Editing Peter Cook (section)

==Career==

===1960s===
[[File:Peter Cook Beyond the Fringe 1962.JPG|thumb|upright|Cook playing the character of [[E. L. Wisty]] in the revue ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]'', 1962]]

In 1961, Cook opened [[The Establishment (club)|The Establishment]], a club at 18 [[Greek Street]] in [[Soho]] in [[central London]], presenting fellow comedians in a nightclub setting, including American [[Lenny Bruce]]. Cook later joked that it was a satirical venue modelled on "those wonderful [[Berlin]] cabarets ... which did so much to stop the rise of [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and prevent the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/28/1046407753895.html |title=Tom Lehrer interview |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=1 March 2003 |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> As a members-only venue, it was outside the [[Lord Chamberlain's Office|censorship restrictions]]. The Establishment's regular cabaret performers were [[Eleanor Bron]], [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]], and [[John Fortune]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/01/23/bedazzled |title=BEDAZZLED |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=2018-08-12 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Cook befriended and supported Australian comedian and actor [[Barry Humphries]], who began his British solo career at the club. Humphries said in his autobiography, ''My Life As Me'', that he found Cook's lack of interest in art and literature off-putting. 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.<ref>[https://youtube.com/watch?v=PKu3Y5B 20 January 1963 episode of ''What's My Line''].</ref>

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 theatre|Broadway]]. When he returned, the pilot had been refashioned as ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'' and had made a television star of [[David Frost]], something Cook made no secret of resenting.  He complained that Frost's success was based on directly copying Cook's own stage persona and Cook dubbed him "the bubonic plagiarist",<ref name="Hattenstone">Simon Hattenstone [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/jul/02/david-frost-interview-frost-nixon "The Saturday interview: David Frost"], ''The Guardian'', 2 July 2011</ref> and said that his only regret in life, according to [[Alan Bennett]], had been saving Frost from drowning. This incident occurred in the summer of 1963, when the rivalry between the two men was at its height. Cook had realised that Frost's potential drowning would have looked deliberate if he had not been rescued.<ref>Humphrey Carpenter, ''That Was Satire That Was: The Satire Boom of the 1960s'', London: Victor Gollancz, 2000, pp. 270–71.</ref>

By the mid 1960s the [[satire boom]] was coming to an end and Cook said: "England was about to sink giggling into the sea."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cBs-AQAAIAAJ&q=sink+giggling |title=The Spectator, Volume 211 |year=1963|access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> Around this time, Cook provided substantial financial backing for the satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'', supporting it through difficult periods, particularly in [[libel]] trials. Cook invested his own money and solicited investment from his friends. For a time, the magazine was produced from the premises of the Establishment Club. 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 ''On the Braden Beat'' with [[Bernard Braden]], where he featured his most enduring character: the static, dour and monotonal [[E. L. Wisty]], whom Cook had conceived for Radley College's Marionette Society.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

[[File:Dudley Moore Peter Cook Kraft Music Hall.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Cook and [[Dudley Moore]] in London for the US television programme ''[[Kraft Music Hall]]'']]

Cook's [[Double act|comedy partnership]] with Dudley Moore led to ''[[Not Only... But Also]]''. This was originally intended by the BBC as a vehicle for Moore's music, but Moore invited Cook to write sketches and appear with him. Using few props, they created dry, absurd television that proved hugely popular and lasted for three series between 1965 and 1970. Cook played characters such as [[Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling]] and the two men created their [[Pete and Dud]] alter egos. 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 [[Lost television broadcast|wiped]], a common practice at the time, he offered to buy the recordings from the BBC but was refused because of copyright issues. He suggested he could purchase new tapes so that the BBC would have no need to erase the originals, but this was also turned down. Of the original 22 programmes, only eight still survive complete. A compilation of six half-hour programmes, ''The Best of... What's Left of... Not Only...But Also'' was shown on television and has been released on both [[VHS]] and [[DVD]].

