Editing Alistair Cooke (section)

==Career==

===Media beginnings===
Cooke's first visit to the United States was in 1932 on a two-year [[Commonwealth Fund]] Fellowship (now [[Harkness Fellowship]]) to Yale and Harvard, where his acting and music skills came to the fore with visits to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].<ref>Alistair Cooke
As Guardian journalist and [[BBC]] broadcaster [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/mar/31/pressandpublishing.broadcasting][https://web.archive.org/web/20080509194921/http://www.nzorgan.com/vandr/cooke.htm]</ref>
Cooke saw a newspaper headline stating that [[Oliver Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley|Oliver Baldwin]], the Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]]'s son, had been sacked by the BBC as film critic. Cooke sent a telegram to the Director of Talks, asking if he would be considered for the post. He was invited for an interview and took a [[Cunard Line|Cunard]] liner back to Britain, arriving twenty-four hours late for his interview. He suggested typing out a film review on the spot, and a few minutes later, he was offered the job.

Cooke replaced [[Oliver Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley|Oliver Baldwin]] as the [[BBC]]'s film critic on 8 October 1934 and gave his first BBC broadcast: "I declare that I am a critic trying to interest a lot of people into seeing interesting films", he told his audience. "I have no personal interest in any company. As a critic I am without politics and without class." He sat on a BBC Advisory Committee headed by [[George Bernard Shaw]] for correct [[pronunciation]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/alistaircookebio00clar|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/alistaircookebio00clar/page/110 110]|quote=Alistair Cooke BBC committee.|title=Alistair Cooke: A Biography|last=Clarke|first=Nick|date=2000|publisher=Arcade Publishing|isbn=9781559705486|language=en}}</ref>

In 1935, Cooke also became London Correspondent for [[NBC]]. Each week, he recorded a 15-minute radio dialogue for American listeners on life in Britain, under the series title of ''London Letter''. In 1936, he intensively reported on the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis]] for NBC. He made several talks on the topic each day to listeners in many parts of the United States. He calculated that in ten days he spoke 400,000 words on the subject. During the crisis, he was aided by a twenty-year-old [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholar]], [[Walt Rostow]], who would become [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s national security advisor.<ref>Cooke, Alistair. ''Six Men'', Penguin Books Ltd., 1985, p. 73,74 {{ISBN|0-14-004834-0}}</ref>

===Move to the United States===
Cooke stated that, on a visit to New York in 1936, he'd been impressed at how freely newspapers and journals were able to report on the abdication crisis whilst all comment was still censored in London. Very soon, in 1937, he immigrated. He became a United States citizen and swore the Oath of Allegiance on 1 December 1941, six days before [[Pearl Harbor]] was attacked. Shortly after immigrating, Cooke suggested to the BBC the idea of doing the ''London Letter'' in reverse: a 15-minute talk for British listeners on life in America. A prototype, ''Mainly About [[Manhattan]]'', was broadcast intermittently from 1938, but the idea was shelved with the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939.

During this time, as well, Cooke undertook a journey through the whole United States, recording the lifestyle of ordinary Americans during the war and their reactions to it. The manuscript was published as ''The American Home Front: 1941–1942'' in the United States (and as ''Alistair Cooke's American Journey: Life on the Home Front in the Second World War'' in the UK) in 2006.

The first ''American Letter'' was broadcast on 24 March 1946 (Cooke said this was at the request of Lindsey Wellington, the BBC's New York Controller); the series was initially commissioned for only 13 instalments. The series came to an end 58 years later in March 2004, after 2,869 instalments and less than a month before Cooke's death. Along the way, it picked up a new name (changing from ''American Letter'' to ''[[Letter from America]]'' in 1950) and an enormous audience, being broadcast not only in Britain and in many other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, but throughout the world by the [[BBC World Service]].

