Peter Cookson
{{Short description|American actor (1913–1990)}}
{{for|his son, the American sociologist|Peter W. Cookson Jr.}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Cookson
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|5|8}}
| birth_place = Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|1|6|1913|5|8}}
| death_place = Southfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = Actor, director, writer
| alma_mater = Pasadena Playhouse
| organization = Actors Studio
| years_active =
| parents =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Maureen Gray|1937|1948|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Beatrice Straight
|1949}}
}}
| children = 4, including Peter W. Cookson Jr.
}}
Peter Cookson (May 8, 1913 – January 6, 1990) was an American stage and film actor of the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his collaborations with his wife, Beatrice Straight, an actress and member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Cookson was born on May 8, 1913, on a houseboat on the Willamette River in Milwaukie, Oregon, to Gerald Cookson, a career British Army officer, and Helen Willis, a nurse.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}} Cookson attended the Pasadena Playhouse on a scholarship.
Career
Cookson appeared in the play The Heiress on Broadway in 1947,{{cite web|last1=League|first1=The Broadway|title=Peter Cookson – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-cookson-23451/#broadway|website=www.ibdb.com|accessdate=20 September 2016}} where he met his wife to-be, Beatrice Straight.[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/08/obituaries/peter-cookson-76-a-writer-producer-and-stage-actor.html?pagewanted= "Peter Cookson, 76, A Writer, Producer And Stage Actor"] The New York Times, January 8, 1990[http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/29271/Peter-Cookson "Peter Cookson Broadway"] playbillvault.com, accessed September 16, 2015 He was also a producer and produced the play The Innocents on Broadway in 1950, starring his wife. Cookson's most famous stage role was of the love struck judge in Cole Porter's 1953 musical Can-Can{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=Cookson Returning to 'Can-Can'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/29/archives/cookson-returning-to-cancan.html|accessdate=20 September 2016|work=The New York Times|date=29 June 1953}} in which he introduced the song "It's All Right With Me." His New York Times obituary noted that "[i]n interviews at the time, he said he was astonished at being given the part, as he had not sung for an audience since high school."
Cookson starred in several feature films during the 1940s, including G. I. Honeymoon (1945) and Fear (1946), before moving exclusively to television during the following decade.
He was a founding member of The Actors Studio, as was his second wife Beatrice Straight.{{cite book|quote=Lewis' class included Herbert Berghof, Marlon Brando... Beatrice Straight, Eli Wallach, and David Wayne... Also Henry Barnard, Jay Barney, John Becher, Philip Bourneuf, Joan Chandler, Peter Cookson, Stephen Elliott, Robert Emhardt, Joy Geffen, William Hansen, Will Hare, Jane Hoffman, George Keane, Don Keefer, George Matthews, Peggy Meredith, Ty Perry, Margaret Phillips, David Pressman, William Prince, Elliot Reid, Frances Reid, Kurt Richards, Elizabeth Ross, Thelma Schnee, Joshua Shelley, Fed Stewart, John Straub, Michael Strong, John Sylvester, Julie Warren, Mary Welch, Lois Wheeler, and William Woodson.|first=David |last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-02-542650-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/52 52]|chapter=Birth of The Actors Studio: 1947-1950}}
Personal life
In 1937, Peter married Maureen Gray.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}} Before their divorce in 1948, they had:{{cite book|last1=Shearer|first1=Stephen|title=Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life|date=2006|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|location=Lexington, Kentucky|isbn=0813171369|url=https://archive.org/details/patricianealunqu00shea|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/patricianealunqu00shea/page/301 301]|quote=peter cookson first wife.|accessdate=20 September 2016|language=en}}
- Peter Cookson Jr.
- Jane Copland (née Cookson)
Peter and Maureen separated in Spring 1947. They attempted a reconciliation in the Summer of 1947, renting a house in Denver. At that time, Cookson had an affair with actress Patricia Neal. His wife found out and left him.
