Henry Cooper

1 portrait

Photograph © National Portrait Gallery, London

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Henry Cooper

by William Redgrave
bronze bust, 1969
16 3/8 in. x 9 in. (415 mm x 230 mm) overall
Purchased, 2011
Primary Collection
NPG 6925

On display in Room 28 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

  • Sir Henry Cooper (1934-2011), Boxer; heavyweight champion and Olympian. Sitter in 7 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • William Redgrave (1903-1986), Artist. Artist or producer of 1 portrait, Sitter in 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Various contributors, National Portrait Gallery: A Portrait of Britain, 2014, p. 234 Read entry

    The defining moment in the career of heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper was his fight against Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in 1963, considered to be one of the greatest events in British boxing history. Although Cooper was defeated, the match was close and only ended when a cut opened up on Cooper’s forehead. As a teenager, Cooper had competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and by 1970 was British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, a record unmatched by any other British boxer. Cooper was renowned not only for his powerful left-hook, known as ‘‘Enry’s ‘Ammer’ that had famously floored Ali, but also his good humour.

    Sculpted from life, initially in clay, the bronze bust by William Redgrave (1903–86) embodies Cooper’s physical strength, whilst the bust format, traditionally associated with classical virtues, dignifies Cooper’s distinctive ‘boxer’s nose’. This portrait was made at the height of Cooper’s career, and his popularity twice won him BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in 1967 and again in 1970.

Events of 1969back to top

Current affairs

The Open University is established, based on the vision of Michael Young. Its aims were to offer the chance to study for higher education qualifications on a part time and distance learning basis, giving people who were unable to attend a traditional university because of family, work commitments or disability the opportunity to achieve university degrees.

Art and science

The comedy sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus is first broadcast. The Pythons performed surreal sketches that reinvented the comedy tradition, eschewing punch lines for a stream-of-consciousness structure and incongruous authorial interventions: 'and now for something completely different'.
Kenneth Tynan's Oh! Calcutta amuses and shocks audiences with full nudity on stage, taking advantage of the recent end to censorship laws.

International

Neil Armstrong takes 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' when he becomes the first man on the moon.
Concorde makes its first supersonic flight. The plane was designed, developed and manufactured by a joint treaty between the French and English governments.

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