===Journalist===
In 1947, Cooke became a [[foreign correspondent]] for the ''Manchester Guardian'' newspaper (later ''[[The Guardian]]''), for which he wrote until 1972. It was the first time he had been employed as a staff reporter; all his previous work had been freelance.<ref>{{cite news|title=Alistair Cooke correspondence sheds light on reporting dark days of 1968|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/14/alistair-cooke-correspondence-reporting-1968|access-date=14 November 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 November 2012|location=London|first=James|last=Meikle}}</ref> 

In reporting on the [[Montgomery bus boycott]], begun by [[Rosa Parks]] and led by [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]], Cooke expressed sympathy for the economic costs imposed on the city bus company and referred to Mrs. Parks as "the stubborn woman who started it all&nbsp;... to become the [[Paul Revere]] of the boycott."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks|author=Jeanne Theoharis|author-link=Jeanne Theoharis|page=114|isbn=978-0-8070-5048-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JAAN3WIiEAgC&q=Cooke|date=2013-01-29|publisher=Beacon Press }}</ref> Martin Luther King complained about Cooke's "biased and hostile reports", which motivated philosopher [[Michael Dummett]] to write his own refuting report, which ''The Guardian'' refused to publish.<ref>Michael Dummett, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/critphilrace.3.1.0001 "Montgomery (and A. Cooke)"]. With an Introduction by [[Robert Bernasconi]]. ''Critical Philosophy of Race'', Volume 3, Issue 1, 2015, pp. 1–19.</ref>

In 1968, Cooke was only yards away from [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|Robert F. Kennedy when he was assassinated]], witnessing the events that followed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/215401.stm |title=The death of Senator Robert Kennedy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021016010611/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/215401.stm |archive-date=16 October 2002 |access-date=25 May 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

===''Omnibus''===
In 1952, Cooke became the host of [[CBS]]'s ''[[Omnibus (U.S. TV series)|Omnibus]]'', the first U.S. commercial network television series devoted to the arts. It featured appearances by such personalities as [[Hume Cronyn]], [[Jessica Tandy]], [[Gene Kelly]] and [[Leonard Bernstein]]. [[Jonathan Winters]] was the first comic to appear on the show.<ref>http://emmytvlegends.org {{Full citation needed|date=September 2015}}</ref>

===Mid to later years===
[[File:Carl Albert, Barbara Jordan, and Alistaire Cooke at the anniversary of the First Continental Congress. September 25, 1974.jpg|thumb|Alistair Cooke (front row, left) at the bicentennial of the [[First Continental Congress]], September 25, 1974; [[Barbara Jordan]] addresses the joint Houses of Congress.]]
In 1966 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the [[Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]]. He chose the subject "The Jet Age and the Habits of Man".<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1967|journal=Naval Engineers Journal|language=en|volume=79|issue=5|pages=784–790|doi=10.1111/j.1559-3584.1967.tb05134.x|issn=0028-1425|title=The Jet Age and the Habits of Man}}</ref><ref name="MacmillanLecture1966">{{cite web |url=http://www.iesis.org/macmillan.html |title=Hugh Miller Macmillan |work=Macmillan Memorial Lectures |publisher=[[Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004102303/http://www.iesis.org/macmillan.html |archive-date=2018-10-04 |access-date=2019-01-29 }}</ref>

In 1971, he became the host of the new ''[[Masterpiece (TV series)|Masterpiece Theatre]]'', [[PBS]]'s showcase of quality British television. He remained its host for 22 years, before retiring from the role in 1992.

He achieved his greatest popularity in the United States in this role, becoming the subject of many parodies, including "[[Monsterpiece Theater|Alistair Cookie]]" in ''[[Sesame Street]]'' ("Alistair Cookie" was also the name of a clay animated cookie-headed spoof character created by [[Will Vinton]] as the host of a video trailer for ''The Little Prince and Friends''), and Alistair Quince, portrayed by [[Harvey Korman]], who introduced many episodes in the early seasons of ''[[Mama's Family]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2013-oct-11-la-et-st-mamas-family-dvd-0131013-story.html|title='Mama's Family' returns for more biting, home-spun humor on DVD|last=DeCaro|first=Frank|date=2013-10-11|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref>

''[[America: A Personal History of the United States]]'' (1972), a 13-part television series about the United States and its history, was first broadcast in both the United Kingdom and the United States in 1973, and was followed by a book of the same title. It was a great success in both countries, and resulted in Cooke's being invited to address the [[Joint session of the United States Congress|joint Houses]] of the [[United States Congress]] as part of Congress's bicentenary celebrations. After the series was broadcast in Ireland, Cooke won a [[Jacob's Award]],<ref>''The Irish Times'', "Radio awards presented by O'Brien", 25 February 1974</ref> one of the few occasions when this award was made to the maker of an imported programme.{{citation needed|date = October 2017}}