With ''[[The Wrong Box]]'' (1966) and ''[[Bedazzled (1967 film)|Bedazzled]]'' (1967), Cook and Moore began to act in films together. Directed by [[Stanley Donen]], the underlying story of ''Bedazzled'' is credited to Cook and Moore and its screenplay to Cook. A comic parody of [[Faust]], it stars Cook as George Spigott (the [[Devil]]) who tempts Stanley Moon (Moore), a frustrated, short-order chef, with the promise of gaining his heart's desire – the unattainable beauty and waitress at his cafe, Margaret Spencer ([[Eleanor Bron]]) – in exchange for his soul, but repeatedly tricks him. The film features cameo appearances by [[Barry Humphries]] as Envy and [[Raquel Welch]] as Lust. Moore composed the soundtrack music and co-wrote (with Cook) the songs performed in the film. 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 [[Associated Television|ATV]] for four one-hour programmes titled ''[[Goodbye Again (TV)|Goodbye Again]]'', based on the Pete and Dud characters. Cook's increasing [[alcoholism]] led him to become reliant on [[cue card]]s. The show was not a popular success, owing in part to a strike causing the suspension of the publication of the [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]] [[listings magazine]] ''[[TV Times]]''. [[John Cleese]] was also a cast member, who would become lifelong friends with Cook and later collaborated on projects together.<ref>{{cite AV media |last1=Geraghty |first1=Geraldine |title=The Undiscovered Peter Cook |date=16 November 2016 |publisher=BBC |type=Film }}</ref>

===1970s===
[[File:Good Evening Dudley Moore Peter Cook 1975.JPG|thumb|Cook (right) and Moore performing in the revue ''Good Evening'' on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]]]
In 1970, Cook took over a project initiated by David Frost for a satirical film about an opinion pollster who rises to become Prime Minister of Great Britain. Under Cook's guidance, the character became modelled on Frost. The film, ''[[The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer]]'', was not a success, although the cast contained notable names (including Cleese and [[Graham Chapman]], who were co-writers).

Cook became a favourite of the [[talk show|chat show]] circuit but his 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. It was axed after only three episodes and was replaced by [[Michael Parkinson]], the start of Parkinson's career as a chat show host. Parkinson later asked Cook what his ambitions were, Cook replied jocularly "[...] in fact, my ambition is to shut you up altogether you see!"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0_xbprZFD0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/_0_xbprZFD0| archive-date=2021-11-07 | url-status=live|title=Peter Cook on "Parkinson" – Part 2 | date=16 September 2006|publisher=YouTube |access-date=16 September 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Cook and Moore fashioned sketches from ''Not Only....But Also'' and ''Goodbye Again'' with new material into the stage revue called ''Behind the Fridge''. This show toured Australia in 1972, where a TV special was made of it by [[GTV (Australian TV station)|GTV-9]], before transferring to New York City in 1973, retitled as ''Good Evening''. Cook frequently appeared on and off stage the worse for drink. Nonetheless, the show proved very popular and it won [[Tony Award|Tony]] and [[Grammy Award]]s. When it finished, Moore stayed in the United States to pursue his film acting ambitions in Hollywood. Cook returned to Britain and in 1973, married the actress and model [[Judy Huxtable]].{{clarify|reason=Didn't Cook marry Huxtable in New York?|date=October 2021}}

[[File:Peter Cook 1974 (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|175px|Cook in 1974]]
Later, the more risqué humour of Pete and Dud went further on such LPs as "[[Derek and Clive]]". The first recording was initiated by Cook to alleviate boredom during the Broadway run of ''Good Evening'' and used material conceived years before for the two characters but considered too outrageous. One of these audio recordings was also filmed and therein tensions between the duo are seen to rise. [[Chris Blackwell]] circulated [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]] copies to friends in the music business. The popularity of the recording convinced Cook to release it commercially, although Moore was initially reluctant, fearing that his rising fame as a [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] star would be undermined. 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 [[Saturday Night Live (season 1)|first season]]. 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 (TV series)|Revolver]]'' as the manager of a ballroom where emerging [[punk rock|punk]] and [[new wave music|new wave]] acts played. For some groups, these were their first appearances on television. Cook's [[caustic humour|acerbic]] commentary was a distinctive aspect of the programme. In 1979, Cook recorded comedy-segments as [[A-side and B-side|B-sides]] to the [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] 12-inch singles "Number One Song in Heaven" and "Tryouts for the Human Race". The main songwriter [[Ron Mael]] often began with a banal situation in his lyrics and then went at surreal tangents in the style of Cook and [[S. J. Perelman]].

