Donald Cook
Birthday: 1901-09-26 Place of Birth: Portland, Oregon
Synopsis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Donald Cook (September 26, 1901 – October 1, 1961) 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Donald Cook, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting
Too Young to Go Steady
Too Young to Go Steady was a live primetime sitcom that aired on NBC in 1959. It centered on the romantic awakening of Pamela Blake, a pretty 15-year-old girl struggling to make the transition from tomboy to young lady.
Circus Girl
A jealous trapeze star decides he must eliminate his romantic rival.
The Leavenworth Case
Director Lewis D. Collins' 1936 whodunit is about the investigation into the death of an elderly tycoon, who is murdered shortly after announcing he plans to change his will and give away his fortune.
Show Boat
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
Motive for Revenge
Bank teller Barry Webster is driven to stealing bank funds by his mother-in-law who continually nags him about forcing her daughter Muriel to live in poverty...
Here Comes the Band
In this musical, a songwriter goes to court to claim the rights to his song that was stolen by an unscrupulous music publisher. He brings his girlfriend with him. Also going to court are the Jubilee singers, hillbillies, and some cowboys and Indians who demonstrate that the composer wrote his song by rearranging four folk tunes. He wins his song back and $50,000 in damages. Songs include: "Heading Home," "Roll Along Prairie Moon," "Tender Is the Night," "You're My Thrill," "I'm Bound for Heaven," and "The Army Band."
The Spanish Cape Mystery
Ellery Queen's vacation is interrupted when murder strikes next door to his oceanside cabin.
Confidential
A Treasury agent gains the trust of a mob gunman while working under cover to smash a crime syndicate.
The Casino Murder Case
When Philo Vance receives a note that harm will befall Lynn at the casino that night, he takes the threat seriously while the DA dismisses it. At the casino owned by Uncle Kinkaid, Lynn is indeed poisoned under the watchful eye of Philo. However, he recovers, but the same cannot be said for Lynn's wife Virginia, who is at the family home. Only a family member could have poisoned Lynn and Virginia and everyone has their dark motives. Philo will follow the clues and find the perpetrator.
The Night Is Young
Young Austrian Archduke Paul "Gustl" Gustave is in an arranged engagement but his uncle, the emperor, decides to let Gustl carry on a fling with ballet dancer Lisl Gluck.
Whirlpool
An ex-convict tries to connect with the daughter who doesn't even know he exists.
Viva Villa!
In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father's death.
The 9th Guest
Eight people are invited by an unsigned telegram to a penthouse apartment, where they find themselves locked in and greeted by their unknown host's voice via the radio, who explains that before the night is over each one will be die unless they manage to outwit the ninth guest, Death.
Baby Face
A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.
The Circus Queen Murder
Suave, lip-reading DA Thatcher Colt plans to get away from the big city for a while. So he and his secretary, Miss Kelly hop on a train for an Upstate NY town called Gilead. They expect a calm oasis, but when a small time circus rolls into town they soon find themselves caught up in a sordid tale of marital infidelity, murder, cruelty to animals, and cannibalism.
The Man Who Played God
While giving a private performance for a visiting monarch, concert pianist Montgomery Royale is deafened when a bomb is detonated in an attempt to assassinate the foreign ruler. With his career over as a result of his injury, Royale returns to New York City with his sister Florence, close friend Mildred Miller, and considerably younger fiancée Grace Blair. After abandoning thoughts of suicide, Montgomery discovers he can lip read, and he spends his days observing people in Central Park from his apartment window. As he learns of people's problems, he tries to help them anonymously. He becomes absorbed in his game of "playing God" but his actions are without sincerity.
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Vivienne Ware is defended by her ex-beau when she's accused of killing her faithless fiance.
Penguin Pool Murder
New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.
The Conquerors
A newlywed couple journeys west to make their fortune, and begins a banking empire.
Safe in Hell
To avoid the rigors of the law, Gilda flees New Orleans and hides on a Caribbean island where the worst criminals can ask for asylum. Besieged by the scum of the earth, Gilda will soon find out that she has found refuge in hell.
The Mad Genius
A crippled puppeteer rescues an abused young boy and turns the boy into a great ballet dancer. Complications ensue when, as a young man, the dancer falls in love with a young woman the puppeteer is also in love with.
The Public Enemy
Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Unfaithful
In this society drama set in contemporary England, a noblewoman pretends to be an adulteress in order to protect her sister-in-law, who actually is.
