Alistair Cooke

Birthday: 20 November 1908, Salford, Lancashire, England, UK

Birth Name: Alfred Alistair Cooke

British-born American journalist and broadcaster. Cooke was born in Salford, Manchester: his father was an iron-fitter and Methodist lay-preacher. He grew up in Blackpool where his parents ran a guest house. Here he first came into contact with Americans, in the form of GIs on their way to fight in World War One. He won a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied English. A fellowship from the Commonwealth Fund subsequently enabled him to study theatre at Yale and Harvard for two years. In 1934 he got his first broadcasting job, as a film critic for the BBC, but soon returned to the States and in 1941 became a US citizen. For a time he worked as a freelance journalist for The Times, reporting from New York. Then in 1945 he joined The Guardian as its US correspondent, a position he held until 1972. His first job was to cover the creation of the United Nations. In March 1946 he began a radio programme for the BBC called "American Letter". This was a series of 15-minute broadcasts in which he tried to give an impression of life in America. Cooke was warned by the producer that this would last no longer than 26 weeks: in the event, as "Letter from America", it lasted for 58 years, becoming the world's longest-running speech radio programme. Cooke made in total 2869 broadcasts, mostly from his 15th-floor flat on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. Memorable broadcasts included his eyewitness account of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. He also broadcast on American TV, presenting "Omnibus" in the 1950s and from 1971 to 1993 presenting British programmes to American viewers for PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre" series. A much-respected figure on both sides of the Atlantic, he was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973, and addressed Congress as part of the bicentennial celebrations. At the age of 95, having been forced to miss a broadcast due to his increasing ill-health, Cooke decided to end "Letter from America" (having in the past made 16 broadcasts from a hospital bed). The last programme was transmitted on 2nd March 2004 and he died less than a month later. Hide

[on Douglas Fairbanks] Fairbanks' glory, the mystery of his visual imagination, is that he could thr Show more [on Douglas Fairbanks] Fairbanks' glory, the mystery of his visual imagination, is that he could throw away all the text book tricks on the makeshift apparatus of ordinary life. To Fairbanks the limb of a tree suggests a hocks-off; a narrow lane with high walls is a risky, but workable, set of parallel bars; a spear is a pole to vault with. Hide

People in America, when listening to radio, like to lean forward. People in Britain like to lean bac Show more People in America, when listening to radio, like to lean forward. People in Britain like to lean back. Hide

[on Greta Garbo] Every man's harmless fantasy mistress. She gave you the impression that, if your im Show more [on Greta Garbo] Every man's harmless fantasy mistress. She gave you the impression that, if your imagination had to sin, it could at least congratulate itself on its impeccable taste. Hide

As always, the British shudder at the latest American vulgarity, and then embrace it with enthusiasm Show more As always, the British shudder at the latest American vulgarity, and then embrace it with enthusiasm two years later. Hide

On television, if you're getting intimate, you must look in people's eyes, which is why I've never u Show more On television, if you're getting intimate, you must look in people's eyes, which is why I've never used a teleprompter. You see the camera's eye is the eye of the audience, and you must look into it. For the "Masterpiece Theater" segments. I do six or seven a day, memorizing each one before it's to be filmed. Hide

I'm still an Englishman in America. An Irish Lancastrian, really. I don't kid myself that I'm from A Show more I'm still an Englishman in America. An Irish Lancastrian, really. I don't kid myself that I'm from Arkansas. Hide

In America the race is on between its decadence and its vitality, and it has plenty of both. In America the race is on between its decadence and its vitality, and it has plenty of both.

[on Mary Pickford] She was the girl every young man wanted to have -- as his sister. [on Mary Pickford] She was the girl every young man wanted to have -- as his sister.

Canned music is like audible wallpaper. Canned music is like audible wallpaper.

Alistair Cooke's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (6)

The Three Faces of Eve

Bogart Life Comes in Flashes

Piece of Cake - Season 1

Hitler: The Last Ten Days

Stingers - Season 1

The Real Charlie Chaplin