Título: Gary Cooper
Seção: Silent films, 1925-28
Background: Cooper was born on May 7, 1901, in Helena, Montana to Alice (nee Brazier, 1873-1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865-1946). His father had emigrated from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire and was a prominent lawyer, rancher, and (later) a Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother had emigrated from Gillingham, Kent and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the 600-acre (240 ha) Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch about fifty miles (eighty kilometers) north of Helena near the town of Craig on the Missouri River.

Conteúdo: In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.  Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.  Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with 

user: what silent films were made in 1925?

assistant: In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt,

user: what other silent films?

assistant: Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.

user: did he win any awards for these films?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: what was his greatest accomplishment?

assistant: Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects.

user: did Lilac Time succeed?

assistant: It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.

user: what is the most important fact in this article?

assistant: Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,

user: did he win any awards for this role?

assistant: The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star.

user: who did he work with?

assistant: Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures

user: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

assistant: During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film