Roderick Cook
Encyclopedia
Roderick Cook was an English playwright
, writer
, theatre director and actor
of stage
, television
and film
. Cook is particularly remembered for devising, directing and starring in the musical review Oh, Coward!
and for portraying Count Von Strack in the Oscar winning film Amadeus
.
in 1953 and then began his career appearing in plays at London
's West End
during the 1950s. He made his professional stage debut in 1954 as Feste in Twelfth Night; a production directed by Peter Hall. That same year he worked under Hall again in the English-language premiere
of Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
at the Arts Theatre
, London
. He also starred alongside Maggie Smith
in the original 1954 production of Listen to the Wind at the Oxford Playhouse. Cook worked with Smith again in the original 1957 production of Share My Lettuce at the Lyric Hammersmith
. In 1956 Cook worked under Hall's direction as Gaston in the English-language premiere of The Waltz of the Toreadors
at London
's Arts Theatre
where he played opposite Hugh Griffith
and Beatrix Lehmann
. In 1957, he appeared in the ill fated musical Zuleika
at the Saville Theatre
.
Cook made his first film appearance in the 1959 British film Idle on Parade
. Two years later he made his first television appearance as a guest star on the series Jango
followed by work on the series No Hiding Place
. Shortly thereafter he immigrated to the United States, making his Broadway
debut as Lord Neville in the 1961 musical
Kean
. He returned to Broadway two years later to portray Peter Northbrook in Noel Coward
's 1963 musical The Girl Who Came to Supper
followed by the role of Edward in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove. In February 1965 Cook began writing book reviews and poetry for Harper's Magazine
. He wrote nineteen entries for the magazine over the next two years, with his last entry appearing in the November 1967 issue. In 1969 Cook returned to Broadway when he replaced Alec McCowen
as Fr. William Rolfe in Hadrian the Seventh
. That same year he portrayed the role of Scrivens in the original cast of James Saunders' A Scent of Flowers at the Martinique Theatre.
In the late 1960s, Cook began appearing sporadically in American television appearing on such programs as the Hallmark Hall of Fame
(1967), One Life to Live
(1968), and Lotsa Luck
(1973). He also appeared in several films during the 1970s including Our Time (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper
(1975), and Girlfriends (1978).
On the stage, Cook remained active off-Broadway
and in regional theatre productions during the 1970s, but did not appear in a single Broadway show during the decade. His greatest success came from Oh, Coward!
, a musical revue that Cook devised himself on the life and works of Noël Coward
. The production premiered off-Broadway on October 4, 1972 and was one of the last Noel Coward shows staged during Coward's lifetime. Cook directed and starred in the show which ran for a total of 294 performances. The show then proceeded to tour the United States and England over the next several years in London, Los Angeles
, Chicago
, Washington, D.C.
and San Francisco among other cities. His other stage credits during this time include Ernest in Design for Living
opposite Maggie Smith at the Ahmanson Theatre
and Lincoln Center (1971) and the Devil in Don Juan in Hell at the Alley Theatre
(1979). Cook also worked as a director on several productions in 1970s, including directing Peter O'Toole
in both Present Laughter
and Uncle Vanya
in 1978.
In 1980 Cook returned to Broadway to portray Beverly Carlton in the revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner
. For his performance he received a Drama Desk Award
nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. That same year he devised a musical revue of the works of William Roy, entitled Special Delivery, that premiered at the Oakland West Dinner Theatre in Lauderdale Lakes, FL. In 1951 Cook returned to Broadway as Gerald in the 1981 musical Woman of the Year
, a role he played for two years. In 1982 he directed Tom Ziegler's The Ninth Step at the Riverwest Theatre in New York. In 1987 he received a Tony Award
nomination for his role in the original Broadway cast of Oh Coward!, a production which he also directed.
During the 1980s, Cook remained active in television with his work consisting of such shows as One Life to Live
(1983), All My Children
(1985), Newhart
(1988), Sledge Hammer!
