You may not recognize the name, but if you are a fan of crime and noir films of the 40’s and 50’s Elisha Cook, Jr, will no doubt have made an impression on you. Many will probably remember Cook’s recurring role on the long running series, Magnum P.I, as the underworld boss ‘Ice pick’, but before that he had made his mark as one of Hollywood’s most sought after character actors.
Many of the roles Elisha Cook portrayed were of low-life, slimy, frightened little men. But he brought them to life and made then stand out. In the film Phantom Lady ‘44, he plays a jazz drummer who is mesmerized by the ‘Phantom Lady’, and goes into a drumming frenzy while perfuming in the night club she visits, or his sympathetic, yet tragic role in The Killing. This fine character actor always delivered, and for that has always ranked as one of my favorite all-time character actors.
If you’ve never seen any of his films you owe it to yourself to do so, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
A Brief filmography:
Many of the roles Elisha Cook portrayed were of low-life, slimy, frightened little men. But he brought them to life and made then stand out. In the film Phantom Lady ‘44, he plays a jazz drummer who is mesmerized by the ‘Phantom Lady’, and goes into a drumming frenzy while perfuming in the night club she visits, or his sympathetic, yet tragic role in The Killing. This fine character actor always delivered, and for that has always ranked as one of my favorite all-time character actors.
If you’ve never seen any of his films you owe it to yourself to do so, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
A Brief filmography:
- Salem's Lot (1979) (TV) (as Elisha Cook) .... Gordon 'Weasel' Phillips
- Electra Glide in Blue (1973) (as Elisha Cook) .... Willie
- Johnny Cool (1963) .... Undertaker
- Platinum High School (1960) .... Harry Nesbit
- Baby Face Nelson (1957) .... Homer van Meter
- Plunder Road (1957) .... Skeets Jonas
- Chicago Confidential (1957) .... Candymouth Duggan
- The Lonely Man (1957) (as Elisha Cook) .... Willie
- The Killing (1956) (as Elisha Cook) .... George Peatty
- Shane (1953) .... Frank 'Stonewall' Torrey
- Don't Bother to Knock (1952) .... Eddie Forbes
- Flaxy Martin (1949) .... Roper
- The Long Night (1947) .... Frank Dunlap
- Born to Kill (1947) .... Marty
- Fall Guy (1947) .... Joe
- The Big Sleep (1946) .... Harry Jones
- Blonde Alibi (1946) .... Sam Collins (cab driver)
- Dillinger (1945) .... Kirk Otto
- Dark Waters (1944) .... Cleeve
- Phantom Lady (1944) .... Cliff Milburn
- I Wake Up Screaming (1941) .... Harry Williams
- The Maltese Falcon (1941) .... Wilmer Cook
- Sergeant York (1941) (uncredited) .... Piano player
- Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) .... Joe Briggs
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