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FLATHEADBEACON.COM COVER MARCH 4, 2015 | 17
HOLLYWOOD
TIES TO MONTANA
J.K. Simmons is the latest Hollywood star to have a connection to Montana. Here are a few others with varying degrees of ties to Big Sky Country:
GARY COOPER
Considered one of Hollywood’s top stars in the golden age of cinema, Cooper was renowned for being a character actor who embodied the stoic American hero. The American Film Institute in 1999 ranked Coo-
per 11th on its list of the 50 Greatest Male Screen Legends.
Born Frank Cooper and raised in Helena, the tall, taciturn young man moved to Hollywood in the 1920s hoping to find work as an illustrator. In- stead, he used the horse riding skills he learned on his family’s ranch in Montana and became a stunt rider in westerns. Turns out, he was a natural in front of the camera. Cooper appeared in 84 feature films between 1925 and 1961, including “A Farewell to Arms,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “Sergeant York,” “The Pride of the Yankees” and “High Noon.” He was a five-time Academy Award nominee for best actor and won twice, for his performances in “Ser- geant York” (1941) and “High Noon” (1952). Fellow Hollywood legend and close friend John Wayne ac- cepted the 1952 Oscar for “High Noon” in Cooper’s absence, saying, “I’m glad to see they’re giving this to a man who’s not only most deserving but who has conducted himself throughout his years in our busi- ness in a manner that we can all be proud of.” Cooper received an honorary Oscar in 1961 for his lifetime achievement in cinema. Cooper, stricken with can- cer, was too ill to attend the ceremony and his close friend Jimmy Stewart accepted it on his behalf. Cooper died a month later — May 12, 1961 — six days after his 60th birthday.
BRAD BIRD
Born in Kalispell in 1957, Bird grew up in Oregon and received a scholar- ship from Disney to attend California Institute of the Arts, where he stud- ied animation as a young man along- side Pixar co-founder and director
John Lassetter. Bird went on to write and direct sev- eral hit animated features, including “The Iron Gi- ant,” “The Incredibles,” and “Ratatouille.” He also directed “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” starring Tom Cruise in 2011. He has won two Oscars, for best animated feature film for “The Incredibles” and best original screenplay for “Ratatouille.”
CARROLL O’CONNOR
Before he became the iconic Archie Bunker, star of the groundbreak- ing CBS television series “All in the Family,” O’Connor was a budding actor earning a master’s degree in speech at the University of Montana
in Missoula. He graduated in 1956 and went on to become a television star in the 1970s and 1980s. His defining role was Bunker, the bigoted, conservative
patriarch grappling with a changing era in “All in the Family.” He later starred as Chief William Gillespie in the hit TV series “In the Heat of the Night” from 1988-1995. He was nominated for 10 Golden Globe awards in his career and won for best TV actor for his turn as Bunker in 1972. He also won five Emmy Awards. He returned to Missoula in the later years of his life and taught a screen writing class at UM be- fore passing away in 2001.
DANA CARVEY
This future Saturday Night Live star was born in Missoula in 1955 and graduated from high school there. Within a decade, he was a member of the famed comedy cast in New York City performing well-known
roles, including George H.W. Bush, Ross Perot, “The Church Lady” and Garth Algar in the Wayne’s World sketches. He later starred in movie adaptations of “Wayne’s World,” along with other Hollywood films. His work with SNL won an Emmy Award in 1993 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He has a total of six Emmy nomina- tions.
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
Williams, who transitioned from a starring role in “Dawson’s Creek” to a critically acclaimed career as a film actress, was born in Kalispell in 1980. She attended Montessori School as a young child before her family moved
to San Diego when Williams was 9. She landed her first major role at 16, playing troubled teenager Jen Lindley on the hit show “Dawson’s Creek” from 1998-2003. Since then she has regularly starred in major motion pictures, including “Brokeback Mountain,” “Shutter Island” and “My Week with Marilyn.” She has been nominated for three Oscars, including best actress for “My Week with Marilyn” in 2012. Her next role will reportedly bring her back to Montana, where she will appear in an untitled in- die drama based on short stories by Helena native Maile Meloy.
JOHN LITHGOW
A two-time Tony-award winning ac- tor who was recently seen on the big screen in Christopher Nolan’s block- buster “Interstellar,” Lithgow has lived part-time on Flathead Lake for years. His wife, Mary, was born and
raised in Conrad, and the pair frequently returns to the Flathead, where Lithgow has been known to give an impromptu performance at a local stage. Every once in awhile he also lends his talents to lo- cal charities. Last year he donated to the Flathead Lake Biological Station during its recent fundraising campaign. Lithgow has appeared in several popular
shows and films over the last 30 years, including “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Dexter.” He’s been nomi- nated for two Oscars and won two Golden Globes.
PETER FONDA
The son of legendary screen star Hen- ry Fonda, Peter was born in New York City and went on to enjoy his own acclaimed movie career as an actor, director, producer and screenwrit- er. Nearly 40 years ago, he moved to
Montana and remains a familiar face in the Paradise Valley. Among his lengthy film resume, he starred in “Easy Rider” and “The Wild Angels” and has been nominated for two Oscars, including best actor for “Ulee’s Gold” in 1997. He’s also been nominated for four Golden Globes and won twice.
JEFF BRIDGES
The Dude is a neighbor of Peter Fon- da’s in the Paradise Valley. He made a few of his early movies in Montana, including “Thunderbolt and Light- foot” in 1974, “Rancho Deluxe” in 1975 and “Heaven’s Gate,” which in-
cluded production in Glacier National Park in the late 1970s. Most recently, the Oscar-winning actor was rallied around by Montanans who wanted him to run for U.S. Senate as a Democratic candidate in 2012. The star of “Big Lebowski” told Howard Stern that he jokingly lobbed the idea over to his wife, who quickly shot it down.
MICHAEL KEATON
Another regular in the Bozeman area, Keaton is a longtime part-time resident in Big Sky Country. The star of Tim Burton’s “Batman” has had a ranch in the Paradise Valley for a few decades and frequently cites the
quiet countryside as his preferred getaway. He has enjoyed a lengthy film career that recently experi- enced a renaissance following the Oscar-winning “Birdman,” which stars Keaton. He was nominated for a best actor Oscar and won a Golden Globe.
KIEFER SUTHERLAND
In his earlier, wilder days, Sutherland raised horses on a ranch west of Co- lumbia Falls in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Although the acclaimed film and television star sold the ranch (af- ter Julia Roberts broke off their en-
gagement), Sutherland kept part of Montana with him, naming his production company Still Water Films after the river on his property. As the “24” star recalled his adventurous youth in a Men’s Journal interview in 2013, “There was one fight, up in Mon- tana, where I took a good licking. I still have part of a
beer bottle stuck in my elbow.”
SHUTTERSTOCK AND WIKIPEDIA COMMONS IMAGES