Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr American character actor Date of Birth: 26.12.1903 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Broadway Career
2. Hollywood Career: The Go-To "Heavy"
3. Television Work and Personal Life
4. Retirement and Legacy

Early Life and Broadway Career

Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was born on December 26, 1903, in San Francisco, California, and raised in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a pharmacist. Cook's acting career began at the age of 14 in vaudeville, and he later joined a small theatrical company, touring the East and Midwest before eventually making it to New York City.

In 1926, at the age of 15, Cook made his Broadway debut in the musical comedy "Hello, Lola!" From 1926 to 1936, Cook appeared in 14 Broadway productions, including Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" which ran for 289 performances on Broadway from 1933 to 1934. He returned to the stage one last time in 1963 for Bertolt Brecht's "Arturo Ui," which closed after only 8 performances.

Hollywood Career: The Go-To "Heavy"

Cook's film career began in the early 1930s with uncredited roles in three Hollywood films. After a hiatus, he returned to cinema in 1936, moving to Hollywood and playing a series of college-age roles before transitioning to a long string of movies in which he was cast as nervous weaklings, sadistic losers, and ruthless killers. His on-screen career spanned over 60 years and included more than 200 roles.

Cook's characters were often killed off in one way or another. He was "strangled," "poisoned," and "shot" countless times, earning him the reputation as Hollywood's "fall guy" for many years. No other actor has reportedly died as often on screen as Elisha Cook. While he rarely appeared in comedies, he had numerous roles in thrillers and crime dramas.

Notable Cook performances include the gangster Marty Waterman in the film noir "Born to Kill," the doomed informer Harry Jones in "The Big Sleep," and the pugnacious ex-Confederate soldier Torrey in the Western "Shane."

Television Work and Personal Life

On television, Cook appeared in series such as "Magnum, P.I.," "Adventures of Superman," "Star Trek," and "Batman." He was married twice, first to singer and actress Mary Lou Cook (née Mary Dunckley) in 1929, who was five years his junior and is still living at the age of 102. They divorced in 1942. Cook's second wife was Peggy McKenna, to whom he was married from 1943 until his death in 1995. He had no children from either marriage but cared for a niece who he helped raise.

Retirement and Legacy

Cook lived in Bishop, California, and spent his summers at Lake Sabrina in the mountains. He passed away on May 18, 1995, at age 91, in Big Pine, California, after suffering a stroke. On the same day, Elizabeth Montgomery, the star of the TV series "Bewitched," with whom Cook had co-starred in the 1963 crime drama "Johnny Cool," also died of cancer.

Elisha Cook was known for his reclusive nature. According to "The Maltese Falcon" director John Huston, Cook had been living alone in the Sierra Nevada mountains, fishing for golden trout between film shoots. When needed in Hollywood, a messenger would be sent to his mountain cabin, as there was no other way to contact him. Cook would come down from the mountains, film a movie, and then disappear again into the wilderness.