Elisha Cook Jr.

Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was an American character actor famed for his work in film noir. According to Bill Georgaris of They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in a total of 21 film noirs, more than any other actor or actress. He played cheerful, brainy collegiates until he was cast against type as the bug-eyed baby-faced psychopathic killer Wilmer Cook in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. He went on to play deceptively mild-mannered villains. Cook's acting career spanned more than 60 years, with roles in productions including The Big Sleep, Shane, The Killing, House on Haunted Hill, and Rosemary's Baby.

26 December 1903

Born on the same birth day (26 December): Alex Schwazer • Charles Babbage • Don Barclay (actor) • Elizabeth Kostova • James T. Conway • Liz Lochhead • Matt Zoller Seitz • Mirko Kovač (writer) • Norm Ullman • Selen Soyder • Yun Chi-ho

Born in the same month (December 1903): Antiochos Evangelatos • Ava Helen Pauling • C. F. Powell • Candido Portinari • Carlos Montoya • Danilo Blanuša • Earl Hines • Erskine Caldwell • Haldan Keffer Hartline • Hardie Albright • Harold Whitlock • Johannes Heesters • John von Neumann • Joseph Cornell • Nikolai Voznesensky • Ray Noble • Tamanishiki San'emon • Tony Lazzeri • Una Merkel • Walter Rangeley • William Heynes • Zelma Watson George