Sue Cook
{{short description|British presenter and author (born 1949)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{about other people|the presenter}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Susan Lorraine Thomas
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1949|03|30}}
| birth_place = Ruislip, Middlesex, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| parents = William and Kathleen Thomas
| alma_mater = Leicester University
| occupation = {{hlist|Television presenter|author}}
| employer = BBC
| known_for =
| notable_works = {{Plainlist|
- On Dangerous Ground (2006)
- Force of Nature (2009)
}}
| television = {{Plainlist|
- Breakfast Time
- Children in Need
- Crimewatch
- Nationwide
- Out of Court
}}
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Brian Cook|1971}}|John Williams|{{marriage|Ian Sharp|2004}}}}
| children = 2
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Susan Lorraine Cook (née Thomas; born 30 March 1949) is a British television presenter and author. With Nick Ross, she co-presented the BBC One factual crime show Crimewatch from 1984 until 1995.
Early life
Cook’s mother, Kathleen Thomas was born in 1919.Sue Cook was guest on Nigel Farage "Talking Pints" Talk TV, Freeview ch 236, August 2022, confirmed 10 GCE passes and was Queen’s Guide as a child. Her mother is 105 years old. Her father, William Thomas, was a senior executive with the Commission on Industrial Relations (later ACAS). She has two younger brothers and lived in Ickenham.
She attended Glebe Primary School, then the newly opened Vyners Grammar School, also in Ickenham on Warren Road. She gained ten O-levels and three A-levels, and went on to the University of Leicester, graduating in 1971 with an honours degree in psychology.{{cite web|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/bulletin/bulletindecjan2002.pdf|publisher=University of Leicester|accessdate=10 February 2015|date=December 2001|title=University of Leicester Bulletin}}
Career
Sue Cook's broadcasting career began as a producer, presenter and DJ for London's Capital Radio. She then moved to the BBC where, over the next thirty years, she presented programmes for both radio and television—notably, You and Yours, Making History, Nationwide, BBC Breakfast, We're Going Places, Daytime Live, Children in Need and Out of Court. In 1984, Cook was the joint presenter with Nick Ross on the launch of Crimewatch,{{Cite web |date=2013-05-05 |title=Ross quits BBC's Crimewatch in row over ageism - Showbiz - London Eve… |url=https://archive.today/20130505070214/http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/ross-quits-bbcs-crimewatch-in-row-over-ageism-6591579.html |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=archive.ph}} staying for eleven years.
Other BBC TV presenting credits include Pebble Mill at One, BBC Breakfast, ‘’Daytime Live’’, Omnibus at the Proms, Having a Baby, the documentary series Hampton Court Palace, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Maternity Hospital, the 1994 Pilot for Out of This World, (the series presented by Carol Vorderman, in 1996), and the Children's Royal Variety Performance. She was a regular guest on Call My Bluff, and a member of Holiday{{'}}s team of reporters. For Channel 4 she hosted The Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Flower Show and the popular afternoon series Collectors Lot. She also appeared briefly as herself in the BBC television drama serial Edge of Darkness (1985) and in The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986).
She is a recurring character in the comedy series I'm Alan Partridge, in which she is an unseen friend of Partridge's.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/sue-cook-reflects-on-two-decades-of-broadcasting-at-the-bbc-6639047.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/sue-cook-reflects-on-two-decades-of-broadcasting-at-the-bbc-6639047.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Sue Cook reflects on two decades of broadcasting at the BBC|date=7 February 2012|work=The Independent|accessdate=20 January 2018}}
Publications
Cook's two novels, On Dangerous Ground (2006) and Force of Nature (2009), were published by Hodder Headline. She devised and presented a supportive series for writers, The Write Lines, for BBC Oxford.
Film
Cook was the executive producer of Tracker (2010), a film which starred Ray Winstone and was directed by her husband, Ian Sharp, with whom she collaborated on the screenplay.{{cite web | url= https://www.authorsreach.co.uk/post/2016/02/20/richard-hardie-interviews-sue-cook-broadcaster-film-producer-and-author | title= Richard Hardie Interviews Sue Cook - Broadcaster, Film Producer and Author | work=authorsreach.co.uk | accessdate=8 November 2020}} It was released in the UK in April 2011.
She is adapting her first novel, On Dangerous Ground, for the screen.
Charities
Cook is an Ambassador for the Prince's Trust, and a patron of the British Wireless for the Blind Fund, the Children's Liver Disease Foundation, the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity and Humanists UK.
Recognition
The University of Leicester conferred an honorary D.Litt degree on Cook in 1997{{cite web|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/bulletin/bulletinapr97.pdf|publisher=University of Leicester|accessdate=10 February 2015|date=April 1997|title=University of Leicester Bulletin}} in recognition of her contribution to British broadcasting.
In 2025, Cook was named Britain's number one secret crush by readers of BBC Gardeners' World magazine.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0177301|name=Sue Cook}}
- {{Official website}}
- [http://thewritelines.co.uk/ The Write Lines website]
- [https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=311773 Times Educational Supplement, April 1999]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Sue}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester
Category:British reporters and correspondents