Donald Cook

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Donald Cook (1936)

Donald Cook (born September 26, 1901 in Portland , Oregon , † October 1, 1961 in New Haven , Connecticut ) was an American actor.

life and career

Donald Cook began his show career after attending the University of Oregon in the early 1920s in vaudeville plays. The black-haired actor probably made his theatrical debut in 1925 with the Kansas City Community Players in The Rivals . Just a year later, Cook was seen for the first time on Broadway in New York. With the start of talkies in the late 1920s, he came to Hollywood, where he immediately received leading roles in smaller B-films. In 1931, he played what is perhaps his best-known role as the brother of James Cagney in the gangster film The Public Enemy Who Remains Poor as an Honest and Righteous Man, while his criminal brother, Cagney, becomes a wealthy gangster. He was also seen in 1931 as the lover of Dorothy Mackaill in the provocative pre-code film Safe in Hell . In the following years Cook played mainly in smaller, now forgotten crime and gangster films; both as a detective and as a murderer. From the mid-1930s, the actor often took on neurotic characters, such as the bullied husband of Helen Morgan in Show Boat .

After his film career increasingly stagnated, he worked again on Broadway in the late 1930s, sometimes even in leading roles. After six years of abstinence from the screen, Cook stood in front of the camera for a short film for the first time in 1943 and in the following years, in addition to his theater work, took on irregular film appearances. Cook's last film was Our Own Me (1950), where he played a major supporting role alongside Ann Blyth and Farley Granger . Cook then played a few guest roles on television. In 1951 he played in his most successful play The Moon is Blue , which was filmed in 1953 as Clouds are everywhere with David Niven in Cook's role. His last play on Broadway was Masquerade from March 1959.

Donald Cook died of a heart attack in 1961, a few days after his 60th birthday. From 1937 until his death he was married to Princess Gioia Tasca di Cuto. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his film work .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1930: Roseland
  • 1931: Easy Money (Smart Money)
  • 1931: The Mad Genius
  • 1931: The Public Enemy (The Public Enemy)
  • 1931: Safe in Hell
  • 1932: Frisco Jenny
  • 1932: Taxi!
  • 1932: The Man Who Played God
  • 1933: The World Changes
  • 1933: Baby Face
  • 1934: cry of the harried (Viva Villa!)
  • 1934: The Road to Ververben (Fugitive Lady)
  • 1936: Show Boat
  • 1937: Circus Girl
  • 1945: Blonde ransomware
  • 1945: Here Come the Co-eds
  • 1950: Our own self (Our Very Own)
  • 1959: Too Young to Go Steady (TV series, seven episodes)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Donald Cook at the Los Angeles Times
personal data
SURNAME Cook, Donald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland , Oregon
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1961
Place of death New Haven , Connecticut