Happy 96th Birthday to Tommy Cook!
Cook appeared in two projects based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ characters: as “Kimbu” the jungle boy opposite Frances Gifford and Tom Neal in the Republic serial “Jungle Girl” (1941), and as “Kimba,” an aspiring leopard boy, opposite Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, and Acquanetta for Sol Lesser in RKO’s “Tarzan and the Leopard Woman” (1946).
Born July 5, 1930, the Duluth, Minnesota native moved to Los Angeles with his family at age five. Cook’s mother took him to the famed Pasadena Playhouse, where he won starring and feature roles in seven plays; he was soon discovered by innovative radio producer Arch Oboler, who cast the young thespian in his NBC programs. Cook eventually played in nearly 3,000 radio shows, in roles that included Little Beaver in “Red Ryder”, Alexander in “Blondie”, and Junior in “The Life of Riley”.
Onscreen, Cook starred as “Little Beaver,” opposite Don “Red” Barry in the Republic serial “The Adventures of Red Ryder” (1940), and went on to appear in “The Tuttles of Tahiti” (1942), “Wanderer of the Wasteland” (1945), “The Gay Senorita” (1945), “Girl of the Limberlost” (1946), “Song of Arizona” (1946), “The Kid from Cleveland” (1949), “The Vicious Years” (1950, Photoplay Award for leading performance), “American Guerilla in the Philippines” (1950), “The Battle at Apache Pass” (1953), “Battle Cry” (1955), “Teen-Age Crime Wave” (1955), “Mohawk” (1956), “Night Passage” (1957), “The Gatling Gun” (1971), and “The Thing with Two Heads” (1972).
Also active in television, Cook guest-starred on series like “Have Gun – Will Travel”, “The Untouchables”, “The Rifleman”, “The Rat Patrol”, “Marcus Welby, M.D.”, “The Streets of San Francisco”, “CHiPs”, and “Hart to Hart”. Cook has voiced characters in the animated children’s series “Aquaman”, “The Funky Phantom”, “Jabberjaw”, “Undercover Elephant”, and “CB Bears”.
Cook attended Los Angeles High School and UCLA, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. A standout tennis player, he coached within the Hollywood circuit, organized charity fundraisers, and directed celebrity tennis, golf and skiing events, including the CBS Specials “The Challenge of the Sexes” and “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes”. Other ventures included conceiving and producing the films “Rollercoaster” (1977)—a thriller starring George Segal and Timothy Bottoms—and “Players” (1979), a tennis drama with Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin.
Cook’s most recent screen role was a member of Congress in a 2020 episode of TV’s “Space Force”; he is also working to produce a prequel to “Rollercoaster”.
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