On this day in 1961, Gary Cooper was honored with a special Academy Award — but he wasn’t there to accept it.Too unwell to attend, his close friend James Stewart took the stage on his behalf. With visible emotion, Stewart accepted the Oscar and paid tribute to @gary_cooper_official, prompting whispers across the room that something wasn’t right.The very next day, headlines confirmed what many feared: Cooper was battling cancer. He passed away just a month later, on May 13, 1961.Footage courtesy

🎬⚾️On July 14, 1942 the biographical baseball drama “The Pride of the Yankees” was released in theaters by RKO Pictures. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig (played by Cooper), who died only one year before its release, at age 37, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which later became known as "Lou Gehrig's disease". The film's iconic closing line