(1988), MacGyver
(1988), Tattingers
(1989), and Tales from the Crypt
(aired posthumously in 1992) among others. He also notably portrayed Count Von Strack in the Academy Award winning film Amadeus
(1984) and Von Klammer in Garbo Talks
(1984). His other film credits include Silent Madness (1984), 9½ Weeks
(1986), and Spellbinder
(1988) among others.
Cook died of a heart attack on August 17, 1990.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, theatre director and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Cook is particularly remembered for devising, directing and starring in the musical review Oh, Coward!
Oh, Coward!
Oh, Coward! is a musical revue in two acts devised by Roderick Cook and containing music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The revue consists of two men and one woman in formal dress, performing songs based on the following themes: England, family album, travel, theatre, love and women...
and for portraying Count Von Strack in the Oscar winning film Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
.
Career
Cook graduated from Queens' College, CambridgeQueens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
in 1953 and then began his career appearing in plays at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
during the 1950s. He made his professional stage debut in 1954 as Feste in Twelfth Night; a production directed by Peter Hall. That same year he worked under Hall again in the English-language premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
of Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
by Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
at the Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He also starred alongside Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
in the original 1954 production of Listen to the Wind at the Oxford Playhouse. Cook worked with Smith again in the original 1957 production of Share My Lettuce at the Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
. In 1956 Cook worked under Hall's direction as Gaston in the English-language premiere of The Waltz of the Toreadors
The Waltz of the Toreadors
The Waltz of the Toreadors [La Valse des toréadors] is a play by Jean Anouilh.Written in 1951, this farce is set in 1910 France and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a garrison ball some 17 years earlier. Because of the General's...
at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
where he played opposite Hugh Griffith
Hugh Griffith
Hugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
and Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...
. In 1957, he appeared in the ill fated musical Zuleika
Zuleika
Zuleika is a musical with music by Peter Tranchell and book and lyrics by James Ferman. The musical is based on the 1911 novel, Zuleika Dobson, by Max Beerbohm.-History:...
at the Saville Theatre
Saville Theatre
The Saville Theatre is a former West End theatre at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a music venue during the 1960s, finally being converted to a cinema in 1970.-Theatre years:...
.
Cook made his first film appearance in the 1959 British film Idle on Parade
Idle on Parade
Idol on Parade is a 1959 youth-oriented British comedy film directed by John Gilling and starring Anthony Newly, Sid James and Lionel Jeffries. It was John Antrobus' first screenplay...
. Two years later he made his first television appearance as a guest star on the series Jango
Jango (TV series)
Jango was a crime-comedy series produced in 1961 by Associated Rediffusion for British television. It starred Robert Urquhart in the lead role of Jango Smith, with Moira Redmond as Dee Smith, his wife...
followed by work on the series No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967....
. Shortly thereafter he immigrated to the United States, making his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as Lord Neville in the 1961 musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Kean
Kean (musical)
Kean is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest.Using material by Jean-Paul Sartre and Alexandre Dumas, père as its source, it centers on the adventures of Edmund Kean, considered the greatest Shakespearean actor of the 18th century, focusing...
. He returned to Broadway two years later to portray Peter Northbrook in Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's 1963 musical The Girl Who Came to Supper
The Girl Who Came to Supper
The Girl Who Came to Supper is a musical with a book by Harry Kurnitz and music and lyrics by Noël Coward.Based on Terence Rattigan's 1953 play The Sleeping Prince, it is set in 1911 London at the time of George V's coronation...
followed by the role of Edward in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove. In February 1965 Cook began writing book reviews and poetry for Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
. He wrote nineteen entries for the magazine over the next two years, with his last entry appearing in the November 1967 issue. In 1969 Cook returned to Broadway when he replaced Alec McCowen
Alec McCowen
Alexander Duncan "Alec" McCowen CBE is an English actor. He is known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. He was awarded the CBE in the 1985 New Year's Honours List.-Personal:...
as Fr. William Rolfe in Hadrian the Seventh
Hadrian the Seventh
Hadrian the Seventh is a 1904 novel by the English novelist Frederick Rolfe, who wrote under the pseudonym "Baron Corvo"....
. That same year he portrayed the role of Scrivens in the original cast of James Saunders' A Scent of Flowers at the Martinique Theatre.
