Diminutive character actor Elisha Cook Jr. (born December 26, 1903 in San Francisco, California, USA, died May 18, 1995 in Big Pine, California) made a career playing cowardly villains and neurotics earning the nickname "Hollywood's lightest heavy". Cook started out in vaudeville and then became a Broadway actor. In 1936 he settled in Hollywood and, after playing a series of college-aged parts, began a long stint playing weaklings or sadistic loser-hoods: In Universal's Phantom Lady, he portrays a slimy, intoxicated nightclub-orchestra drummer. Other notable roles include the wannabe gangster in The Maltese Falcon, "pug ugly" Marty Waterman in Born to Kill (1947) , Harry Jones in The Big Sleep (1946) and George Peatty, the hen-pecked husband to Marie Windsor, in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956). His acting career spanned over sixty years. Image File history File links Cook-elisha. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: The City by the Bay Motto: Official website: http://www. ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Big Pine is a census-designated place located in Inyo County, California. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... ... Universal Studios Theme Parks. ... Phantom Lady Universal Pictures Phantom Lady (1944) is a black and white film noir directed by Robert Siodmak. ... Actors Bogart, Lorre, Astor and Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon (1941) The Maltese Falcon is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, made into a quintessential film noir movie. ... This 1947 black and white film was the first film noir directed by Robert Wise, who would also directed The Set-Up (1949), The Captive City (1952), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Big Sleep (1946) was the first movie version of Raymond Chandlers 1939 novel of the same name. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Marie Windsor Sometimes called Queen of the Bs because she appeared in so many noirs and b-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon (1953), Marie Windsor began life as Emily Bertelson in Marysvale, Utah on December 11, 1919. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was a Jewish American film director and producer who is widely considered to have been one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers of the late20th century. ... The Killing (1956) is a film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cook played a private detective in a 1953 episode of The Adventures of Superman TV series titled Semi-Private Eye. In the series DVD commentary, Jack Larson describes this as his favorite episode, both for being allowed to play a self-styled Humphrey Bogart-style shamus, and for the chance to work with "Cookie", who became a good friend. The cast of The Adventures of Superman from 1953 to 1957. ... Jack Larson is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. ... Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 - January 14, 1957) was an iconic American actor who retains legendary status decades after his death. ...

Cook also had a long-term recurring role as Icepick on Magnum, P.I.. Magnum, P.I. was an American television show that followed the adventures of Thomas Magnum (played by Tom Selleck), a private investigator living in Hawai‘i. ...

It's been said that Cook has been directed by more successful directors than any other actor:

• 1982: Wim Wenders (Hammett)
• 1979: Steven Spielberg (1941)
• 1979: Tobe Hooper (Salem's Lot)
• 1979: Franco Zeffirelli (The Champ)
• 1976: J. Lee Thompson (St. Ives)
• 1973: Robert Aldrich (Emperor of the North Pole)
• 1973: Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid)
• 1973: James William Guercio's only direction (Electra Glide in Blue)
• 1968: Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby)
• 1966: Richard Donner ("The Wild, Wild West" episode "Bars of Hell")
• 1963: Roger Corman (The Haunted Palace)
• 1961: Marlon Brando's only direction (One-Eyed Jacks)
• 1960: John Cassavetes ("Johnny Staccato" episode "Solomon")
• 1959: William Castle (House on Haunted Hill)
• 1957: Don Siegel (Baby Face Nelson)
• 1956: Stanley Kubrick (The Killing)
• 1953: George Stevens (Shane)
• 1947: Robert Wise (Born to Kill)
• 1946: Howard Hawks (The Big Sleep)
• 1946: Busby Berkeley (Cinderella Jones)
• 1941: John Huston (The Maltese Falcon)
• 1938: John Ford (Submarine Patrol)
• 1937: Otto Preminger (Danger-Love at Work)
• 1937: Mervyn LeRoy (They Won't Forget)

Wilhelm Ernst (Wim) Wenders (born August 14, 1945) is a German-born film director, author and producer. ... Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (born December 18, 1946) is a three time Academy Award winning Jewish American film director, and among the most successful filmmakers in history. ... Tobe Hooper is an American television and film director best known for his work in the horror film genre. ... Gianfranco Corsi (born February 12, 1923), better known as Franco Zeffirelli, is an Italian film director. ... John Lee-Thompson, known as J. Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 - 30 August 2002) was a film director, active in both British films and Hollywood. ... Robert Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was a United States film director, writer and producer notable for a number of films including What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and The Dirty Dozen. ... Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 - December 28, 1984) was an American film director, known as Sam Peckinpah, famous for his films with extremely bloody climaxes. ... James William Guercio (born in 1945 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American music producer, musician and songwriter (occasionally credited as Jim Guercio), and is probably best known for his work as the producer of Chicagos early albums. ... Roman Polański at Cannes with Adrien Brody, 2002 Roman Polański (born August 18, 1933) is a Franco-Polish film director and actor. ... Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg, April 24, 1930) is an American film director and also producer through the production company, The Donners Company, he and his wife, producer Lauren Schuler-Donner, own. ... Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American producer and director of low-budget films. ... Marlon Brando, Jr. ... John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 - February 3, 1989) was a Greek American actor, screenwriter, and director. ... William Castle (April 24, 1914–May 31, 1977) born William Schloss, was an American film director, producer, and actor. ... Don Siegel (October 26, 1912 - April 20, 1991) was an influential American film director. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was a Jewish American film director and producer who is widely considered to have been one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers of the late20th century. ... George Stevens examining film from A Place in the Sun. ... Director Robert Wise Robert Wise (September 10, 1914 — September 14, 2005) was an Academy Award-winning American film producer and director. ... Howard Hawks Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era. ... Kaleidoscopic Choreography from Footlight Parade, 1933 Busby Berkeley (November 29, 1895–March 14, 1976), born William Berkeley Enos in Los Angeles, California, was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. ... Statue of John Huston, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906–August 28, 1987) was an Irish film director and actor. ... John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also equally effective. ... Otto Ludwig Preminger (December 5, 1906 – April 23, 1986) was a film director. ... Mervyn LeRoy (October 15, 1900 - September 13, 1987) was an American film director, producer and sometime actor. ...

External links

• Elisha Cook Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Find-A-Grave profile for Elisha Cook Jr.