Will Kane In 1952, Gary Cooper won a Golden Globe Award and his second Academy Award for his portrayal of Will Kane. While "The Washington Post" refers to the character as "A Classic Role," "Entertainment Weekly" ranked the character fourteenth on its list of the top twenty "All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture" in April 2009. The magazine included him on its list because in ""High Noon", Gary Cooper's retiring lawman faces down a killer and his goons despite being deserted by the rest of the town." "Entertainment Weekly" went on to cite his most heroic move as when "Kane's last ally
High Noon agent ... and find out why I didn't get "High Noon" instead of Cooper ..." After Wayne turned down the Will Kane role, Kramer offered it to Gregory Peck, who declined because he felt it was too similar to his role in "The Gunfighter", the year before. He later said he considered it the biggest mistake of his career. Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Charlton Heston also declined the role. Kramer saw Grace Kelly in an off-Broadway play and cast her as Kane's bride, despite Cooper and Kelly's substantial age disparity (50 and 21, respectively). Rumors of an affair between