Carole Cook

• Name — Carole Cook • Birth Name — Mildred Frances Cook • Born — 14 January 1924 • Birthplace — Abilene, Texas, U.S. • Died — 11 January 2023 • Place of death — Beverly Hills, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1954–2018

Mildred Frances Cook was born on January 14, 1924, in Abilene, Texas, one of four children of Leland Preston (L.P.) Cook Sr. and his wife, Maudine. She studied Greek drama at Baylor University. After graduating in 1945, she worked in regional theater. By 1954, she had moved to New York, where she made her theatrical debut. Lucille Ball, having recently seen her success in a stage production of Annie Get Your Gun, invited her to work for her production company Desilu Studios and changed her stage name to Carole, after her favourite actress Carole Lombard.

In addition to her film and television work, Cook appeared in the original Broadway productions of 42nd Street and Romantic Comedy, and was the second actress (after Carol Channing) to star as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! She made her theatrical debut playing Mrs. Peacham in the 1956 off-Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, starring Lotte Lenya. In 2024, parts of Carole Cook's life and career were celebrated in the stage production Carole Cook Died for My Sins starring Mason McCulley. LA Weekly described the show as “a heartfelt tribute” that explored themes of love, loss, and transformation while honoring Cook's enduring legacy.

Source: She was married to actor and writer Tom Troupe from 1964 until her death. Lucille Ball was her matron of honor. Cook died from heart failure in Beverly Hills, California, on January 11, 2023, at the age of 98, three days before her 99th birthday.

On September 9, 2018, a reporter from TMZ approached Cook to ask her opinion about an actor who grabbed a Trump 2020 sign from someone who had held it up in the audience during a performance of the musical Frozen. She replied "Where's John Wilkes Booth when you need him?" Someone off camera questioned "So we need to kill President Trump?", to which she replied "Why not?" Cook's comment received widespread attention and criticism.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1959–1960 — U.S. Marshal — Mrs. Parker / Nurse — 2 episodes • 1963 — The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis — Fifi LaVerne / Molly O'Day • 1963–1968 — The Lucy Show — Thelma Green / Woman in Station (uncredited) / Hotel Guest / Mrs. Valance / Lady at the Health Club / Mrs. Baldwin / Lady Cynthia (voice) / Carrie / Effie Higgins / Piano Bar Patron (uncredited) / Gladys — 18 episodes • 1964 — The New Phil Silvers Show — Gertrude / Mrs. Kerrigan — 2 episodes • Kentucky Jones — Dodie Wipple — Episode: "The Dread Disease" • 1966 — Vacation Playhouse — Nurse — Episode: "The Hoofer" • Daniel Boone — Annie Boyd — Episode: "The Symbol" • 1969 — My World and Welcome to It — Aunt Kate — Episode: "The Disenchanted" • That Girl — Dorothy Desmond — Episode: "My Part Belongs to Daddy" • 1969–1974 — Here's Lucy — Second Woman / Mrs. Sheila Casten / Lillian Rylander / Ma Parker / Cynthia Duncan — 5 episodes • 1971 — Sarge — Cass — Episode: "Identity Crisis" • 1972–1974 — McMillan & Wife — Marnie / Carole Crenshaw — 4 episodes • 1973 — Lady Luck — Fran — Television film • 1974 — Maude — Marta — Episode: "Walter's Ex" • 1975 — Baretta — Mrs. Marriott — Episode: "Woman in the Harbor" • 1975–1976 — Chico and the Man — Flora — 3 episodes • 1976 — Ellery Queen — Gossip Columnist — Episode: "The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario" • Emergency! — Nurse — Episode: "The Nuisance" • Bronk — Beatrice — Episode: "The Vigilante" • 1976–1977 — Charlie's Angels — Madam Dorian / Hildy Slater — 2 episodes • 1977 — Starsky & Hutch — Scorchy — Episode: "Huggy Bear and the Turkey" • In the Glitter Palace — Daisy Dolon — Television film • Kojak — Marie Stella — 4 episodes • 1979 — Rendezvous Hotel — Lucille Greenwood — Television film • 1980 — Make Me an Offer — Pru Babcock • 1981 — Darkroom — Sally Anne — Episode: "The Partnership" • 1982 — Laverne & Shirley — Mrs. Harmon — Episode: "I Do, I Don't" • Strike Force — Mitzi — Episode: "The John Killer" • Trapper John, M.D. — Natasha — Episode: "The Object of My Affliction" • Knight Rider — Sen. Maggie Flynn — Episode: "Just My Bill" • Something So Right — Cahuenga — Television film • Hart to Hart — Christine Garrick — Episode: "One Hart Too Many" • CBS Children's Mystery Theatre — Florence Dumont — Episode: "The Zertigo Diamond Caper" • 1983 — The Love Boat — Phyllis Faraday — Episode: "Paroled to Love / First Impressions / Love Finds Florence Nightingale" • Quincy, M.E. — Winslow — 2 episodes • Now We're Cookin — Marge — Television film • 1983–1984 — Capitol — Sugar Laine • 1985, 1988 — Murder, She Wrote — Christine Carpenter / Shayna Grant — 2 episodes • 1986 — The A-Team — Mrs. Prescott — Episode: "Members Only" • Magnum, P.I. — Sarah Tate — Episode: "All Thieves on Deck" • 1986–1988 — Cagney & Lacey — Donna LaMarr — 5 episodes • 1986–1987 — Dynasty — Cora Van Husen — 4 episodes • 1987 — Carly's Web — Myrtle — Television film • 1990 — A Family for Joe — Medium — Episode: "The Medium" • 1993 — Gloria Vane — Mona Lewis — Television film • 2000 — Strip Mall — Doreen Krudup — Episode: "Burbank Bigfoot" • 2006 — Grey's Anatomy — Sophie Larson — Episode: "Tell Me Sweet Little Lies" • 2014 — Major Crimes — Marcella Brewster — Episode: "Frozen Assets" • 2015, 2018 — Break a Hip — Pearl Goodfish — 3 episodes • Illustration — Betty Garrett, Carole Cook and Michael Lee Stever in Arsenic and Old Lace

