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Peter Cook
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Peter Cook (born in 1936 in Southend, Essex) is a notable English architect, teacher and writer about architecture. From 1953 to 1958, he studied architecture at Bournemouth College of Art, and then moved to the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, graduating in 1960. He later returned to the AA as a teacher. While working in the office of James Cubitt & Partners, Cook was one of the founder members of the influential Archigram group in the 1960s. He was Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, from 1970 to 1972. He was appointed Life Professor at the Staedelschule (Art Academy) of Frankfurt in 1984, helping establish its reputation as one of the leading German architecture schools.
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A little-seen Peter Cook film is to be released on DVD for the first time next month. The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer, which ... stars John Cleese, has been acclaimed as a ‘brilliantly observant satire of Seventies British politics’ and is a sought-after rarity among Cook fans. Written by Cook and Cleese, plus Graham Chapman and Kevin Billington, the 1970 film also includes a rare acting appearance buy playwright Harold Pinter. The plot concerns the ruthlessly ambitious Michael Rimmer (Cook) manipulating, cheating and murdering his way to dictatorial power, with a ‘charisma-heavy’, ‘policy-light’ style of leadership
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In 1967 Peter Cook and Dudley Moore made the film "Bedazzled", which came from an idea he and Moore had. Dudley plays Stanley Moon, an inadequate burger-bar cook infatuated with a waitress (Eleanor Bron). After an attempt to kill himself, be meets a George Spigott (Cook), who he later discovers is the Devil, and who offers Stanley seven wishes in exchange for his soul.
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Peter Cook made President Kennedy wait in line to see him and visited Elizabeth Taylor in her dressing room. He befriended tramps and fundraised for CND. He was capable of extraordinary kindnesses and occasional cruelties. He helped define comedy and satire for a generation, but ended his life a recluse. Harry Thompson has produced the first ever comprehensive biography of this influential and fascinating subject who came up with some of the funniest sketches and greatest jokes of all time.
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The great British comedian Peter Cook plays a mod Mephistopheles in this devilishly funny Faust send-up directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain). Dudley Moore is a lovelorn schlemiel in Swinging ‘60s London whose unsuccessful suicide attempt is interrupted when the Prince of Darkness (Cook) promises him seven wishes in exchange for his soul. Bedazzled, which Cook ... wrote, offers nonstop laughs as these wishes play out as a series of fantasies involving the unobtainable object of Moore’s desire (Eleanor Bron from Help!). Moore and Cook deftly don a variety of personas, as the latter’s low-rent Lucifer employs a series of clever loopholes to make the wishes go hilariously awry. Quintessentially British (even though it was directed by an American) Bedazzled alternates between marvelously witty dialogue and moments of surreal physical humor, highlighted by a climatic sequence in which a group of nuns -- including Moore himself in a penguin suit -- bounce around on trampolines. Cook and Moore were half of the legendary British satirical revue Beyond the Fringe and had become a successful comedy duo on British TV; Bedazzled turned out to be the perfect screen vehicle for their slick characterizations and fascinating rapport.
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Peter Cook is born in Torquay, England on 17th November 1937. He attends St.Peter's College at Radley public school and graduates to Cambridge University, studying Modern Languages with a view to following his father into the diplomatic service. In October 1958, he joins Cambridge Footlights where he establishes himself as an original and influential humorist. In 1959, whilst still an undergraduate, Cook is already writing sketches for West End revues. In 1960, Cook is elected president of Footlights.
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Peter Cook