Fielder Cook
Encyclopedia
Fielder Cook was an American
television
and film director
, producer
, and writer whose 1971 television movie
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story spawned the series The Waltons
.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia
, Cook graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Literature
from Washington and Lee University
, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta
, then studied Elizabethan Drama
at the University of Birmingham
in England
. He returned to the United States and began his career in the early days of television, directing multiple episodes of such anthology series as Lux Video Theater, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
, Playhouse 90
, Omnibus
, and Kraft Television Theatre
. In later years he helmed the television movie
s Judge Horton
and the Scottsboro Boys
, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig
Story, Gauguin the Savage, Family Reunion
, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
, and Will There Really Be a Morning?, among others; adaptations of The Philadelphia Story, Harvey
, Brigadoon, Beauty and the Beast
, The Price
, Miracle on 34th Street
, and The Member of the Wedding
; and episodes of Ben Casey
, The Defenders, and Beacon Hill
.
Cook's feature film
credits include A Big Hand for the Little Lady
, How to Save a Marriage (And Ruin Your Life), Prudence and the Pill
, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
, Eagle in a Cage
, and Seize the Day.
Cook died in Charlotte, North Carolina
from complications from a stroke
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, and writer whose 1971 television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story spawned the series The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Cook graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
from Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta is a U.S.-based international secret letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, . It currently has around 125 student chapters nationwide, as well as more than 25 regional alumni groups. Its national community service...
, then studied Elizabethan Drama
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He returned to the United States and began his career in the early days of television, directing multiple episodes of such anthology series as Lux Video Theater, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
The Kaiser Aluminum Hour is a dramatic anthology television series which was broadcast in prime time in the United States during the 1956-57 season by NBC....
, Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
, Omnibus
Omnibus (US TV series)
Omnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.-History:Broadcast live primarily on Sunday afternoons at 4:00pm Eastern time, from November 9, 1952 until 1961. Omnibus originally aired on CBS, and later on Sunday evenings on ABC. The program finally moved to NBC in...
, and Kraft Television Theatre
Kraft Television Theatre
Kraft Television Theatre is an American drama/anthology television series that began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. In January 1948, it moved to 9pm on Wednesdays, continuing in that timeslot until 1958. Initially produced by the J...
. In later years he helmed the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
s Judge Horton
James Edwin Horton
Judge James Edwin Horton was a Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit Court in Alabama. He was elected in 1922 and again in 1928.-Birth and education:...
and the Scottsboro Boys
Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys were nine black teenage boys accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial...
, A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
Story, Gauguin the Savage, Family Reunion
Family Reunion (film)
Family Reunion is a four-hour American television movie directed by Fielder Cook. The teleplay by Allan Sloane was based on the Good Housekeeping article How America Lives by Joe Sparton...
, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma...
, and Will There Really Be a Morning?, among others; adaptations of The Philadelphia Story, Harvey
Harvey
- People :* Harvey , a given name and family name* William Harvey, 16th century physician, first to describe circulation of blood- Places :In the United States* Harvey, Illinois* Harvey, Iowa* Harvey, Louisiana* Harvey, Michigan* Harvey, North Dakota...
, Brigadoon, Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
, The Price
The Price (play)
The Price is a 1968 play by Arthur Miller. It is a piece about family dynamics, the price of furniture and the price of one's decisions. The play opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on February 7, 1968 where it played until the production moved to the 46th Street Theatre on November 18, 1968....
, Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 Christmas film written by George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn...
, and The Member of the Wedding
The Member of the Wedding
The Member of the Wedding is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete—though she interrupted the work for a few months to write the short novel The Ballad of the Sad Cafe....
; and episodes of Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
, The Defenders, and Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill (television series)
Beacon Hill was a short-lived dramatic television series shown on CBS in 1975. The show focused on the fictitious Lassiter family and their Irish servants who lived on Louisburg Square, in Boston's fashionable Beacon Hill area...
.
Cook's feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
credits include A Big Hand for the Little Lady
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
A Big Hand for the Little Lady is a 1966 western film, made by Eden Productions Inc. and released by Warner Bros...
, How to Save a Marriage (And Ruin Your Life), Prudence and the Pill
Prudence and the Pill
Prudence and the Pill is a 1968 British comedy film made by Twentieth Century-Fox. It was directed by Fielder Cook and Ronald Neame and produced by Kenneth Harper and Ronald J. Kahn from a screenplay by Hugh Mills, based on his own novel...
, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973 film)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a 1973 American children's film based on E. L. Konigsburg's novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It tells the story of a girl and her brother who run away from home to live in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and...
, Eagle in a Cage
Eagle in a Cage
Eagle in a Cage is a 1972 American and British historical drama film directed by Fielder Cook. Napoleon is played by Kenneth Haigh.An earlier version of the story had been made in 1965, when an episode of the television series Hallmark Hall of Fame depicted the events starring Trevor Howard as...
, and Seize the Day.
Cook died in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
from complications from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
Awards and nominations
- 1959 9th Berlin International Film Festival9th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 9th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 26 to July 7, 1959.-Jury:* Robert Aldrich * Johan Jacobsen* Charles Ford* John Bryan* Ignazio Tranquilli* Shigueo Miyata* Wali Eddine Sameh* O. E...
Golden Bear Award (Home Is the HeroHome Is the HeroHome Is the Hero is a 1959 Irish drama film directed by Fielder Cook. It was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Walter Macken - Paddo O'Reilly* Eileen Crowe - Daylia O'Reilly* Arthur Kennedy - Willie O'Reilly...
, nominee) - 1963 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama (Big Deal in Laredo on The DuPont Show of the Month, nominee)
- 1967 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music (Brigadoon, winner)
- 1967 Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Program (Brigadoon, winner)
- 1969 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama (Teacher, Teacher, nominee)
- 1971 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama (The Price on Hallmark Hall of Fame, winner)
- 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama (The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, nominee)
- 1976 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (Beacon Hill, nominee)
- 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Special Program (Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys, nominee)
- 1987 Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
Grand Jury Prize for Drama (Seize the Day, nominee)