Peter Cook 'the brilliant clown' dies at 57

Life can never be the same, says grieving Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore was close to tears last night as he paid tribute to Peter Cook, who died yesterday aged 57.
'My life will never be the same because I felt so linked to him,' said Moore.

'Peter had an extraordinary talent. But he ate too much, drank too much, smoked too much and did everything too much. At least he lived a full life.'

Cook died from internal bleeding at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London. His third wife, Lin Chong, was at his bedside in the intensive therapy unit. He had been admitted with severe abdominal pains.

The cause of his illness is not yet known, though it may have been linked to a stomach ulcer, a condition specialists say would have been made worse by smoking, alcohol and spicy food, all of which he enjoyed.

Moore, who found fame with Cook in the Sixties, said: 'It was just a matter of time, but it was so regrettable.'

The pair appeared as Pete 'n' Dud the cloth-capped characters who put the world to rights. But while Moore moved to Hollywood, Cook stayed behind, eventually becoming a guru of the alternative comedy circuit.

Moore, now 60, admitted that Cook felt betrayed when they went their separate ways.

Towards the end of their partnership they were 'two people who really weren't getting on that well'.

But they had made up those differences over the years, said Moore. 'I counted him among my friends, if not my best friend, in later years.'

Peter Cook's first wife Wendy Snowden said the comedian had 'suffered so much'. She went on: 'I loved him very much. I feel so sad at the fact that he's gone. He somehow got trapped in success.'

The couple married in New York in 1963 when Beyond The Fringe, the satirical review in which Cook starred, was taking Broadway by storm. She was then a model and stage designer.

They had two daughters, Lucy and Daisy, but divorced in 1970 when Cook fell for actress Judy Huxtable, who became his second wife.

Jonathan Miller, who starred in Beyond the Fringe, said: 'I had enormous admiration for Peter's comic genius which, above all others, was the inspirational source for modern British comedy over the last 30 years. His death marks the end of an era.'

Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, in which Cook was the major shareholder, said: 'He was the funniest person I ever knew.'

Michael Palin, who starred in Monty Python, described Cook as 'irreplaceable'. He went on: 'He was very inventive, and gave us the basis of the new comedy of the 1960s and 70s. His achievement was extraordinary.'

Comedian Bernard Manning, who appeared with Cook on several occasions, said: 'Peter was a real funny fellow. Sketches were his fore, especially the ones did with Dudley Moore. 'His favourite kind of comedy will never die. He was a one-off who will be missed.'

Cook's close friend and fellow satirist Ned Sherrin said: 'Obviously, he was the first, he was the guv'nor. Every ten years or so, you get a new generation of comedians, but they all acknowledge their debt to Peter.'

Spike Milligan was also an admirer. 'He was hilarious and very inventive, a brilliant clown. He made a mark on my work. His death is a great loss to the world of humour.'