===Final years===
On 2 March 2004, at the age of 95, following advice from his doctors, Cooke announced his retirement from ''Letter from America''—after 58 years, the longest-running speech radio show in the world.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/default.stm |title=Alistair Cooke |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040402174855/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/default.stm |archive-date=2 April 2004 |access-date=25 May 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

Cooke died at midnight on 30 March 2004, at his home in New York City. He had been ill with heart disease, but he died of [[lung cancer]], which had spread to his bones.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4552742.stm |work=BBC News | title=Alistair Cooke's bones 'stolen' | date=22 December 2005 | access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref> He was cremated, and his ashes were clandestinely scattered by his family in [[Central Park]].<ref>{{cite news| last = Howard| first = Kate| title = Alistair Cooke's ashes scattered in Central Park| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph| date = 30 May 2004| url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1463173/Alistair-Cooke%27s-ashes-scattered-in-Central-Park.html| archive-url =https://archive.today/20130421093726/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1463173/Alistair-Cooke%27s-ashes-scattered-in-Central-Park.html| url-status =dead| archive-date =21 April 2013| access-date =21 August 2007| location=London}}</ref>

===Theft of bones ===
On 22 December 2005, the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' reported that several of Cooke's bones, and those of many other people, had been surgically removed before cremation by employees of [[Biomedical Tissue Services]] of [[Fort Lee, New Jersey]], a tissue-recovery firm.<ref name="JADA">Holtzclaw, D; Toscano, N; Eisenlohr, L; Callan, D (2008), [http://jada.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/9/1192 "The Safety of Bone Allografts Used in Dentistry: A Review"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927224540/http://jada.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/9/1192 |date=27 September 2008 }}, ''[[Journal of the American Dental Association|JADA]]'' 139: 1192–1199</ref> The thieves sold the bones for use as [[Bone grafting|medical-grade bone grafts]].<ref name="How much is your body worth">{{cite news| title = How much is your body worth?| date = 9 January 2007| website = DocumentaryStorm.com| url = http://documentarystorm.com/20091206/how-much-is-your-body-worth/| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130122030028/http://documentarystorm.com/20091206/how-much-is-your-body-worth/| url-status = dead| archive-date = 22 January 2013| access-date = 5 December 2009}}</ref> The cancer from which Cooke was suffering had spread to his bones, making them unsuitable for grafts. Reports indicated the people involved in selling the bones altered his death certificate to hide the cause of death and reduce his age from 95 to 85.<ref>{{cite news| last = Zahn| first = Paula| title = Paula Zahn Now| publisher=CNN| date = 9 January 2006| url =http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/09/pzn.01.html | access-date =21 August 2007}}</ref> Michael Mastromarino, a former New Jersey–based [[oral surgeon]],<ref name="JADA"/> and Lee Cruceta agreed to a deal that resulted in their imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7192462.stm |work=BBC News | title=Plea deal in US body parts case | date=16 January 2008 | access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref> Mastromarino was sentenced on 27 June 2008, in the [[New York Supreme Court]], to 18 to 54 years' imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/27/body.parts.sentence.ap/index.html |title=Mastermind of body parts scheme sentenced to prison |website=CNN.com |date=27 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629120510/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/27/body.parts.sentence.ap/index.html |archive-date=29 June 2008 }}</ref> The entire story of the theft was featured in a documentary aimed at educating the public about modern-day [[grave robbery]].<ref name="How much is your body worth"/> On the morning of 7 July 2013, at age 49, Michael Mastromarino died at St. Luke's Hospital after suffering from [[liver cancer]].<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/nyregion/michael-mastromarino-dentist-guilty-in-organ-scheme-dies-at-49.html| title= Michael Mastromarino, Dentist Guilty in Organ Scheme, Dies at 49| first= Daniel E.| last= Slotnik| date= 8 July 2013| work= The New York Times| access-date= 29 August 2016}}</ref>