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Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, gesturing with left hand, during interview, March 18, 1974.jpg
Born Alfred Cooke
(1908-11-20)20 November 1908
Salford, Lancashire, England
Died 30 March 2004(2004-03-30) (aged 95)
New York City, New York, United States
Nationality British-American
Alma mater Jesus College, Cambridge, Yale University, Harvard University
Occupation Journalist and broadcaster
Notable credit(s) Letter from America
Alistair Cooke's America
Spouse(s) Ruth Emerson (1934–1944)
Jane White Hawkes (1946–2004)
Children John Byrne Cooke (by Ruth Emerson), Susan Byrne Cooke (by Jane White Hawkes)

Alistair Cooke KBE (20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-born American journalist, television personality and broadcaster. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and Alistair Cooke's America, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theatre from 1971 to 1992. After holding the job for 22 years, and having worked in television for 42 years, Cooke retired in 1992, although he continued to present Letter from America until shortly before his death. He was the father of author and folk singer John Byrne Cooke.

He was born Alfred Cooke in Salford, Lancashire, England, the son of Mary Elizabeth (Byrne) and Samuel Cooke. His father was a lay Methodist preacher and metalsmith by trade; his mother's family were of Irish Protestant origin.

He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, Blackpool and won a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he gained an honours degree (2:1) in English. He was heavily involved in the arts, was editor of Granta, and set up the Mummers, Cambridge's first theatre group open to both sexes, from which he notably rejected a young James Mason, telling him to stick to architecture.

Cooke changed his name to Alistair when he was 22.

Cooke saw a newspaper headline stating that Oliver Baldwin, the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's son, had been sacked by the BBC as film critic. Cooke sent a telegram to the Director of Talks, asking if he would be considered for the post. He was invited for an interview and took a Cunard liner back to Britain, arriving twenty-four hours late for his interview. He suggested typing out a film review on the spot, and a few minutes later, he was offered the job. He also sat on a BBC committee headed by George Bernard Shaw for correct pronunciation.


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