• Year — Play — Role — Venue — Ref. • 1956 — The Threepenny Opera — Mrs. Peacham — Off-Broadway, New York City • 1960 — Kismet — Lalume|The Melody Tent, Pittsburgh • 1961 — Parade — Performer — Hollywood Theatre Center, Los Angeles, CA • 1961 — The Matchmaker — Dolly Levi — Dallas Theatre Center, Dallas, Texas and Tour of Texas • 1965–1966 — Hello, Dolly! — Dolly Levi — Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney; Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne; His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland • 1964 — Stop the World – I Want to Get Off — Evie • 1974, 1978 — Father's Day — Louise — Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles (1974); Total Theatre, Melbourne; Mayfair Theatre, Sydney • 1979–1980 — Romantic Comedy — Blanche Dailey — Broadway, New York • 1980–1984 — 42nd Street — Maggie Jones — Broadway; US Tour (1984), Tokyo, Japan • 1981 — Patio/Porch — Pearl — Dallas, Texas with Tom Troupe • 1982 — The Supporting Cast — Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles, Summer Tour Also with Barbara Rush and Sandy Dennis • 1988–1989 — Steel Magnolias — Ouiser Boudreaux — Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. National Tour With Barbara Rush, June Lockhart, and Marion Ross • 1992; 2007 — Dress Up — Herself — Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena (1992); New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco (2007) • 1994 — The Lion in Winter — Eleanor — Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena • 1995 — Ladies in Retirement — Leonora Fiske — Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami • 1996 — Radio Gals — Hazel C. Hunt — John Houseman Theatre, New York • 1998 — Arsenic and Old Lace — Aunt Martha — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with Betty Garrett • 2002 — Follies — Hattie Walker — Wadsworth Theatre, Los Angeles • 2006 — 70, Girls, 70 — Gert Appleby — New York City Center, New York

She appeared in such feature films as The Incredible Mr. Limpet, American Gigolo, Sixteen Candles, The Gauntlet, Grandview, U.S.A., Summer Lovers, and Palm Springs Weekend. Her appearance in "The Gauntlet" was a small role near the beginning as a sassy waitress who has a brief, but funny, conversation with Clint Eastwood while he's sitting at a bar. She made guest appearances on such television shows as The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Darkroom, Knight Rider, Emergency!, Magnum, P.I., McMillan and Wife, Murder, She Wrote, Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, Cagney & Lacey, Grey's Anatomy, and a starring role in a Season 4 episode of Hart to Hart. Cook starred in the animated Walt Disney Pictures film Home on the Range voicing Pearl Gesner.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1963 — Palm Springs Weekend — Naomi Yates • 1964 — The Incredible Mr. Limpet — Bessie Limpet • 1977 — The Gauntlet — Waitress • 1980 — American Gigolo — Mrs. Dobrun • 1982 — Summer Lovers — Barbara Foster • 1984 — Sixteen Candles — Helen • Grandview, U.S.A. — Betty Welles • 1996 — Fast Money — Ester • 1999 — Lost & Found — Sylvia • 2004 — Home on the Range — Pearl Gesner — Voice • 2017 — A Very Sordid Wedding — Hortense • 2018 — Waiting in the Wings: Still Waiting — Erika Ericson