November 1958Photograph By Desmond Russell

The strong, silent type? Before John Wayne, there was Gary Cooper, the premier leading man of the ’30s and ’40s and the epitome of taciturn American manhood. This fashion shoot, in which Ronald Reagan also appeared, captured Cooper in his later years. The movie icon was still a paragon of style and class, and his inclusion was evidence of Esquire’s eye for using Hollywood figures as fashion templates.