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Donald Cook (actor)
Encyclopedia
Donald Cook was an American stage and film actor.
Born in Portland, Oregon
, he originally studied farming but later started business with a lumber company. He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work. He started screen work in "shorts" before going on to films.
Cook was known for his portrayal of Mike Powers in the film The Public Enemy
. He also was one of the first film actors to portray Ellery Queen
, in The Spanish Cape Mystery. He played opposite Helen Morgan
in the 1936 film adaptation of Show Boat
was one of the suspects in the Philo Vance
mystery The Casino Murder Case
, starred as an heroic immigration inspector in Ellis Island. Other film credits include The Man Who Played God
, Our Very Own
and The Penguin Pool Murder
(1932).
Cook made his Broadway
debut in 1926 as Donn Cook, and his New York theatrical career continued until 1959. His credits included a 1948 revival of Private Lives
.
Cook was married to Princess Gioia Tasca di Cuto from 1937 until his death from a heart attack
in New Haven aged 60.
Born in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, he originally studied farming but later started business with a lumber company. He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work. He started screen work in "shorts" before going on to films.
Cook was known for his portrayal of Mike Powers in the film The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America...
. He also was one of the first film actors to portray Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...
, in The Spanish Cape Mystery. He played opposite Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
in the 1936 film adaptation of Show Boat
Show Boat (1936 film)
Show Boat is a 1936 film based on the musical play by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II , which the team adapted from the novel by Edna Ferber....
was one of the suspects in the Philo Vance
Philo Vance
Philo Vance featured in 12 crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine , published in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent...
mystery The Casino Murder Case
The Casino Murder Case
The Casino Murder Case is a 1934 novel written by S. S. Van Dine in the series about fictional detective Philo Vance. In this outing, a murder investigation is connected with a private casino on New York's upper west side, and the wealthy and unorthodox family that operates it...
, starred as an heroic immigration inspector in Ellis Island. Other film credits include The Man Who Played God
The Man Who Played God
The Man Who Played God is a 1932 American drama film directed by John G. Adolfi. The screenplay by Julien Josephson and Maude T. Howell is based on the 1914 play The Silent Voice by Jules Eckert Goodman, who adapted it from a story by Gouverneur Morris....
, Our Very Own
Our Very Own (1950 film)
Our Very Own is a 1950 American drama film directed by David Miller. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert focuses on a teenaged girl who learns she was adopted as an infant.-Plot:...
and The Penguin Pool Murder
Penguin Pool Murder
Penguin Pool Murder is a comedy/mystery film starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers, a witness in a murder case at the New York Aquarium, James Gleason as the police inspector in charge of the case, who investigates with her unwanted help, and Robert Armstrong as an attorney representing...
(1932).
Cook made 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 in 1926 as Donn Cook, and his New York theatrical career continued until 1959. His credits included a 1948 revival of Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
.
Cook was married to Princess Gioia Tasca di Cuto from 1937 until his death from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in New Haven aged 60.