Mildred Frances Cook (born January 14, 1924), professionally known as Carole Cook is an American actress. known for appearances on ''The Lucy Show'' and ''Here's Lucy''

Life and career

She was born Mildred Frances Cook on January 14, 1924, in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

, one of four children born to Leland Preston (L.P.) Cook Sr. and his wife, Maudine. She became a protégé of actress and comedian

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

in 1959, when the television star brought Cook to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to appear in the “Desilu Review”. It was Ball who gave the ingenue her stage name of "Carole", for Ball's friend

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 2 ...

. Ball reportedly told Cook, "you have the same healthy disrespect for everything in general". Cook appeared regularly on ''

The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...

'' and ''

Here's Lucy ''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's thir ...

''. Ball was matron of honor at Cook's wedding in 1964 to actor

Tom Troupe Tom Troupe (born July 15, 1923) is an American actor and writer. Biography Troupe was born in North Kansas City, Missouri, and studied with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio in Manhattan during the early 1950s. He made his Broadway debut in ...

, to whom she remains married; the couple have no children together. Cook starred in the animated

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" is a classic cowboy song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Home" in 1872 or 1873 ...

'', voicing Pearl Gesner. She appeared in such feature films as ''

The Incredible Mr. Limpet ''The Incredible Mr. Limpet'' is a 1964 American live-action/animated comedy film produced by Warner Bros.''Variety'' film review; January 22, 1964, page 6. and based on the 1942 novel ''Mr. Limpet'' by Theodore Pratt. It is about a man named He ...

'', ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

'', ''

Grandview, U.S.A. ''Grandview, U.S.A.'' is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Randal Kleiser, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Carole Cook, Ramon Bieri, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, M. Emmet Walsh, Mi ...

'', ''

American Gigolo ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story about a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...

'', ''

Summer Lovers ''Summer Lovers'' is a 1982 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen. It was filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece. The original music ...

'', and ''

Palm Springs Weekend ''Palm Springs Weekend'' is a 1963 Warner Bros. bedroom comedy film directed by Norman Taurog. It has elements of the beach party genre ( AIP's ''Beach Party'' became a smash hit in July, while Warner Bros. was still putting this film together) ...

''. She made guest appearances on such television shows as ''The Lucy Show'', ''Here's Lucy'', ''

Darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

'', ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'', ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situatio ...

'', ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

'', ''

McMillan and Wife ''McMillan & Wife'' (known simply as ''McMillan'' from 1976–77) is an American police procedural television series that aired on NBC from September 17, 1971, to April 24, 1977. Starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in the title roles, the ...

'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...

'', ''

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'', and a starring role in a Season 4 episode of ''

Hart to Hart ''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset lifes ...

''. In addition to her film and television work, Cook appeared in the original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions of '' 42nd Street'' and ''

Romantic Comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

'' and was the second actress (after

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

) to star as Dolly Levi in '' Hello, Dolly!'' She played Mrs. Peacham in the 1956

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'', starring

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best ...

.Green, Stanley. “The Threepenny Opera”. ''Broadway Musicals: Show by Show.''
Hal Leonard Corporation, 2011.

Personal life

Cook is a longtime supporter of various

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

organizations and regularly appears as a featured performer in the annual Los Angeles S.T.A.G.E. benefit. With her actor husband, Tom Troupe, Cook received the 2002 Theatre Ovation Award for Lifetime Career Achievement, the first husband and wife to be so honored. Cook received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Baylor University, the S.T.A.G.E. Producers Award and the Hero in the Fight Against AIDS Award from the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, as well as eight Drama-Logue and Robby Awards. On September 9, 2018, a reporter from TMZ approached Cook to ask her opinion about an actor who grabbed a Trump 2020 sign from someone who held it up in the audience during a performance of the musical '' Frozen''. She replied "Where's

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...

when you need him?" Someone off camera questioned "So we need to kill

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

?", to which she replied "Why not?" Cook's comment received widespread attention and criticism.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Carole 1924 births Living people Actresses from Texas American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses People from Abilene, Texas HIV/AIDS activists 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses