DATE=03/29/04

TYPE=CURRENT AFFAIRS FEATURE

NUMBER=5-55101

TITLE=ADVANCE OBIT: ALISTAIR COOKE

BYLINE=MARTIN BUSH

DATELINE=NEW YORK

EDITOR=LSF/ VO'HS

CONTENT=

(Inserts....)

INTRO: ALISTAIR COOKE, FOR TWO DECADES THE ELEGANT AND CELEBRATED HOST OF BRITISH DRAMA ON AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION, HAS DIED. HE WAS 95 YEARS-OLD (FYI:BORN IN 1908). WITH A GLIMPSE AT THE CAREER OF THIS POPULAR BRITISH-BORN BROADCASTER, HERE IS VOA'S MARTIN BUSH IN NEW YORK.

TAPE: CUT ONE -- "GOOD EVENING. I'M ALISTAIR COOKE." :02

TEXT: FROM 1970 UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE SERIES IN 1992, ALISTAIR COOKE WAS A PERCEPTIVE, SUAVE HOST WHO INTRODUCED BRITISH PLAYS TO AN AMERICAN TELEVISION AUDIENCE ON A WEEKLY SERIES CALLED "MASTERPIECE THEATER."

TAPE: CUT TWO -- MUSIC/THEME OF "MASTERPIECE THEATER." ESTABLISH 10 SECONDS, THEN FADE UNDER AND OUT.

TEXT: ON "MASTERPIECE THEATER," ALISTAIR COOKE COVERED MULTIPLE SUBJECTS AND TIMES IN HIS INTRODUCTIONS OF DRAMAS AND ADAPTATIONS OF NOVELS: THE ROME OF EMPERORS AUGUSTUS, CALIGULA AND CLAUDIUS ... THE ENGLAND OF QUEEN ELIZABETH THE FIRST ... SERVANTS AND MASTERS INTERACTING IN POST-VICTORIAN BRITAIN ... THE FRIVOLITIES OF NOVELIST P-G WODEHOUSE'S WEALTHY BUT INANE YOUNG HERO "BERTIE WOOSTER" AND HIS ALL-KNOWING VALET, "JEEVES" ... INDIA AT THE DAWN OF INDEPENDENCE IN 1947 ... A FICTIONAL CONTEMPORARY LABOR PRIME MINISTER NEARLY SUBVERTED BY DIRTY POLITICAL TRICKS.

ALISTAIR COOKE -- SPEAKING AFFABLY, CLEARLY, CONVERSATIONALLY -- PROVIDED AMERICAN TELEVISION VIEWERS WITH HIS KEEN OBSERVATIONS OF PEOPLES' VIEWS AND CUSTOMS DURING A PARTICULAR ERA. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, HE DREW ON A VOLUMINOUS KNOWLEDGE OF BRITISH HISTORY, THEATER AND LITERATURE, SUPPLEMENTED BY 35 YEARS AS A RESPECTED FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE BRITISH NEWSPAPER, "THE GUARDIAN."

TAPE: CUT THREE -- ALISTAIR COOKE :08

"IT'S MY JOB AS HEADWAITER SIMPLY TO OFFER THE MENU TO YOU, CERTAINLY NOT TO URGE ONE DISH MORE THAN ANOTHER."

TEXT: ALISTAIR COOKE --- ONCE DESCRIBED AS AN AMERICAN "NATIONAL INSTITUTION" -- WAS BORN IN BRITAIN IN 1908. A CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE, HE FIRST ARRIVED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1932 ON A DRAMA FELLOWSHIP WHICH REQUIRED HIM TO TOUR AS MUCH OF THE UNITED STATES AS POSSIBLE. THE PEOPLE AND PLACES HE ENCOUNTERED ON THAT FIRST SIGHT-SEEING EXPEDITION PRECIPITATED HIS SWITCH FROM A CAREER IN THEATER TO ONE IN JOURNALISM.

IN 1946 -- SIX YEARS AFTER BECOMING AN AMERICAN CITIZEN -- ALISTAIR COOKE BEGAN HIS BROADCASTING CAREER AS A RADIO JOURNALIST ON THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION'S "LETTER FROM AMERICA." THE WEEKLY COMMENTARY -- FOR BRITONS ABOUT AMERICANS -- BECAME THE LONGEST RUNNING RADIO PROGRAM EVER. HE RECORDED THE FINAL "LETTER" A FEW WEEKS BEFORE HE DIED.

