Peter Edward Cook

His married Judy Huxtable in 1973. This marriage ended in 1989.

He tied the knot for the third time with Malaysian born Lin Chong in 1989. This marriage lasted till his death.

Peter Cook born was in Shearbridge, Torquay, in Devon, as the eldest, and the only son of Alexander Edward Cook and Ethel Margaret Mayo. His father was a colonial civil servant.

He attended Radley College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied French and German. His original intention was to join the civil services but the idea lost its charm gradually.

At Pembroke, in 1960, Peter Cook admired fellow comedy writer, David Nobbs and became the president of the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, an amateur theatrical club run by students.

His breakthrough came with the premiering of ‘Beyond the Fringe’, in 1960, a satirical stage show with Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore. His impersonation of Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan was outstanding.

In 1961, he founded, ‘The Establishment’, a kind of night club, at 18 Greek Street, Soho, where fellow comedians could perform without fear of censorship as the club was open to members only.

His first major foray into television was with ‘Braden Beat’ in 1962, in which he played, E.L Wisty, a very unfriendly and boring person, a character conceived by him while at Radley College.

In 1966, he acted in the comedy film, ‘The Wrong Box’, based on the novel by Robert Louis Steven. It included leading actors of the time such as Michael Caine, Dudley Moore and Peter Sellers.

The Peter Cook and Dudley Moore double act reached its zenith in ‘Not Only...But Also’, a BBC2 series that aired for six years from 1964. The ad-libs from Cook and Moore's responses were hilarious.

He co-wrote and co-starred with Dudley Moore in the 1967 comedy film, ‘Bedazzled’, that made $1,500,000. He played ‘The Devil’, who offers seven wishes to an unhappy young man, in return for his soul.