===Amnesty International performances===
Cook appeared at the first three fund-raising galas staged by Cleese and [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] on behalf of [[Amnesty International]]. From the third show in 1979 the benefits were dubbed ''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball]]s''. He performed on all three nights of the first show in April 1976, ''[[A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick)]]'', as an individual performer and as a member of the cast of ''Beyond the Fringe'', which reunited for the first time since the 1960s. He also appeared in a [[Monty Python]] sketch, taking the place of [[Eric Idle]]. Cook was on the [[cast recording|cast album]] of the show and in the film, ''[[Pleasure at Her Majesty's]]''. He was in the second Amnesty gala in May 1977, ''An Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles''. It was retitled ''The Mermaid Frolics'' for the cast album and TV special. Cook performed monologues and skits with [[Terry Jones]].

In June 1979, Cook performed all four nights of ''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)|The Secret Policeman's Ball]]'', teaming with Cleese. Cook performed a couple of solo pieces and a sketch with [[Eleanor Bron]]. He also led the ensemble in the finale – the "End of the World" sketch from ''Beyond the Fringe''.

In response to a [[insult|barb]] in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' that the show was recycled material, Cook wrote a satire of the summing-up by [[Joseph Cantley|Justice Cantley]] in the trial of former [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] leader [[Jeremy Thorpe]], a summary now widely thought to show [[political bias|bias]] in favour of Thorpe. Cook performed it that same night (Friday 29 June – the third of the four nights) and the following night. The nine-minute opus, "Entirely a Matter for You", is considered by many fans and critics to be one of the finest works of Cook's career. Along with Cook, producer of the show Martin Lewis brought out an album on [[Virgin Records]] entitled ''Here Comes the Judge: Live'', containing the live performance together with three studio tracks that further lampooned the [[Thorpe affair|Thorpe trial]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phespirit.info/pictures/heroes/p008_info.htm |title=Peter Cook |publisher=Phespirit.info |access-date=25 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113163211/http://www.phespirit.info/pictures/heroes/p008_info.htm |archive-date=13 January 2010}}</ref>

Although unable to take part in the 1981 gala, Cook supplied the narration over the animated opening title sequence of the 1982 film of the show. With Lewis, he wrote and voiced [[radio advertisements|radio commercials]] to advertise the film in the UK. He also hosted a spoof film awards ceremony that was part of the world première of the film in London in March 1982.

Following Cook's 1987 stage reunion with Moore for the annual American benefit for the homeless, [[Comic Relief USA|Comic Relief]] (not related to the UK [[Comic Relief]] benefits), Cook repeated the reunion for a British audience by performing with Moore at the 1989 Amnesty benefit ''The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball''.

===''Consequences'' album===
Cook played multiple roles on the 1977 [[concept album]] ''[[Consequences (Godley & Creme album)|Consequences]]'', written and produced by former [[10cc]] members [[Kevin Godley]] and [[Lol Creme]]. A mixture of spoken comedy and [[progressive rock]] with an environmental subtext, ''Consequences'' started as a single that Godley and Creme planned to make to demonstrate their invention, an electric guitar effect called [[the Gizmo]], which they developed in 10cc. The project grew into a three-[[LP record|LP]] box set. The comedy sections were originally intended to be performed by a cast including [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Peter Ustinov]], but Godley and Creme eventually settled on Cook once they realised he could perform most parts himself.

