Born Merian Caldwell Cooper in Jacksonville, Florida. After WW I service as lieutenant colonel with the Kosciusko Flying Squadron, he met Ernest B. Schoedsack in Poland. They embarked on several joint projects and co-directed two successful documentaries in the Near and Far East (GRASS, 1925 and CHANG, 1927). Their collaboration extended into fiction films with exotic or mysterious backgrounds, the most famous of which was KING KONG (1933), a classic in the fantasy-horror field. Before beginning the picture, Cooper told star Fay Wray, "You are going to have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood." Being the producer of the film, he personally removed a scene from the picture in which four sailors, after Kong shook them off a log bridge, fall into a ravine where they are eaten by giant spiders. When previewed in January, 1933, audience members either left the theatre in horror or talked about the ghasly scene during the entire movie. Cooper said, "It stopped the picture cold, so the next day back at the studio, I took it out myself." Cooper, who had been brought into the RKO fold by his friend David O. Selznick, succeeded him as vice president in charge of production at RKO in 1933 and gave up directing to concentrate on his duties as producer. Some of his RKO credits (as producer, associate producer or executive producer) include THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD (1932), THE SILVER CORD, THE MONKEY'S PAW, EMERGENCY CALL, FLYING DEVILS, MORNING GLORY, ANN VICKERS, LITTLE WOMEN, THE SON OF KONG and FLYING DOWN TO RIO (all 1933), THE LOST PATROL, SPITFIRE, and THIS MAN IS MINE (all 1934), SHE and THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (both 1935) and DANCING PIRATE (1936). In 1936 he became vice president of Selznick International Pictures. During WW II, Cooper served as a colonel with the US Army Air Corps and was chief of staff to General Claire Chennault in China. Cooper retired from the service as a US Air Force brigadier general. In 1947 he formed Argosy Pictures with John Ford (having worked with Ford on THE LOST PATROL, 1934) and co-produced several of the director's films, including THE FUGITIVE (1947), 3 GODFATHERS and FORT APACHE (both 1948), MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (both 1949), WAGON MASTER and RIO GRANDE (both 1950), THE QUIET MAN (1952), THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT (1953) and THE SEARCHERS (1956). Cooper is the author of several books, including The Sea Gypsy, Grass, Under the White Eagle, Things Men Die For, and King Kong. In 1952 he co-produced the first Cinerama presentation, THIS IS CINERAMA (1952). He received a special Academy Award the same year. Cooper was married to actress Dorothy Jordan (1906-1988) from the 1930s until his death in 1973.  Nominated for Best Picture 1932-33: LITTLE WOMEN - Producer at RKO Radio  Nominated for Best Picture 1952: THE QUIET MAN - Producer at Argosy  Honorary Award 1952: "For his many innovations and contributions to the art of motion pictures." 2 nominations, 1 Honorary Award