MR. COOKE'S OPPORTUNITY IN TELEVISION ARRIVED IN 1952 WHEN HE WAS RECRUITED AS HOST-NARRATOR OF AN AMERICAN PROGRAM CALLED "OMNIBUS." THIS PIONEER COMMERCIAL NETWORK SHOW EXAMINED THE ARTS AND SCIENCES IN A FASHION SELDOM TRIED BEFORE. IN NINE YEARS WITH "OMNIBUS," ALISTAIR COOKE, AN ERUDITE MAN, NEVER SPOKE DOWN TO VIEWERS AND SEEMED TO ENJOY HIMSELF IMMENSELY AS THEIR GUIDE.

IN 1970 HE BEGAN HIS LENGTHY STINT ON THE PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERIES WITH A GRANDIOSE TITLE, "MASTERPIECE THEATER." MR. COOKE WAS NOT ONLY UNIQUE BUT ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL ON THOSE PROGRAMS. AT A TRIBUTE TO THE TALL, SILVER-HAIRED HOST, FILM STAR LAUREN BACALL EXPRESSED THE FEELINGS OF MILLIONS OF VIEWERS IN DESCRIBING HIS VIRTUES.

TAPE: CUT FOUR -- LAUREN BACALL :32

"YOU'VE ENRICHED MY LIFE CERTAINLY. YOU'VE CERTAINLY RAISED THE LEVEL OF TELEVISION. ///BEGIN OPT/// AND, AS YOU KNOW, I'M A GIANT FAN OF YOURS. I SUPPOSE I'VE BEEN SOMEWHAT ENAMORED OF YOU FROM DAY ONE. AND IT'S ONLY BECAUSE OF YOUR CHARM, INTELLIGENCE, WIT, WAY WITH WORDS ... THE FACT THAT YOU CONTINUALLY SURPRISE ME WITH WHAT YOU KNOW AND HOW MUCH YOU KNOW." ///END OPT///

TEXT: ALISTAIR COOKE WAS A MAN WHO COULD LAUGH AT HIMSELF, AS HE DID WHEN HE ADDRESSED THE AMERICAN CONGRESS.

TAPE: CUT FIVE -- ALISTAIR COOKE :30

"STANDING HERE NOW, I FEEL AS IF I WERE JUST COMING AWAKE FROM A NIGHTMARE IN WHICH I SEE MYSELF BEFORE YOU, UNPREPARED AND NAKED -- AS ONE OFTEN DOES IN DREAMS -- AND LOOKING AROUND THIS AWESOME ASSEMBLY AND BLURTING OUT: 'I ACCEPT YOUR NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.'" (AUDIENCE LAUGHS AND APPLAUDS.)

TEXT: ///BEGIN OPT/// ALISTAIR COOKE COULD TAKE A JOKE TOO. HE EVEN INVITED "COOKIE MONSTER," A PUPPET FROM THE CHILDREN'S TELEVISION PROGRAM "SESAME STREET," TO SUBSTITUTE FOR HIM ON "MASTERPIECE THEATER."

TAPE: CUT SIX -- COOKIE MONSTER :05

///OPT/// "ME ALISTAIR COOKIE. WELCOME TO 'MONSTERPIECE THEATER.'" ///END OPT///

TEXT: IN SAYING GOODBYE TO HIS VIEWERS IN NOVEMBER OF 1992, THE THEN 84-YEAR-OLD ALISTAIR COOKE TYPIFIED THE GRACIOUSNESS WITH WHICH HE PRESIDED OVER "MASTERPIECE THEATER."

TAPE: CUT SEVEN -- ALISTAIR COOKE :50

"I'M SORRY TO SAY, THAT, S0 FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THAT IS THE END OF 'MASTERPIECE THEATER.' ///BEGIN OPT/// I WAS HIRED FOR TWO YEARS AND THEY TURNED INTO 21. BUT ALSO 40 YEARS AGO EXACTLY THIS MONTH, I FIRST BECAME A REGULAR TELEVISION PERFORMER AS WHAT ONE OF MY OLD DIRECTORS CALLED 'OUR WRITER/NARRATOR/HOST.' FORTY YEARS IS ENOUGH! ///END OPT/// AND SO, I JUST WANT TO SAY TO ALL THOSE MEN AND WOMEN AND TOTS WHO, DOWN THE DECADES, EITHER IN THE MAIL OR IN THE FLESH, HAVE TOLD US WHAT THEY LIKE AND WHY: A VERY GRATEFUL THANK YOU. SO GOODNIGHT AND GOODBYE."

TEXT: ALISTAIR COOKE, WHO DEFINED WHAT A HOST FOR A TELEVISION DRAMA SHOULD BE, HAS DIED. HIS ELEGANCE AND CLASS WILL BE DIFFICULT TO REPLACE. (SIGNED)

NEB / MB / VOHS / wd