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): Aaron Ramsey • Ahmed Barusso • Albert Gore Sr. • Alexander Wang (designer) • Candy Crowley • Damir Markota • Dermot Murnaghan • Elisabeth of the Palatinate • Fabián Carini • Jean Toomer • Konstantinos Georgakopoulos • Kōji Morimoto • Liz Lochhead • Morgan Bulkeley • Olga Lopes-Seale • Pablo Canavosio • Ragnhild Kaarbø • Régine Zylberberg

Born in the same month (December 1903): Carlos Montoya • Cornell Woolrich • Earl Hines • Ella Baker • Ernst Krenkel • George Davis Snell • Haldan Keffer Hartline • Johannes Heesters • John von Neumann • Joseph Cornell • Nikolai Voznesensky • Ray Noble • Una Merkel • William Heynes • Zelma Watson George