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Peter Cook
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Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s.
Born in Torquay, he was educated at the University of Cambridge. There he became involved with the Footlights Club, of which he later became president. After graduating, 1960 saw him create the comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore. In 1961, Cook opened the comedy club The Establishment in Soho. After leaving Beyond the Fringe, Cook and Moore began a television career with the sketch comedy show Not Only... But Also in 1965. Cook's deadpan monologues contrasted with Moore's buffoonery. They received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.
Following the success of the show, the duo appeared together in the films The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967). The 1970s saw Cook and Moore work on a final series of Not Only... But Also, several stand-up tours, and the Derek and Clive series of comedy albums. After 1978, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore, apart from a few cameo appearances, but continued to be a regular performer in British television and film.
Referred to as "the father of modern satire" by The Guardian in 2005, Cook was ranked number one in the Comedians' Comedian, a poll of more than 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors in the English-speaking world.
Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon. He was the only son, and eldest of the three children, of Alexander Edward "Alec" Cook (1906–1984), a colonial civil servant, and his wife Ethel Catherine Margaret (1908–1994), daughter of solicitor Charles Mayo. His father served as a political officer and later as a district officer in Nigeria, then as financial secretary to the colony of Gibraltar, followed by a return to Nigeria as Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Region, based at Enugu.
Cook's grandfather, Edward Arthur Cook (1869–1914), had also been a colonial civil servant, traffic manager for the Federated Malay States Railway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. The stress he suffered in the lead-up to an interview regarding promotion led him to commit suicide. His wife, Minnie Jane (1869–1957), daughter of Thomas Wreford, of Thelbridge and Witheridge, Devon, and of Stratford-upon-Avon, of a prominent Devonshire family traced back to 1440, kept this fact secret. Peter Cook only discovered the truth when later researching his family.
Cook was educated at Radley College and then went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read French and German. As a student, Cook initially intended to become a career diplomat like his father, but Britain "had run out of colonies", as he put it. Although largely apathetic politically, particularly in later life when he displayed a deep distrust of politicians of all hues, he joined the Cambridge University Liberal Club. At Pembroke, Cook performed and wrote comedy sketches as a member of the Cambridge Footlights Club, of which he became president in 1960. His hero was fellow Footlights writer and Cambridge magazine writer David Nobbs.
While still at university, Cook wrote for Kenneth Williams, providing several sketches for Williams' hit West End comedy revue Pieces of Eight and much of the follow-up, One Over the Eight.
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Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s.
Born in Torquay, he was educated at the University of Cambridge. There he became involved with the Footlights Club, of which he later became president. After graduating, 1960 saw him create the comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore. In 1961, Cook opened the comedy club The Establishment in Soho. After leaving Beyond the Fringe, Cook and Moore began a television career with the sketch comedy show Not Only... But Also in 1965. Cook's deadpan monologues contrasted with Moore's buffoonery. They received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.
Following the success of the show, the duo appeared together in the films The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967). The 1970s saw Cook and Moore work on a final series of Not Only... But Also, several stand-up tours, and the Derek and Clive series of comedy albums. After 1978, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore, apart from a few cameo appearances, but continued to be a regular performer in British television and film.
Referred to as "the father of modern satire" by The Guardian in 2005, Cook was ranked number one in the Comedians' Comedian, a poll of more than 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors in the English-speaking world.
Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon. He was the only son, and eldest of the three children, of Alexander Edward "Alec" Cook (1906–1984), a colonial civil servant, and his wife Ethel Catherine Margaret (1908–1994), daughter of solicitor Charles Mayo. His father served as a political officer and later as a district officer in Nigeria, then as financial secretary to the colony of Gibraltar, followed by a return to Nigeria as Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Region, based at Enugu.
Cook's grandfather, Edward Arthur Cook (1869–1914), had also been a colonial civil servant, traffic manager for the Federated Malay States Railway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. The stress he suffered in the lead-up to an interview regarding promotion led him to commit suicide. His wife, Minnie Jane (1869–1957), daughter of Thomas Wreford, of Thelbridge and Witheridge, Devon, and of Stratford-upon-Avon, of a prominent Devonshire family traced back to 1440, kept this fact secret. Peter Cook only discovered the truth when later researching his family.
Cook was educated at Radley College and then went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read French and German. As a student, Cook initially intended to become a career diplomat like his father, but Britain "had run out of colonies", as he put it. Although largely apathetic politically, particularly in later life when he displayed a deep distrust of politicians of all hues, he joined the Cambridge University Liberal Club. At Pembroke, Cook performed and wrote comedy sketches as a member of the Cambridge Footlights Club, of which he became president in 1960. His hero was fellow Footlights writer and Cambridge magazine writer David Nobbs.
While still at university, Cook wrote for Kenneth Williams, providing several sketches for Williams' hit West End comedy revue Pieces of Eight and much of the follow-up, One Over the Eight.
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