Biography
British-born American journalist and broadcaster Cooke was born in Salford, Manchester, to a father who was an iron-fitter and Methodist lay preacher. He grew up in Blackpool, where his parents operated a guest house. It was there that he first encountered Americans, in the form of GIs heading to fight in World War One. He earned a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied English. A Commonwealth Fund fellowship later allowed him to study theatre at Yale and Harvard for two years.
In 1934, Cooke began his broadcasting career as a film critic for the BBC, but soon returned to the United States, becoming a US citizen in 1941. For a period, he worked as a freelance journalist for The Times, reporting from New York. In 1945, he joined The Guardian as its US correspondent, a role he held until 1972. His initial assignment was to cover the formation of the United Nations.
In March 1946, he started a BBC radio programme titled "American Letter," a series of 15-minute broadcasts intended to portray life in America. Although the producer expected the show to last only 26 weeks, it continued as "Letter from America" for 58 years, becoming the world's longest-running speech radio programme. Cooke delivered a total of 2,869 broadcasts, mostly from his 15th-floor Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking Central Park. Notable broadcasts included his eyewitness report of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination.
He also appeared on American television, hosting "Omnibus" in the 1950s and, from 1971 to 1993, presenting British programmes to American audiences for PBS's "Masterpiece Theatre." Widely respected on both sides of the Atlantic, Cooke received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 1973 and addressed the US Congress during the bicentennial celebrations.
At 95, after missing a broadcast due to declining health, Cooke chose to end "Letter from America," having previously recorded 16 broadcasts from a hospital bed. The final programme aired on March 2, 2004, and he passed away less than a month later.
