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Oct 23, 2020 · Eloise Mumford talks about the challenges and complexities of portraying Trudy Cooper, the wife of astronaut Gordo Cooper, in the Disney+ series 'The Right Stuff'. She reveals Trudy's love of flying, her sacrifices, and her relationship with Gordo.
Trudy Cooper was the wife of astronaut Gordon Cooper and a licensed pilot herself. She flew a Piper Cub, started her own aviation company, and competed in the Powder Puff Derby race in 1971.
- Overview
- Biography
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Trudy Cooper is the wife of Gordo Cooper, though they eventually divorce. She has an independent personality and is passionate about women's rights, and is also a registered pilot and owner of a courier service.
Trudy was born in February, 1929, in Seattle. When she met Gordo at the University of Hawaii, she was already a pilot herself. They got married in Honolulu, in August 29, 1947.
However, Gordo cheated on her, and Trudy left him, after 12 years of marriage, shortly before the astronaut selection process begun, in January 1959. After Gordo's selection for the Mercury seven, he asked Trudy to pretend they were still married, because NASA required him to have a "loving wife", and she agreed to help him for the sake of his career.
In episode 1, "Launch", the Coopers are at a party hosted by LIFE magazine. Trudy and Gordo dance, until Gordo inches his way up Trudy's leg, prompting her to reveal that copping a feel isn't part of their “deal.”
Later, when the wives are talking, Trudy declares her husband has no competition when it comes to which astronaut is "going up" first.
When the wives gather to take the photo for LIFE, Trudy tells Marge that if NASA wants astronauts with a perfect marriage, that's exactly what they will get from the Coopers, and that even being annoying and an idiot, Gordo deserves to be in the program. They also discuss Trudy's desire to go to space, to which Marge says "Pigs will fly to space before a woman does."
A few weeks later, Trudy is talking to Gordo on the phone, when she hears Alan Shepard asking Gordo to switch rooms because he had a double bed. She hung up the phone, and called Mr. Porter, asking him for the wives to go to Cabo and watch the Mercury test launch, to which he agreed.
The day after their arrival to Cabo, Marge, Trudy and Betty are talking about Louise and Alan, when Marge accidentally reveals Trudy's secret: when Gordo volunteered to the program, they were already signing the divorce papers, when he asked her to come back, for his career. She says that she'll never forgive or forget what he did.
Before Alan's flight, Gordo and Trudy are talking on the phone, and he tells her that he is doing the countdown of the launch. He also tells her he misses her, and their conversations.
Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004) was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force pilot, and the youngest of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first human space program of the United States.
Aug 17, 2020 · In exploring The Right Stuff TV series' historical accuracy, we learned that Gordon Cooper's wife Trudy was a licensed and accomplished pilot. Like the other wives, more of her story is focused on in the TV show The Astronaut Wives Club (2015).
Oct 29, 2020 · Eloise Mumford stars in The Right Stuff as Trudy Cooper, one of the more accomplished astronaut's wives associated with the Mercury 7. Read our interview with her inside.
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Oct 10, 2020 · According to the Washington Post, all seven of the astronauts were married, but the show highlights three of their wives in particular: Annie Glenn, Trudy Cooper, and Louise Shepard. Like in the...
