Cooke, Alistair

Alistair Cooke, in full Alfred Alistair Cooke, (born November 20, 1908, Salford, Lancashire [now in Greater Manchester], England—died March 30, 2004, New York, New York, U.S.), British-born American journalist and commentator, best known for his lively and insightful interpretations of American history and culture.

The son of a Wesleyan Methodist lay preacher, Cooke pursued literary and theatrical interests at Jesus College, Cambridge, and graduated summa cum laude in 1930. Later he won a Commonwealth Fund fellowship to study in the United States, first at Yale (1932–33), then at Harvard (1933–34). Cooke’s cross-country travels during the summers of these years had a profound influence on his professional life.

Following a brief period as a scriptwriter in Hollywood, Cooke returned to England to become a film critic for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and later served as London correspondent for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) of the United States. In 1937 he returned to the United States, settled in New York City, and became an American citizen in 1941. From the late 1930s, Cooke reported and commented on American affairs for BBC radio and several major British newspapers. His weekly 15-minute program, Letter from America, broadcast from 1946 to 2004, was one of the longest-running series on radio. The texts of many broadcasts were collected in One Man’s America (1952) and Talk About America (1968). From 1956 to 1961 Cooke hosted and narrated the weekly television “magazine” Omnibus, which won numerous broadcasting awards.

Cooke’s interpretation of the American experience culminated in his BBC-produced television series America (1972–73). In 13 installments, filmed on location throughout the United States, Cooke surveyed some 500 years of American history in an eclectic and personal but highly coherent narrative. Alistair Cooke’s America (1973), the book based on the award-winning program, was a best-seller in the United States. From the 1970s to the early ’90s, as host of Masterpiece Theatre, Cooke served as an interpreter of British culture through the presentation of BBC dramatic television programming to American audiences.

Cooke’s other works include the critical biography Douglas Fairbanks: The Making of a Screen Actor (1940); Generation on Trial: U.S.A. v. Alger Hiss (1950), based on his coverage of a celebrated Congressional investigation; The Vintage Mencken (1955); The Patient Has the Floor (1986); America Observed (1988); Memories of the Great and the Good (1999); and, with Robert Cameron, The Americans (1977).