Donald Cook (actor)

Cook was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and originally studied farming but later worked for a lumber company. Cook attended the University of Oregon. One of his elder brothers was Ransom M. Cook, president of Wells Fargo Bank.{{cite news |title=Farewell Reunion Being Held at R. Cook Home |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72705474/farewell-reunion-being-held-at-r-cook/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=Santa Rosa Republican |date=26 April 1934 |pages=9}}{{cite news |title=Donald Cook, Stage Roue, Dies of Heart Attack |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72705177/donald-cook-stage-roue-dies-of-heart/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=The Sacramento Bee |date=2 October 1961 |pages=8}} In 1930 he appeared in the Summer stock cast at the Elitch Theatre, in Denver, Colorado.{{Cite web |title=Donald Cook (1930) – Historic Elitch Theatre |url=https://historicelitchtheatre.org/donald-cook/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=historicelitchtheatre.org}}{{Cite book |last=Borrillo |first=Theodore A. |title=Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times) |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-9744331-4-1 |pages=162}} He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work. He started screen work in "shorts" before going on to feature films.{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}

File:Cook Flynn Public Enemy.jpg in The Public Enemy (1931)]]

Cook was known for his portrayal of Mike Powers in the film The Public Enemy. In 1935, Cook's starring role in the film The Spanish Cape Mystery made him the first actor in any medium to play fictional sleuth Ellery Queen. He played the role of Steve opposite Helen Morgan's Julie in the 1936 film adaptation of Show Boat, was one of the suspects in the Philo Vance mystery The Casino Murder Case, and starred as an heroic U.S. Immigrant Inspector of the Deporting Squad in the 1936 movie Ellis Island.

Cook made his Broadway debut in 1926 as Donn Cook in Seed of the Brute,{{cite web |title=Donald Cook |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/donald-cook-36147 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=October 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308011908/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/donald-cook-36147 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |url-status=live}} and his New York theatrical career continued over the following three decades. His credits included a 1948 revival of Private Lives and the original 1951 Broadway run of The Moon Is Blue.

During his 1930 summer stock engagement at Elitch Theatre, Cook met and fell in love with Frances Beranger, another member of the company. “We were in love, and she urged me to go to Hollywood,” Cook said. “I did, and we were married when she returned to the coast from Denver.” The marriage lasted six months. However, “the prestige of my Elitch engagement helped me get my first Hollywood contract – with Warner Brothers.”{{Cite book|last=Borrillo|first=Theodore A.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/823177622|title=Denver's historic Elitch Theatre : a nostalgic journey (a history of its times)|date=2012|publisher=|isbn=978-0-9744331-4-1|pages=162|oclc=823177622}}

Cook was married to Princess{{cite news |title=Nov. 5 Lunch to Aid Girls Town of Italy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/04/archives/nov-5-lunch-to-aid-girls-town-of-italy.html |access-date=28 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=4 October 1964}} Gioia Tasca di Cuto,{{cite news |last1=Kelling |first1=Vesta |title='Leading Man of Our Time' Has 5 Wives, Stage Role and 3 Air Shows |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72705811/leading-man-of-our-time-has-5-wives/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=July 6, 1941 |pages=32}} from 1937 until his death in 1961 (although they were legally separated at the time) from a heart attack in New Haven, Connecticut, five days after his 60th birthday, in the midst of rehearsals for Cook's new play, A Shot in the Dark, an adaptation of L'Idiote.{{cite book|title=Matthau: A Life|author1=Edelman, Rob |author2=Kupferberg, Audrey |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|page=131}} Walter Matthau took over Cook's leading role in the play following his death.

Cook is buried at River View Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3 ed.|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|isbn=|page=154}}

For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Cook was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star located at 1718 Vine Street.{{cite web|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/donald-cook |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame - Donald Cook |website=walkoffame.com |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |access-date=February 14, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/donald-cook/|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Donald Cook|series=Hollywood Star Walk|access-date=January 12, 2016}}

;Television

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• Seed of the Brute (1926)
• New York Exchange (1927)
• Spellbound (1927)
• Paris Bound (1927)
• Half Gods (1929)
• Rebound (1930)
• Wine of Choice (1938)
• American Landscape (1938)
• Skylark (1939)
• Claudia (1941)
• Foolish Notion (1945)
• Made in Heaven (1946)
• Portrait in Black (1947)
• Private Lives (1948)
• The Moon Is Blue (1951)
• King of Hearts (1954)
• Champagne Complex (1955)
• Goodbye Again (1956)
• Love Me Little (1958)

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• Masquerade (1959)

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• {{IBDB name}}
• {{IMDb name|0007219|Donald Cook}}
• {{Find a Grave|7318015|Donald Cook}}

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Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:1901 births

Category:1961 deaths

Category:Male actors from Portland, Oregon

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:University of Oregon alumni

Category:Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)