952.<ref name="film quiz">{{cite book|last1=Rausch|first1=Andrew J.|title=The Hundred Greatest American Films: A Quiz Book|date=July 2002|publisher=Citadel|isbn=978-0-8065-2337-8|page=118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olaP4o-DHI8C&pg=PA118|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> His film ''[[The Quiet Man]]'' was nominated for Best Picture that year, but lost to [[Cecil B. DeMille]]'s ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]''.<ref name="AMC">{{cite web|title=1952 Academy Awards® Winners and History|url=http://www.filmsite.org/aa52.html|website=AMC|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref> Cooper has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], though his first name is misspelled "Meriam".<ref name="mental floss">{{cite web|last1=Conradt|first1=Stacy|title=6 Misspellings on the Hollywood Walk of Fame|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/82386/6-misspellings-hollywood-walk-fame|website=mental_floss|date=July 2016|access-date=8 July 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Cooper was the father of Polish translator and writer [[Maciej Słomczyński]].<ref name="hoover" /> He married film actress [[Dorothy Jordan (American actress)|Dorothy Jordan]] on May 27, 1933.<ref name="DArc" /> They kept their marriage a secret from Hollywood for a month before it was reported by journalists. He suffered a heart attack later that year.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|252,255}}

Cooper died of cancer on April 21, 1973,<ref name=DArc>{{Cite archival metadata |author = James V. D'Arc, John N. Gillespie |title = Merian C. Cooper papers |url = http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/11057 |repository = L. Tom Perry Special Collections |location = Provo, UT |date = 2000 |access-date = 8 Jul 2016}}</ref> in [[San Diego]].<ref name="american polish" /> His ashes were scattered at sea with full military honors.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|378}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Year
!Title
![[Film director|Director]]
![[Film producer|Producer]]
![[Screenwriter|Writer]]
![[Cinematographer]]
!Notes
|-
|1924
|''[[The Lost Empire (1924 film)|The Lost Empire]]''
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{Partial|Titles}}
|{{no}}
|Also editor
|-
|1925
|''[[Grass (1925 film)|Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{yes}}
|Role: Himself; Documentary
|-
|1927
|''[[Chang (film)|Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
| rowspan="2" |Documentaries
|-
| rowspan="2" |1929
|''[[Captain Salisbury's Ra-Mu]]''
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{yes}}
|-
|''[[The Four Feathers (1929 film)|The Four Feathers]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|1931
|''[[Gow the Headhunter|Gow the Killer]]''
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{yes}}
|Documentary-based exploitation film
|-
|1932
|''[[Roar of the Dragon]]''
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|{{partial|Story}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|1933
|''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{partial|Story}}
|{{no}}
|Role: Pilot of plane that kills Kong
|-
|1935
|''[[The Last Days of Pompeii (1935 film)|The Last Days of Pompeii]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|
|-
|1949
|''[[Mighty Joe Young (1949 film)|Mighty Joe Young]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{partial|Story}}
|{{no}}
|Also presenter
|-
|1952
|''[[This Is Cinerama]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{no}}
|{{no}}
|Documentary
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
! colspan="4" |Only Producer
|-
!Year
!Title
!Producing role
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1932
|''[[The Most Dangerous Game (film)|The Most Dangerous Game]]''
|Associate producer
|
|-
|''[[Flaming Gold]]''
|Executive producer
|
|-
|''[[The Phantom of Crestwood]]''
|Associate producer
|
|-
| rowspan="29" |1933
|''[[The Monkey's Paw (1933 film)|The Monkey's Paw]]''
|Producer
|
|-
|''[[Lucky Devils (1933 film)|Lucky Devils]]''
|Associate producer
|
|-
|''[[Diplomaniacs]]''
| rowspan="27" |Executive producer
|
|-
|''[[The Silver Cord (film)|The Silver Cord]]''
|
|-
|''[[Emergency Call (1933 film)|Emergency Call]]''
|
|-
|''[[Cross Fire (film)|Cross Fire]]''
|
|-
|''[[Professional Sweetheart]]''
|
|-
|''[[Melody Cruise (film)|Melody Cruise]]''
|
|-
|''[[Bed of Roses (1933 film)|Bed of Roses]]''
|
|-
|''[[Flying Devils]]''
|
|-
|''[[Double Harness]]''
|
|-
|''[[Headline Shooter]]''
|
|-
|''[[Before Dawn (film)|Before Dawn]]'' 
|
|-
|''[[No Marriage Ties]]''
|
|-
|''[[Morning Glory (1933 film)|Morning Glory]]'' 
|
|-
|''[[Blind Adventure]]''
|
|-
|''[[One Man's Journey]]''
|
|-
|''[[Rafter Romance]]''
|
|-
|''[[Midshipman Jack]]''
|
|-
|''[[Ann Vickers (film)|Ann Vickers]]''
|
|-
|''[[Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men]]''
|
|-
|''[[Ace of Aces (1933 film)|Ace of Aces]]''
|
|-
|''[[After Tonight]]''
|
|-
|''[[Chance at Heaven]]'' 
|
|-
|''[[Little Women (1933 film)|Little Women]]''
|
|-
|''[[The Right to Romance]]''
|
|-
|''[[If I Were Free]]''
|
|-
|''[[The Son of Kong]]''
|Also characters
|-
|''[[Flying Down to Rio]]''
|
|-
| rowspan="14" |1934
|''[[Stingaree (1934 film)|Stingaree]]''
|Presenter
|
|-
|''[[The Meanest Gal in Town]]''
| rowspan="13" |Executive producer
|
|-
|''[[Man of Two Worlds (film)|Man of Two Worlds]]'' 
|
|-
|''[[Long Lost Father]]''
|
|-
|''[[Two Alone]]''
|
|-
|''[[Hips, Hips, Hooray!]]''
|
|-
|''[[The Lost Patrol (1934 film)|The Lost Patrol]]''
|
|-
|''[[Keep 'Em Rolling]]''
|
|-
|''[[Spitfire]]''
|
|-
|''[[Success at Any Price]]''
|
|-
|''[[This Man Is Mine (1934 film)|This Man Is Mine]]''
|
|-
|''[[Sing and Like It]]''
|
|-
|''[[Finishing School (1934 film)|Finishing School]]''
|
|-
|''[[Kentucky Kernels]]''
|
|-
|1935
|''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'' 
|Producer
|
|-
|1936
|''[[Dancing Pirate]]''
|Executive producer
|
|-
|1938
|''[[The Toy Wife]]''
| rowspan="2" |Producer
|
|-
|1940
|''[[Dr. Cyclops]]''
|
|-
|1947
|''[[The Fugitive (1947 film)|The Fugitive]]''
|Presenter, producer
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1948
|''[[Fort Apache (film)|Fort Apache]]''
|Presenter, executive producer
|
|-
|''[[3 Godfathers]]''
|Presenter, producer
|
|-
|1949
|''[[She Wore a Yellow Ribbon]]''
| rowspan="2" |Presenter, executive producer
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1950
|''[[Wagon Master]]''
|
|-
|''[[Rio Grande (1950 film)|Rio Grande]]''
| rowspan="3" |Producer
|
|-
|1952
|''[[The Quiet Man]]'' 
|
|-
|1953
|''[[The Sun Shines Bright]]''
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1956
|''[[The Searchers]]''
|Executive producer
|
|-
|''[[Seven Wonders of the World (film)|Seven Wonders of the World]]''
| rowspan="2" |Producer
| rowspan="2" |Documentary
|-
|1963
|''[[Best of Cinerama]]''
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal |first=Merian C. |last=Cooper |title=The Warfare of the Jungle Folk: Campaigning Against Tigers, Elephants, and Other Wild Animals in Northern Siam |journal=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |date=February 1928 |pages=233–68}}
* {{cite book |first=Janusz |last=Cisek |title=Kosciuszko, We Are Here! |publisher=McFarland |year=2002 |oclc=49871871 |isbn=9780786412402}}
* ''I'm King Kong!—The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper'' (2005), [[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]] documentary on Cooper, directed by [[Kevin Brownlow]].

