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LOT 3092
Historic Hollywood Legend Gary
Cooper Owned Colt Officer’s Model
Target Heavy Barrel Double Action
Revolver - Serial no. 650380, 38 Special
cal., 6 inch round bbl., blue finish,
walnut grips. This Colt DA revolver is
linked to famed Hollywood icon Gary
Cooper by an included Kerr’s of Beverly
Hills, California, sales receipt for Robert
Rippchen (Kerr’s gunsmith) and was
subsequently owned by Norman R.
Blank. This revolver, along with a Smith &
Wesson .357 Registered Magnum revolver no. 650380,
are noted on the receipt as “From the estate of Gary
Cooper.” The .357 Registered Magnum was proudly
featured in our September 2017 Premier sale and sold
for $57,500 (see lot 1251). Several documents linked the
.357 Registered Magnum to Gary Cooper including a
letter signed by Kerr’s store manager Gerald Knight. This
Colt was likely one of 26 guns Kerr’s received on March
27, 1962. During a career that spanned 35 years, Gary
Cooper appeared in 84 feature films as the leading man and
received an Academy Award for best actor for the films “Sergeant
York” and “High Noon.” Often considered Cooper’s greatest performance,
“High Noon” was recognized in 2008 by the American Film Institute (AFI) as the second greatest American Western film
made of all time. Cooper’s screen persona represented the ideal American hero, the tall, slender man of action who
possessed incorruptible integrity. Three of his heroic characters (Will Kane, Lou Gehrig and Sergeant York) appeared
on the AFI’s list of 100 greatest heroes and villains. In AFI’s list of 25 leading male stars of classic Hollywood, Cooper
ranked eleventh. “Thought of Gary Cooper conjures a great era of the movies when they were part of a national unity
that now somehow eludes us,” reflected Cooper’s biographer Larry Swindell. Cooper died in May 13, 1961, a few
weeks after receiving an Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement.
This revolver was manufactured in 1940. It is fitted with a set of target sights and period custom smooth target
walnut grips. These grips were Cooper’s own special custom touch. The side plate is stamped with a Rampant
Colt. The barrel has the two-line Colt legend on top and the model/caliber designation marking on the left side.
Matching serial numbers appear on the frame and crane.
CONDITION: Excellent, retaining 98% plus factory quality
reblued finish with limited handling marks, minor oxidation
staining on the hammer, and a faint cylinder drag line. The
period custom replacement grips are very fine with a few
minor handling marks. Mechanically excellent. A Gary Cooper
owned Colt DA revolver that transcends the firearm
collectors’ fraternity.
Provenance: Gary Cooper; Robert Rippchen;
The Norman R. Blank Collection.
Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000
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