David Kenneth Cook (21 September 1940 – 16 September 2015) was a British

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is best known for the screen adaptation of his 1978 novel ''

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

'', and was the first presenter of the UK TV programme '' Rainbow''. He was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, from 1959 to 1961. His first role was in the 1962 film adaptation of '' A Kind of Loving''. Thereafter, he worked on both stage and television. He began to write novels and also for television in the early 1970s. He presented the first and second series of ''Rainbow'', the first episode of which aired in October 1972. He left the show to concentrate on his writing before the third series in 1973, and was replaced as presenter by

Geoffrey Hayes Charles Geoffrey Hayes (13 March 1942 – 30 September 2018) was an English television presenter and actor. He presented Thames Television's children's show ''Rainbow'' from 1972 to 1992. Early life and education Hayes had various jobs such as ...

. Cook went on to write ''Walter'', a novel about a young man with learning disabilities, that won the

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...

in 1978. In 1982, the movie ''

'' was broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's opening night. It starred

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

and was directed by Stephen Frears. Cook's follow-up novel, ''Winter Doves'', was also filmed with McKellen, and a 2009 radio play, ''Walter Now'', saw Walter become a pensioner. It also focused on reproductive rights for people with learning disabilities. Cook continued to act, and provided several of the screenplays for the BBC TV series '' Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'', a series based on his 1986 novel ''Missing Persons''. In 1989, Cook was on the controversial judging panel of the (then) Whitbread Book Award, now known as the Costa Book Awards. He died on 16 September 2015, aged 74. He was survived by his long-term partner, novelist and playwright John Bowen.

References

External links

David Cook on Thames TV- History
* * http://www.tv.com/david-cook-ii/person/198592/summary.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, David 1940 births 2015 deaths Actors from Preston, Lancashire Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English novelists English screenwriters English male screenwriters English male television actors English male stage actors English LGBT actors 20th-century English male actors English gay actors British gay writers Male actors from Lancashire English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Writers from Preston, Lancashire