Line #1 Creator/ElishaCookJr


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elisha_cook_jr_photo.jpg]]
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3	Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor who typically specialized in roles as cowardly villains and neurotics. He was, in short, the poster child for the IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Slightly built, with a soft raspy voice and bug eyes that gave him something of a baby-faced appearance, Cook has been facetiously referred to as the screen's "lightest [[TheHeavy heavy]]".
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5	Born in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco but raised in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Cook debuted on stage at age 14 and worked in vaudeville, in stock companies, and on Broadway. His only film appearance prior to 1936 was re-playing his stage role, the romantic juvenile lead, in ''Her Unborn Child'' (1930). After more work on Broadway, he settled in Hollywood in 1936. From then on, he was typecast as small-time criminals. Cook's best-known role was as the "gunsel" Wilmer Cook in ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}'' (1941), to whom Creator/HumphreyBogart's Sam Spade spat: "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter". He's also well remembered for his performances as mysterious jazz drummer Cliff March in ''Phantom Lady'' (1944), who performs for Ella Raines' Carol Richman in a scene laden with heavy sexual subtext; and as the superstitious alcoholic Watson Pritchard in ''Film/{{House on Haunted Hill\|1959}}'' (1959).
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7	Cook appeared in movies until the early 1980s and on television through the rest of that decade. He suffered a loss of speech due to a stroke in 1990. By the time of his death at age 91, he was the last surviving member of the ''Maltese Falcon'' cast.
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10	!!Elisha Cook Jr. on TV Tropes:
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12	* ''Film/SergeantYork'' (1941) as Piano player (uncredited)
13	* ''Film/LoveCrazy'' (1941) as Elevator Operator
14	* ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}'' (1941) as Wilmer Cook
15	* ''Film/IWakeUpScreaming'' (1941) as Harry Williams
16	* ''Film/{{Hellzapoppin}}'' (1941) as Harry Selby
17	* ''Film/BallOfFire'' (1941) as Waiter
18	* ''Film/{{Dark Waters\|1944}}'' (1944) as Cleeve
19	* ''Film/{{Dillinger\|1945}}'' (1945) as Kirk Otto
20	* ''Film/TheBigSleep'' (1946) as Harry Jones
21	* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' (1949) as Kilspringer
22	* ''Film/DontBotherToKnock'' (1952) as Eddie Forbes
23	* ''Film/{{Shane}}'' (1953) as Stonewall Torrey
24	* ''Film/TheKilling'' (1956) as George Peatty
25	* ''Film/DayOfTheOutlaw'' (1959) as Larry Teter
26	* ''Film/{{House on Haunted Hill\|1959}}'' (1959) as Watson Pritchard
27	* ''Film/OneEyedJacks'' (1961) as Carvey
28	* ''Film/BlackZoo'' (1963) as Joe
29	* ''Film/JohnnyCool'' (1963) as Undertaker
30	* ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' (1968) as Mr. Nicklas
31	* ''Film/TheGreatBankRobbery'' (1969) as Jeb
32	* ''Film/TheNightStalker'' (1972) as Mickey Crawford
33	* ''Film/{{Blacula}}'' (1972) as Sam
34	* ''Film/PatGarrettAndBillyTheKid'' (1973) as Cody
35	* ''Film/EmperorOfTheNorth'' (1973) as Gray Cat
36	* ''Film/MessiahOfEvil'' (1973) as Charlie
37	* ''Literature/SalemsLot'' (1979) as Gordon "Weasel" Phillips
38	* ''[[Film/NineteenFortyOne1979 1941]]'' (1979) as The Patron (Dexter)
39	* ''Series/MagnumPI'' (1980–88) as Francis "Icepick" Hofstetler
40	* ''Film/HarrysWar'' (1981) as Sgt. Billy
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42	!!Tropes related to Elisha Cook Jr.:
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44	* ChronicallyKilledActor: Cook stated in an interview that he might have died in "fifty, a hundred [movies]... at least that many."
45	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: After playing Wilmer in ''The Maltese Falcon'', Cook became the go-to actor for this kind of role.
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Context Creator / ElishaCookJr