"Screen's Lightest Heavy" dead at 91

Memorial services for Elisha "Cookie" Cook, 91, have been scheduled for Wednesday, May 31 at 2 p.m., 
at the Brune and Buck Mortuary in Bishop.

Mr. Cook, know as "The Screen's Lightest Heavy," for his numerous roles in film and on television, 
was born in San Francisco Dec. 26, 1903, and did May 18 at the Big Pine Care Center.  He was a 
resident of Bishop for more than 50 years.

Mr. Cook was one of the more enduring screen character actors, playing fall guys, small-time losers, 
stool pigeons, and gangsters.  He will forever be remembered as "Wilmer the Gunsel," a baby-faced 
hoodlum in the "Maltese Falcon."  This movie, based on the book  y Dashiell Hammett, was where he 
snarled at Humphrey Bogart, "...keep on ridin'me, they're gonna be pickin' iron out of your liver."

Mr. Cook's father published a magazine and wrote vaudeville sketches, and his mother was the ingénue 
at San Francisco's leading theater.  He eventually moved to Chicago where he left S. Albans boarding 
school in his senior year to sell programs and do walk-on roles in Frank Bacon's "Lighnin" in 1922.

The following year, producer John Golden heard about him and whisked him away to Broadway.  His 
theatrical career was set, from Broadway's "Lost Boy" in 1932 to "Ah, Wilderness!" in 1933 and onto 
a movie career that spanned more than 60 years, 100 films and numerous television roles.  His latest 
role was as sidekick "Icepick" in Tom Selleck's former series "Magnum, P.I."

Some of his most popular films are "Don't Bother to Knock," "House on Haunted Hill," "The Big Sleep," 
"The Killing," "Shane," "Phantom Lady," "Rosemary's Baby," "Harry's War," and "Tin Pan Alley," just 
to name a few.

Although he was over draft age, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served in 1942-43.

One of the highlights of his career was receiving a proclamation from Mayor Dianne Feinstein in 
November of 1987, when San Francisco joined with the Roxie Cinema in a Tribute to Elisha Cook and 
its presentation of the first Wilmer Award from the Maltese Falcon.

As recently as April 1995, Elisha returned to John's Grill in San Francisco to attend the Maltese 
Falcon Ball as honored guest and last living cast member of the film.

He is survived by two nieces.  His wife, Peggy, preceded him in death in 1990.

Those wishing to make a memorial contribution in his name may do so to the First United Methodist 
Church Building Fund, 205 N. Fowler Street, Bishop, CA  93514.

The Inyo Register
Bishop, Inyo County, California
May 24, 1995 - Page 1

Transcribed by Pat Houser for Inyo County GenWeb, September 15, 2004