The storyline centres on the impending [[divorce]] of ineffectual Englishman Walter Stapleton (Cook) and his French wife Lulu ([[Judy Huxtable]]). While meeting their lawyers – the bibulous Mr. Haig and overbearing Mr. Pepperman (both played by Cook) – the encroaching global catastrophe interrupts proceedings with bizarre and mysterious happenings, which seem to centre on Mr. Blint (Cook), a musician and composer living in the flat below Haig's office, to which it is connected by a large hole in the floor.

Although it has since developed a [[cult following]], ''Consequences'' was released as punk was sweeping the UK and proved a resounding [[commercial failure]], savaged by critics who found the music self-indulgent. The script and story have evident connections to Cook's own life – his then-wife Judy Huxtable plays Walter's wife. Cook's struggles with alcohol are mirrored in Haig's drinking, and there is a parallel between the fictional divorce of Walter and Lulu and Cook's own divorce from his first wife. The voice and accent Cook used for the character of Stapleton are similar to those of Cook's ''Beyond the Fringe'' colleague, Alan Bennett, and a book on Cook's comedy, ''How Very Interesting: Peter Cook's Universe and All That Surrounds It'', speculates that the characters Cook plays in ''Consequences'' are his verbal caricatures of the four ''Beyond the Fringe'' cast members – the alcoholic Haig represents Cook himself, the tremulous Stapleton is Bennett, the parodically Jewish Pepperman is Miller, and the pianist Blint represents Moore.<ref>Peter Gordon, Dan Kieran Paul Hamilton (eds) – ''How Very Interesting: Peter Cook's Universe and All That Surrounds It'' (Matrix Media Services, 2006)</ref>

===1980s===
Cook starred in the [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] special ''Peter Cook & Co.'' in 1980. The show included comedy sketches, including a ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'' parody "Tales of the Much As We Expected". This involved Cook as [[Roald Dahl]], explaining his name had been Ronald before he dropped the "n". The cast included Cleese, [[Rowan Atkinson]], [[Beryl Reid]], [[Paula Wilcox]], and [[Terry Jones]]. Partly spurred by Moore's growing film star status, Cook moved to Hollywood in that year, and appeared as an uptight English butler to a wealthy American woman in a short-lived United States television sitcom, ''[[The Two of Us (1981 TV series)|The Two of Us]]'', also making cameo appearances in a couple of undistinguished films.

In 1983, Cook played the role of [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] in the first episode of ''[[The Black Adder|Blackadder]]'', "[[The Foretelling]]", which parodies [[Laurence Olivier]]'s portrayal. In 1984, he played the role of Nigel, the mathematics teacher, in [[Jeannot Szwarc]]'s film ''[[Supergirl (1984 film)|Supergirl]]'', working alongside the evil Selena played by [[Faye Dunaway]]. He then narrated the short film ''Diplomatix'' by Norwegian comedy trio [[Trond Kirkvaag|Kirkvaag]], [[Knut Lystad|Lystad]], and [[Lars Mjøen|Mjøen]], which won the "Special Prize of the City of Montreux" at the Montreux Comedy Festival in 1985. In 1986, he partnered [[Joan Rivers]] on her UK talk show. He appeared as Mr Jolly in 1987 in ''[[The Comic Strip|The Comic Strip Presents...]]'' episode "[[Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door]]", playing an assassin who covers the sound of his murders by playing [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]] records. 

That same year, Cook appeared in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as the "Impressive Clergyman" who officiates at the wedding ceremony between Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck. Also that year, he spent time working with humourist [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] on a political satire about the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 US presidential elections]] for [[HBO]], but the script went unproduced. Lewis suggested that Cook team with Moore for the US Comic Relief [[telethon]] for the homeless. The duo reunited and performed their "One Leg Too Few" sketch. Cook again collaborated with Moore for the 1989 [[Amnesty International]] benefit show, ''The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball''.

