Editing Peter Cook (section)

==Early life==
Cook was born at his parents' house, "Shearbridge", in Middle Warberry Road, [[Torquay]], [[Devon]]. He was the only son, and eldest of the three children, of Alexander Edward "Alec" Cook (1906–1984), a colonial [[Civil service|civil servant]], and his wife Ethel Catherine Margaret (1908–1994), daughter of solicitor Charles Mayo.<ref>Peter Cook: A Biography, Harry Thompson, Sceptre, 1998, p. 3</ref> His father served as a [[political officer (British Empire)|political officer]] and later as a [[district officer]] in [[Colonial Nigeria|Nigeria]], then as [[financial secretary]] to the colony of [[Gibraltar]], followed by a return to Nigeria as [[Permanent Secretary]] of the [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Region]], based at [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]].<ref>Peter Cook: A Biography, Harry Thompson, Sceptre, 1998, p. 5, 21</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/remembering-peter-cook-family-and-friends-including-keith-richards-ronnie-wood-and-bruce-forsyth-9952941.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/remembering-peter-cook-family-and-friends-including-keith-richards-ronnie-wood-and-bruce-forsyth-9952941.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Remembering Peter Cook: Family and friends - including Keith Richards|date=3 January 2015|website=The Independent}}</ref> 

Cook's grandfather, Edward Arthur Cook (1869–1914), had also been a colonial civil servant, traffic manager for the [[Federated Malay States Railway]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[British Malaya|Malaya]]. The stress he suffered in the lead-up to an interview regarding promotion led him to commit [[suicide]]. His wife, Minnie Jane (1869–1957), daughter of Thomas Wreford, of [[Thelbridge]] and [[Witheridge]], Devon, and of [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], of a prominent Devonshire family traced back to 1440,<ref>Records and Pedigree of the Wreford Family, George Wreford, second edition, 1909</ref><ref>A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, ed. John Burke, 1838, vol. IV, p. 454</ref> kept this fact secret. Peter Cook only discovered the truth when later researching his family.<ref>Peter Cook: A Biography, Harry Thompson, Sceptre, 1998, pp. 1-2</ref>

Cook was educated at [[Radley College]] and then went up to [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], where he read French and German. As a student, Cook initially intended to become a career [[diplomat]] like his father, but Britain "had run out of colonies", as he put it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paxman |first1=Jeremy |author-link=Jeremy Paxman |title=Empire |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780670919598 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQpOOnImnd4C&pg=PT340}}</ref> Although largely apathetic politically, particularly in later life when he displayed a deep distrust of politicians of all hues, he joined the [[Cambridge University Liberal Club]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://keynessociety.wordpress.com/about-the-keynes-society/ |title=About us " Keynes Society |date=28 February 2009 |publisher=Keynessociety.wordpress.com |access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> At Pembroke, Cook performed and wrote comedy sketches as a member of the Cambridge [[Footlights|Footlights Club]], of which he became president in 1960. His hero was fellow Footlights writer and Cambridge magazine writer [[David Nobbs]].<ref>I Didn't Get Where I am Today by David Nobbs 9780099421641</ref>

While still at university, Cook wrote for [[Kenneth Williams]], providing several sketches for Williams' hit [[West End theatre|West End]] comedy revue ''[[Pieces of Eight (1959 revue)|Pieces of Eight]]'' and much of the follow-up, ''[[One Over The Eight|One Over the Eight]]'', before finding prominence in his own right in a four-man group satirical stage show, ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]'', alongside [[Jonathan Miller]], [[Alan Bennett]], and [[Dudley Moore]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Cook |title=Peter Edward Cook {{!}} British entertainer |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2017-10-17 |language=en}}</ref>

''Beyond the Fringe'' became a great success in London after being first performed at the [[Edinburgh Festival]] and included Cook impersonating the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], [[Harold Macmillan]]. This was one of the first occasions satirical political mimicry had been attempted in live theatre, and it shocked audiences. During one performance, Macmillan was in the theatre and Cook departed from his script and attacked him verbally.<ref>Cook as Macmillan: "there's nothing I like better than to wander over to a theatre and sit there listening to a group of sappy, urgent, vibrant young satirists with a stupid great grin spread all over my silly face", ''Tragically I Was an Only Twin'', p. 51.</ref>