Explorer, war hero, filmmaker, and cinema pioneer Merian C. Cooper, the adventurer who created King Kong, was truly larger than life. Spellbound since boyhood by tales of life-threatening adventure and exotic locales, Cooper plunged into harrowing expeditions to places not yet civilized by modern man.In addition to producing King Kong, he was the first to team Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers, arranged Katharine Hepburn's screen test, collaborated with John Ford on Hollywood's greatest Westerns, and then changed the face of film forever with Cinerama, the original "virtual reality."
He returned to military service during World War II, flying missions into the heart of enemy territory.
This book is a stunning tribute to a two-fisted visionary who packed a multitude of lifetimes into 80 remarkable years, and whose greatest desire was always to be living dangerously.