In the late 1960s, Cook began appearing sporadically in American television appearing on such programs as the Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
(1967), One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
(1968), and Lotsa Luck
Lotsa Luck
Lotsa Luck was a 1973-74 comedy series starring Dom DeLuise as bachelor Stanley Belmont who lives with his bossy mother , his sister Olive and her unemployed husband, Arthur...
(1973). He also appeared in several films during the 1970s including Our Time (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper
The Great Waldo Pepper
The Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. It stars Robert Redford as a discontented airplane pilot in the years 1926-1931....
(1975), and Girlfriends (1978).
On the stage, Cook remained active off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and in regional theatre productions during the 1970s, but did not appear in a single Broadway show during the decade. His greatest success came from Oh, Coward!
Oh, Coward!
Oh, Coward! is a musical revue in two acts devised by Roderick Cook and containing music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The revue consists of two men and one woman in formal dress, performing songs based on the following themes: England, family album, travel, theatre, love and women...
, a musical revue that Cook devised himself on the life and works of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
. The production premiered off-Broadway on October 4, 1972 and was one of the last Noel Coward shows staged during Coward's lifetime. Cook directed and starred in the show which ran for a total of 294 performances. The show then proceeded to tour the United States and England over the next several years in London, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and San Francisco among other cities. His other stage credits during this time include Ernest in Design for Living
Design for Living
Design for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
opposite Maggie Smith at the Ahmanson Theatre
Ahmanson Theatre
The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that comprise the Los Angeles Music Center.Through the generosity of philanthropist Robert H. Ahmanson, construction began on March 9, 1962. The theatre opened on April 12, 1967 with a production of More Stately Mansions starring Ingrid Bergman,...
and Lincoln Center (1971) and the Devil in Don Juan in Hell at the Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
(1979). Cook also worked as a director on several productions in 1970s, including directing Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
in both Present Laughter
Present Laughter
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
and Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
in 1978.
In 1980 Cook returned to Broadway to portray Beverly Carlton in the revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
. For his performance he received a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. That same year he devised a musical revue of the works of William Roy, entitled Special Delivery, that premiered at the Oakland West Dinner Theatre in Lauderdale Lakes, FL. In 1951 Cook returned to Broadway as Gerald in the 1981 musical Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year (musical)
Woman of the Year is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and score by John Kander and Fred Ebb.Based on the Ring Lardner Jr.-Michael Kanin screenplay for the 1942 Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy film of the same name, the musical changes the newspaper reporters of the original to television...
, a role he played for two years. In 1982 he directed Tom Ziegler's The Ninth Step at the Riverwest Theatre in New York. In 1987 he received a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for his role in the original Broadway cast of Oh Coward!, a production which he also directed.
During the 1980s, Cook remained active in television with his work consisting of such shows as One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
(1983), All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
(1985), Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
(1988), Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer!
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character,...
(1988), MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
(1988), Tattingers
Tattingers
Tattingers is a comedy-drama aired by the NBC television network as part of its 1988 fall lineup. After failing in the Nielsen ratings as an hour-long program, the plot and characters were briefly revived in the spring of 1989 as the half-hour situation comedy Nick & Hillary.Tattingers is the...
(1989), and Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
(aired posthumously in 1992) among others. He also notably portrayed Count Von Strack in the Academy Award winning film Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
(1984) and Von Klammer in Garbo Talks
Garbo Talks
Garbo Talks is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, Carrie Fisher, and Betty Comden as Greta Garbo.The movie was written by Larry Grusin and also stars Catherine Hicks and Steven Hill...
(1984). His other film credits include Silent Madness (1984), 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
(1986), and Spellbinder
Spellbinder (1988 film)
Spellbinder is a 1988 American thriller film directed by Janet Greek, starring Timothy Daly and Kelly Preston. The screenplay was written by Tracy Tormé. The original music score was written by Basil Poledouris...
(1988) among others.
Cook died of a heart attack on August 17, 1990.
Sources
- Obituary in the New York Times, August 19, 1990
- Biography of Roderick Cook at Music Theatre International
- Biography of Roderick Cook at filmreference.com