In 1948, while starring in the Broadway production of The Heiress,{{cite web|last1=Fluker|first1=Kit|title=Beatrice Straight papers 1922-1987 [bulk 1968-1986]|url=http://archives.nypl.org/the/22755|website=nypl.org|publisher=Archives of the New York Public Library|accessdate=30 March 2016}} an adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square, Cookson met Beatrice Straight, who he was acting opposite. Straight was the daughter of Dorothy Payne Whitney, of the Whitney family, and Willard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker and diplomat. Straight's step-father was Leonard Knight Elmhirst. Cookson and Straight married in 1949, and had two children:{{cite news|title=AIDES FURTHERING SCHOOLS' BENEFIT Committee Advances Sale of Tickets for 'Janus' to Help Two Scholarship Funds|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/10/02/91370115.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=ArticleEndCTA®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article&pageNumber=103|accessdate=20 September 2016|work=The New York Times|date=October 2, 1955}}
- Gary Cookson, an actor.{{cite news|author=Variety Staff|title=Beatrice Straight|url=https://variety.com/2001/scene/people-news/beatrice-straight-1117797040/|accessdate=20 September 2016|work=Variety|date=16 April 2001}}
- Tony Cookson, writer and director of And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird (1991)
Cookson died in 1990 of bone cancer at his home in Southfield, Massachusetts. Beatrice died in 2001 from pneumonia in Northridge, Los Angeles at the age of eighty-six.{{cite news |author=Mel Gussow |title=Beatrice Straight, Versatile Star, Dies at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/11/arts/beatrice-straight-versatile-star-dies-at-86.html |quote=Beatrice Straight, a graceful and versatile actress who won both an Oscar and a Tony Award, died on Saturday in North Ridge, Calif. She was 86 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif., for most of the last 10 years. ...|newspaper=New York Times |date= April 11, 2001 |accessdate=2015-01-21 }}
Published works
- Henderson's Head (1973),{{cite book|last1=Cookson|first1=Peter|title=Henderson's head : a novel|date=1973|publisher=Putnam|location=New York|isbn=0399111654}} a novel described as "sexually whiffy psychotic stuff" by Kirkus Reviews.{{cite web|last1=Nov. 26th, 1973|title=HENDERSON'S HEAD by Peter Cookson {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/peter-cookson/hendersons-head/|website=kirkusreviews.com|publisher=Putnam|accessdate=20 September 2016|language=en-us}}
- Pigeons, a comedy play{{cite web|last1=Magers|first1=Donna|title=Serial Report Chapter 73-Adrian Booth, Peter Cookson, Tom Mix, The Fatal Warning.|url=http://www.westernclippings.com/sr/serialreport_2014_73.shtml|website=www.westernclippings.com|accessdate=20 September 2016}} later turned into a script in 1986.{{cite web|title=RMC: Beatrice Straight Papers|url=http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/eguides/manuscripts/4496.html|website=rmc.library.cornell.edu|publisher=Cornell University|accessdate=20 September 2016}}
- Million Rosebuds (1978), a play written with the New Dramatists{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}
- Unique Species (1984), a play.{{cite news|title=Peter Cookson; Actor and Writer|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-12-mn-19-story.html|access-date=20 September 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=12 January 1990}}
Filmography and credits
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |
| scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Medium ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row" | Swingtime Johnny
| Film | 1943 | Jonathan | |
| scope="row" | A Guy Named Joe
| Film | 1943 | Sgt. Hanson (uncredited) | |
| scope="row" | Strange Confession
| Film | 1944 | Soldier | |
| scope="row" | Detective Kitty O'Day
| Film | 1944 | Johnny Jones | |
| scope="row" | The Girl Who Dared
| Film | 1944 | Rufus Blair | |
| scope="row" | Shadow of Suspicion
| Film | 1944 | Jimmy Dale | |
| scope="row" | Adventures of Kitty O'Day
| Film | 1945 | Johnny Jones | |
| scope="row" | G.I. Honeymoon
| Film | 1945 | Lt. Robert 'Bob" Gordon | |
| scope="row" | Behind City Lights
| Film | 1945 | Lance Marlow | |
| scope="row" | The Scarlet Horseman
| Film | 1946 | Kirk Norris | |
| scope="row" | Fear
| Film | 1946 | Larry Crain | |
| scope="row" | Strange Conquest
| Film | 1946 | William Sommers | |
| scope="row" | Don't Gamble with Strangers
| Film | 1946 | Bob Randall | |
| scope="row" | Message for Margaret
| Theatre | 1947 | Robert Chalcot | Theatre World Award (winner) |
| scope="row" | The Heiress
| Theatre | 1947-48 | Morris Townsend | |
| scope="row" | The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
| Television | 1949 | | |
| scope="row" | Robert Montgomery Presents
| Television | 1950 | Maxim de Winter | |
| scope="row" | The Innocents
| Theatre | 1950 | | Producer (ft. Beatrice Straight) |
| scope="row" | The Billy Rose Show
| Television | 1951 | | |
| scope="row" | The Little Blue Light
| Theatre | 1950 | Ellis | Producer |
| scope="row" | Lights Out
| Television | 1951 | | |
| scope="row" | The Web
| Television | 1951-52 | | |
| scope="row" | Broadway Television Theatre
| Television | 1952 | Nathaniel Dunham | |
| scope="row" | Seagulls Over Sorrento
| Theatre | 1952 | | Producer |
| scope="row" | Justice
| Television | 1954 | | |
| scope="row" | Suspense
| Television | 1952-54 | Maj. de Spain / Jack Trent | |
| scope="row" | Can-Can
| Theatre | 1953-5 | Judge Aristide Forestier | |
| scope="row" | Studio One in Hollywood
| Television | 1954 | | |
| scope="row" | Appointment with Adventure
| Television | 1955 | Jamison Wyatt | |
| scope="row" | Star Tonight
| Television | 1955 | | |
| scope="row" | The Millionaire
| Television | 1957 | Alan Bruce | |
| scope="row" | Telephone Time
| Television | 1957 | Paul Wallace | |
| scope="row" | Armstrong Circle Theatre
| Television | 1955-57 | | |
| scope="row" | The United States Steel Hour
| Television | 1957 | | |
| scope="row" | Four Winds
| Theatre | 1957 | Garrett Scott | |
| scope="row" | Matinee Theatre
| Television | 1958 | James | |
| scope="row" | The DuPont Show of the Month
| Television | 1958 | | |
| scope="row" | Kraft Theatre
| Television | 1952-58 | Bruis / Mr. Knightley | |
| scope="row" | The Investigator
| Television | 1958 | A Debonair Bachelor | |
| scope="row" | Rashomon
| Theatre | 1959 | | Producer |
| scope="row" | The Right Honourable Gentleman
| Theatre | 1965-66 | | Producer, Tony Award for Best Play (Nominee) |
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0177546|name=Peter Cookson}}
- {{IBDB name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookson, Peter}}
Category:American male film actors
Category:People from Milwaukie, Oregon
Category:Male actors from Oregon
Category:20th-century American male actors