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
*{{IMDb name|0178260}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012202921/http://zwoje-scrolls.com/zwoje13/text17p.htm Cooper's polish-soviet war]
*[http://www.jaxhistory.org/portfolio-items/merian-caldwell-cooper-man-created-king-kong/ mini-bio and pictures of Cooper as a teenager] on JaxHistory.Com

===Archival materials===
*[http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt1m3nd8pg/ Inventory of the Merian C. Cooper papers] at the [http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives/ Hoover Institution Archives] at [[Stanford University]]
*[http://archives.lib.byu.edu/agents/people/1163?&filter_fields%5B%5D=primary_type&filter_values%5B%5D=resource Collections relating to Merian C. Cooper] in the [[L. Tom Perry Special Collections]], [[Harold B. Lee Library]] [[Brigham Young University]]

{{Merian C. Cooper}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Merian C.}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American prisoners of war in World War I]]
[[Category:Aviators from Florida]]
[[Category:Bomber pilots]]   <!--- distinct from the WWII bomber pilot category, as he also flew in WWI !--->
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Film directors from Florida]]
[[Category:Film producers from Florida]]
[[Category:Florida Republicans]]
[[Category:Lawrenceville School alumni]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Jacksonville, Florida]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Florida]]
[[Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:Shot-down aviators]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Army colonels]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany]]