A 1984 commercial for [[John Harvey & Sons]] showed Cook at a poolside party drinking Harvey's Bristol Cream [[sherry]]. He then says to "throw away those silly little glasses" whereupon the other party guests toss their [[sunglasses]] in the swimming pool.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/hrBaExAtwgw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200507223626/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrBaExAtwgw&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrBaExAtwgw| title = Peter Cook 1984 Harvey's Bristol Cream Commercial | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 26 March 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1988, Cook appeared as a contestant on the [[improvisational theatre|improvisation comedy]] show ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' He was declared the winner, his prize being to read the credits in the style of a New York [[taxicab|cab]] driver – a character he had portrayed in ''Peter Cook & Co.''

Cook occasionally called in to [[Clive Bull]]'s night-time [[phone-in]] [[radio show]] on [[LBC]] in London. Using the name "Sven from Swiss Cottage", he mused on love, loneliness, and herrings in a mock Norwegian accent. Jokes included Sven's attempts to find his estranged wife, in which he often claimed to be telephoning the show from all over the world, and his dislike of his fellow Norwegians' obsession with fish. While Bull was clearly aware that Sven was fictional and was happy to play along with the joke, he did not learn of the caller's real identity until later.

===Revival===
In late 1989, Cook married for the third time, to [[Malaysia]]n-born property developer Chiew Lin Chong in [[Torbay]], Devon. She provided him with some stability in his personal life, and he reduced his drinking to the extent that for a time he was [[Teetotalism|teetotal]]. He lived alone in a small 18th-century house in Perrins Walk,<!-- 51.554931, -0.178945 --> [[Hampstead]], while she kept her own property just {{convert|100|yd|-1}} away.

Cook returned to the BBC as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling for an appearance with [[Ludovic Kennedy]] in ''A Life in Pieces''. The 12 interviews saw Sir Arthur recount his life, based on the song "[[Twelve Days of Christmas]]". Unscripted interviews with Cook as Streeb-Greebling and satirist [[Chris Morris (satirist)|Chris Morris]] were recorded in late 1993 and broadcast as ''[[Why Bother? (radio show)|Why Bother?]]'' on [[BBC Radio 3]] in 1994. Morris described them:{{blockquote|It was a very different style of improvisation from what I'd been used to, working with people like [[Steve Coogan]], [[Doon Mackichan]] and [[Rebecca Front]], because ''[[On the Hour]]'' and ''[[The Day Today]]'' were about trying to establish a character within a situation, and Cook was really doing 'knight's move' and 'double knight's move' thinking to construct jokes or ridiculous scenes flipping back on themselves, and it was amazing. I mean, I held out no great hopes that he wouldn't be a boozy old sack of lard with his hair falling out and scarcely able to get a sentence out, because he hadn't given much evidence that that wouldn't be the case. But, in fact, he stumbled in with a [[Safeway (UK)|Safeways]] bag full of Kestrel lager and loads of fags and then proceeded to skip about mentally with the agility of a grasshopper. Really quite extraordinary.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stabbers.truth.posiweb.net/stabbers/html/spiggott/morris.htm |title=The Establishment – The Spiggott – Chris Morris Interview |publisher=Stabbers.truth.posiweb.net |access-date=25 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908003504/http://stabbers.truth.posiweb.net/stabbers/html/spiggott/morris.htm |archive-date=8 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

On 17 December 1993, Cook appeared on ''[[Clive Anderson|Clive Anderson Talks Back]]'' as four characters – biscuit tester and alien abductee Norman House, football manager and motivational speaker Alan Latchley, judge Sir James Beauchamp, and [[rock music|rock]] legend Eric Daley. The following day, he appeared on [[BBC Two|BBC2]] performing links for ''[[Arena (British TV series)|Arena]]'''s "Radio Night". He also appeared in the 1993 Christmas special of ''[[One Foot in the Grave]]'' ("One Foot in the Algarve"), playing a muckraking [[paparazzi|tabloid photographer]]. Before the end of the following year, his mother died, and a grief-stricken Cook returned to heavy drinking. He made his last television appearance on the show ''[[Pebble Mill at One]]'' in November 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/death-of-a-slacker-1593874.html |title= Death of a slacker |date= 29 July 1995 |publisher=independent.co.uk |access-date=5 July 2022 }}</ref>