News for Aug. 17, 2005

Life of adventure inspired the tale of a killer gorilla

8/17/05, 1:27 pm EST - Xoanon

It is one of the most memorable film images: King Kong on top of the Empire State Building holding Fay Wray in his palm while being strafed by fighter planes. It is so powerful that it has overshadowed Kong's creator, Merian C.Cooper, a filmmaker, explorer, war hero and aviation pioneer whose adventures were nearly as dramatic as the movie. The film, released in 1933, is in many ways an autobiographical work. This month Villard is publishing a biography of Cooper, Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong, by Mark Cotta Vaz, with an introduction by Peter Jackson, whose remake of King Kong is released in December. [More]