Peter Cookson (May 8, 1913 – January 6, 1990) was an American stage and film actor of the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his collaborations with his wife, Beatrice Straight, an actress and member of the Whitney family.
Early life Cookson was born on May 8, 1913, on a houseboat on the Willamette River in Milwaukie, Oregon, to Gerald Cookson, a career British Army officer, and Helen Willis, a nurse. Cookson attended the Pasadena Playhouse on a scholarship.
Career Cookson appeared in the play The Heiress on Broadway in 1947, where he met his wife to-be, Beatrice Straight."Peter Cookson, 76, A Writer, Producer And Stage Actor" The New York Times, January 8, 1990"Peter Cookson Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed September 16, 2015 He was also a producer and produced the play The Innocents on Broadway in 1950, starring his wife. Cookson's most famous stage role was of the love struck judge in Cole Porter's 1953 musical Can-Can in which he introduced the song "It's All Right With Me." His New York Times obituary noted that "[i]n interviews at the time, he said he was astonished at being given the part, as he had not sung for an audience since high school."
Cookson starred in several feature films during the 1940s, including G. I. Honeymoon (1945) and Fear (1946), before moving exclusively to television during the following decade.
He was a founding member of The Actors Studio, as was his second wife Beatrice Straight.
Personal life In 1937, Peter married Maureen Gray. Before their divorce in 1948, they had: Peter Cookson Jr. Jane Copland (née Cookson) Peter and Maureen separated in Spring 1947. They attempted a reconciliation in the Summer of 1947, renting a house in Denver. At that time, Cookson had an affair with actress Patricia Neal. His wife found out and left him.
In 1948, while starring in the Broadway production of The Heiress, an adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square, Cookson met Beatrice Straight, who he was acting opposite. Straight was the daughter of Dorothy Payne Whitney, of the Whitney family, and Willard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker and diplomat. Straight's step-father was Leonard Knight Elmhirst. Cookson and Straight married in 1949, and had two children: Gary Cookson, an actor. Tony Cookson, writer and director of And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird (1991) Cookson died in 1990 of bone cancer at his home in Southfield, Massachusetts. Beatrice died in 2001 from pneumonia in Northridge, Los Angeles at the age of eighty-six.
Published works Henderson's Head (1973), a novel described as "sexually whiffy psychotic stuff" by Kirkus Reviews. Pigeons, a comedy play later turned into a script in 1986. Million Rosebuds (1978), a play written with the New Dramatists Unique Species (1984), a play.
Filmography and credits Title Medium Year Role Notes Swingtime Johnny Film 1943 Jonathan A Guy Named Joe Film 1943 Sgt. Hanson (uncredited) Strange Confession Film 1944 Soldier Detective Kitty O'Day Film 1944 Johnny Jones The Girl Who Dared Film 1944 Rufus Blair Shadow of Suspicion Film 1944 Jimmy Dale Adventures of Kitty O'Day Film 1945 Johnny Jones G.I. Honeymoon Film 1945 Lt. Robert 'Bob" Gordon Behind City Lights Film 1945 Lance Marlow The Scarlet Horseman Film 1946 Kirk Norris Fear Film 1946 Larry Crain Strange Conquest Film 1946 William Sommers Don't Gamble with Strangers Film 1946 Bob Randall Message for Margaret Theatre 1947 Robert Chalcot Theatre World Award (winner) The Heiress Theatre 1947–48 Morris Townsend The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse Television 1949 Robert Montgomery Presents Television 1950 Maxim de Winter The Innocents Theatre 1950 Producer (ft. Beatrice Straight) The Billy Rose Show Television 1951 The Little Blue Light Theatre 1950 Ellis Producer Lights Out Television 1951 The Web Television 1951–52 Broadway Television Theatre Television 1952 Nathaniel Dunham Seagulls Over Sorrento Theatre 1952 Producer Justice Television 1954 Suspense Television 1952–54 Maj. de Spain / Jack Trent Can-Can Theatre 1953–5 Judge Aristide Forestier Studio One in Hollywood Television 1954 Appointment with Adventure Television 1955 Jamison Wyatt Star Tonight Television 1955 The Millionaire Television 1957 Alan Bruce Telephone Time Television 1957 Paul Wallace Armstrong Circle Theatre Television 1955–57 The United States Steel Hour Television 1957 Four Winds Theatre 1957 Garrett Scott Matinee Theatre Television 1958 James The DuPont Show of the Month Television 1958 Kraft Theatre Television 1952–58 Bruis / Mr. Knightley The Investigator Television 1958 A Debonair Bachelor Rashomon Theatre 1959 Producer The Right Honourable Gentleman Theatre 1965–66 Producer, Tony Award for Best Play (Nominee)
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