Roderick Cook
RODERICK COOK was an English playwright, writer, theater director, and actor of stage, television, and film. Cook is particularly remembered for devising, directing, and starring in the musical review Oh, Coward! and for portraying Count Von Strack in the Oscar winning film Amadeus. Cook made his first film appearance in the 1959 British film Idle on Parade. Shortly thereafter he immigrated to the United States, making his Broadway debut as Lord Neville in the 1961 musical Kean. He returned to Broadway two years later to portray Peter Northbrook in Noël Coward's 1963 musical The Girl Who Came to Supper followed by the role of Edward in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove. In February 1965 Cook began writing book reviews and poetry for Harper's Magazine. He wrote nineteen entries for the magazine over the next two years, with his last entry appearing in the November 1967 issue. In 1969 Cook returned to Broadway when he replaced Alec McCowen as Fr. William Rolfe in Hadrian the Seventh. That same year he portrayed the role of Scrivens in the original cast of James Saunders' A Scent of Flowers at the Martinique Theatre. On the stage, Cook remained active Off-Broadway and in regional theater productions during the 1970s, but did not appear in a single Broadway show during the decade. His greatest success came from Oh, Coward!, a musical revue that Cook devised himself on the life and works of Noël Coward. The production premiered Off-Broadway on October 4, 1972 and was one of the last Noël Coward shows staged during Coward's lifetime. Cook directed and starred in the show which ran for a total of 294 performances. The show then proceeded to tour the United States and England over the next several years in London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco among other cities. His other stage credits during this time include Ernest in Design for Living opposite Maggie Smith at the Ahmanson Theatre and Lincoln Center (1971) and the Devil in Don Juan in Hell at the Alley Theatre (1979). Cook also worked as a director on several productions in 1970s, including directing Peter O'Toole in both Present Laughter and Uncle Vanya in 1978. In 1980 Cook returned to Broadway to portray Beverly Carlton in the revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner. For his performance he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. That same year he devised a musical revue of the works of William Roy, entitled Special Delivery, that premiered at the Oakland West Dinner Theatre in Lauderdale Lakes, FL. In 1951 Cook returned to Broadway as Gerald in the 1981 musical Woman of the Year, a role he played for two years. In 1982 he directed Tom Ziegler's The Ninth Step at the Riverwest Theatre in New York. In 1987 he received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the original Broadway cast of Oh Coward!, a production which he also directed. Cook died of a heart attack on August 17, 1990. Bio as of April, 2009. American Theatre Wing programs, interviews and/or credits include: SDCF Masters of the Stage (audio) Directing Coward - November, 1986 - Listen Now. Internet Broadway Database Listing (IBDB.com)