David Cook | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Kenneth Cook 21 September 1940 Preston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 16 September 2015 (aged 74) |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation(s) | Author, screenwriter, actor |
David Kenneth Cook (21 September 1940 – 16 September 2015) was a Britishauthor,screenwriter andactor. He is best known for the screen adaptation of his 1978 novelWalter, and was the first presenter of the UK TV programmeRainbow. He was born inPreston, Lancashire. He studied at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, from 1959 to 1961. His first role was in the 1962 film adaptation ofA 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 ofRainbow, 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 byGeoffrey Hayes.[1]
Cook went on to writeWalter, a novel about a young man with learning disabilities, that won theHawthornden Prize in 1978. In 1982, the movieWalter was broadcast onChannel 4's opening night. It starredIan McKellen and was directed byStephen Frears.[2] 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.[3]
Cook continued to act, and provided several of the screenplays for the BBC TV seriesHetty Wainthropp Investigates, a series based on his 1986 novelMissing Persons.
In 1989, Cook was on the controversial judging panel of the (then) Whitbread Book Award, now known as theCosta Book Awards.[4]
He died on 16 September 2015, aged 74. He was survived by his long-term partner, novelist and playwrightJohn Bowen.[5]
