Barbara Cook

Acting

Barbara Cook

Born 1927-10-25 · Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 - August 08, 2017) was an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide (1956) and The Music Man (1957), among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter. She continued performing mostly in theatre until the mid 1970s, when she began a second career as a cabaret and concert singer. During her years as Broadway’s leading ingénue, Cook was lauded for her excellent lyric soprano voice. She was particularly admired for her vocal agility, wide range, warm sound, and emotive interpretations. As she aged her voice took on a darker quality, even in her head voice, that was less prominent in her youth. Today Cook is widely recognized as having been one of the "premier interpreters" of musical theatre songs and standards, in particular the songs of composer Stephen Sondheim. Her subtle and sensitive interpretations of American popular song continued to earn high praise even into her eighties. Description above from the Wikipedia article Barbara Cook,licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Thumbelina poster
6.5

Born of a flower and growing to only a couple of inches tall, poor Thumbelina is worried she'll never meet someone her own size, until she happens to catch the eye of Prince Cornelius of the Fairies. Just as soon as she finds love, however, it's torn away when she's kidnapped by Ms. Toad. Now Thumbelina has to escape Ms. Toad's grasp and search for Prince Cornelius. Luckily, there's a whole city of animals willing to help.

Thumbelina

1994

Mostly Sondheim poster
NR

Experience a truly memorable musical event as Broadway legend Barbara Cook, known for her starring roles in "The Music Man" and "She Loves Me," performs songs written and enjoyed by renowned composer Stephen Sondheim. In addition to singing Sondheim classics like "Everybody Says Don't" and "Send in the Clowns," Cook pays tribute to tunes Sondheim wished he had written, such as "I Got Lost in His Arms" and "The Trolley Song."

Mostly Sondheim

2003

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There poster
7.0

Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay filmed over 100 of the greatest stars ever to work on Broadway or in Hollywood. He soon learned that great films can be restored, fine literature can be kept in print - but historic Broadway performances of the past are the most endangered. They leave only memories that, while more vivid, are more difficult to preserve. In their own words — and not a moment too soon — Broadway: The Golden Age tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. This is the largest cast of legends ever in one film.

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

2003

Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music poster
9.0

A television special broadcast in honor of composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist Joe Raposo following his death in early 1989.

Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music

1990

Babes in Toyland poster
NR

A young girl becomes lost in a department store during the Christmas shopping rush. The frightened child is comforted by a department store Santa Claus who tells her a tale of storybook characters brought to life - of Tommy Tucker's love for the lovely Jane Piper and the cold-hearted villainy of evil Silas Barnaby. Through the girl's dreams, the viewer is transported to Toyland. Based on the classic Broadway operetta by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough, this was its second live television special production, with some new cast members and some returning.

Babes in Toyland

1955

The Yeomen of the Guard poster
NR

Taking place in the Tower of London during the reign of King Henry VIII, this classic Gilbert & Sullivan operetta is one of their darkest and most sophisticated. Colonel Fairfax is wrongly accused of sorcery and sentenced to death within the hour. He hatches a plan to avoid letting his estate fall into the hands of his scheming cousin (incidentally, his accuser) by secretly marrying Elsie Maynard, a strolling singer. She agrees to be blindfolded during the ceremony and expects to be a wealthy widow upon Fairfax's imminent demise, leaving her free to marry her lover, the jester, Jack Point. However, Fairfax miraculously escapes his fate and chaos ensues.

The Yeomen of the Guard

1957

Follies: In Concert poster
7.0

A backstage documentary film including footage from the legendary 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The plot of the musical centers around a reunion of showgirls who appeared in an annual Follies extravaganza when it was staged between the wars.

Follies: In Concert

1986

No artwork available
NR

Broadway salute to Tony Award-winning actress Angela Lansbury in a star-packed gala November 17,1996 at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. The event was to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS research (AmFAR) and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Long a supporter of AmFAR and a deeply committed friend to all people with HIV/AIDS, Lansbury was also presented with a humanitarian award at this star-packed celebration.

A Benefit Celebration: A Tribute to Angela Lansbury

1996

Bloomer Girl poster
10.0

In 1956, BLOOMER GIRL was presented in a live television production starring the magnificent Barbara Cook, whose star was then on the rise, with leading roles in CANDIDE and THE MUSIC MAN still in her future. A solid success when it opened on Broadway in 1944, BLOOMER GIRL boasts a glorious score by the legendary team of Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg (THE WIZARD OF OZ). The book by Fred Saidy is set at the brink of the Civil War and addresses issues of women's equality (priorities were the right to vote and to wear bloomers, a liberating alternative to hoop skirts) and racial equality.

Bloomer Girl

1956

Sondheim on Broadway: Follies - Four Days in New York poster
NR

Documentary that follows four hectic days of rehearsal for a celebrated 1985 concert performance from Lincoln Center of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies. Including highlights from the show featuring principal performers Lee Remick, George Hearn, Barbara Cook and Mandy Patinkin.

Sondheim on Broadway: Follies - Four Days in New York

1986

No artwork available
NR

Musical adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story broadcast as a live television special on NBC.

Hansel and Gretel

1958