Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English satirist and comedic actor.
He was a 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.
He was a 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.
At Pembroke, Cook performed and wrote comedy sketches as a member of the Cambridge Footlights Club, of which he became president in 1960.
Dudley Moore's jazz trio played in the basement of the club during the early 1960s. Cook also opened an Establishment club in New York in 1963 and Lenny Bruce performed there, as well. In 1962, the BBC commissioned a pilot for a television series of satirical sketches based on the Establishment Club, but it was not immediately picked up and Cook went to New York City for a year to perform Beyond the Fringe on Broadway.
When he returned, the pilot had been refashioned as That Was the Week That Was and had made a star of David Frost, something Cook resented. The 1960s satire boom was coming to an end and Cook said: "England was about to sink giggling into the sea." He complained that Frost's success was based on copying Cook's own stage persona and Cook dubbed him "the bubonic plagiarist", and said that his only regret in life, according to Alan Bennett, had been saving Frost from drowning.
Other sketches included "Superthunderstingcar", a parody of the Gerry Anderson marionette TV shows, and Cook's pastiche of 1960s trendy arts documentaries – satirised in a parodic segment on Greta Garbo. When Cook learned a few years later that the videotapes of the series were to be wiped, a common practice at the time, he offered to buy the recordings from the BBC but was refused because of copyright issues.
In 1961, Cook opened the comedy club The Establishment in Soho, Central London.
During one performance, Macmillan was in the theatre and Cook departed from his script and attacked him verbally. ==Career== ===1960s=== In 1961, Cook opened The Establishment, a club at 18 Greek Street in Soho in central London, presenting fellow comedians in a nightclub setting, including American Lenny Bruce.
Dudley Moore's jazz trio played in the basement of the club during the early 1960s. Cook also opened an Establishment club in New York in 1963 and Lenny Bruce performed there, as well. In 1962, the BBC commissioned a pilot for a television series of satirical sketches based on the Establishment Club, but it was not immediately picked up and Cook went to New York City for a year to perform Beyond the Fringe on Broadway.
Dudley Moore's jazz trio played in the basement of the club during the early 1960s. Cook also opened an Establishment club in New York in 1963 and Lenny Bruce performed there, as well. In 1962, the BBC commissioned a pilot for a television series of satirical sketches based on the Establishment Club, but it was not immediately picked up and Cook went to New York City for a year to perform Beyond the Fringe on Broadway.
This incident occurred in the summer of 1963, when the rivalry between the two men was at its height.
In 1963, Cook married Wendy Snowden; the couple had two daughters, Lucy and Daisy, but the marriage ended in 1970. Cook's first regular television spot was on Granada Television's Braden Beat with Bernard Braden, where he featured his most enduring character: the static, dour and monotonal E.
In 1965, Cook and Moore began a television career, beginning with Not Only...
Using few props, they created dry, absurd television that proved hugely popular and lasted for three series between 1965 and 1970.
His jazz trio backed Cook on the theme, a parodic anti-love song, which Cook delivered in a deadpan monotone and included his familiar put-down, "you fill me with inertia". In 1968, Cook and Moore briefly switched to ATV for four one-hour programmes titled Goodbye Again, based on the Pete and Dud characters.
Cook and Moore returned to television projects continuing to the late 1970s, including co-presenting Saturday Night Live in the United States.
In 1963, Cook married Wendy Snowden; the couple had two daughters, Lucy and Daisy, but the marriage ended in 1970. Cook's first regular television spot was on Granada Television's Braden Beat with Bernard Braden, where he featured his most enduring character: the static, dour and monotonal E.
Using few props, they created dry, absurd television that proved hugely popular and lasted for three series between 1965 and 1970.
John Cleese was a cast member. ===1970s=== In 1970, Cook took over a project initiated by David Frost for a satirical film about an opinion pollster who rises to become President of Great Britain.
The film, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, was not a success, although the cast contained notable names (including Monty Python's John Cleese and Graham Chapman, who co-wrote the film). Cook became a favourite of the chat show circuit, but his own effort at hosting such a show for the BBC in 1971, Where Do I Sit?, was said by the critics to have been a disappointment.
This show toured Australia in 1972 before transferring to New York City in 1973, re-titled as Good Evening.
This show toured Australia in 1972 before transferring to New York City in 1973, re-titled as Good Evening.
Cook returned to Britain and in 1973, married the actress and model Judy Huxtable. Later, the more risqué humour of Pete and Dud went farther on long-playing records as "Derek and Clive".
Two further Derek and Clive albums were released, the last accompanied by a film. Cook and Moore hosted Saturday Night Live on 24 January 1976 during the show's first season.
Perelman. ===Consequences album=== Cook played multiple roles on the 1977 concept album Consequences, written and produced by former 10cc members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.
From 1978 until his death in 1995, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore 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 throughout the English-speaking world. ==Early life== Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon.
They did a number of their classic stage routines, including "One Leg Too Few" and "Frog and Peach" among others, in addition to participating in some skits with the show's ensemble cast. In 1978, Cook appeared on the British music series Revolver as the manager of a ballroom where emerging punk and new wave acts played.
Cook's acerbic commentary was a distinctive aspect of the programme. In 1979, Cook recorded comedy-segments as B-sides to the Sparks 12-inch singles "Number One Song in Heaven" and "Tryouts for the Human Race".
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English satirist and comedic actor.
From 1978 until his death in 1995, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore 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 throughout the English-speaking world. ==Early life== Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon.
From 1978 until his death in 1995, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore 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 throughout the English-speaking world. ==Early life== Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, Torquay, Devon.
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