Carole Cook, an actress who had a long screen and stage career and a close friendship with the late comedy icon Lucille Ball, has died. She was 98.
A Cook representative said in a statement to USA TODAY that the actress died of heart failure on Wednesday afternoon, three days before her 99th birthday, in Beverly Hills, California.
Born Mildred Frances Cook in Abilene, Texas, Cook changed her first name on the advice of Ball, who helped launch her career in Hollywood.
Ball recommended that she take the name Carole, after movie star Carole Lombard, telling Cook that “like her, you have the same healthy disrespect for all things in general.”
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Ball remained Cook’s mentor and friend, and Cook later appeared on The Lucy Show and Here’s Lucy. Ball was the matron of honor at Cook’s marriage to Tom Troupe, to whom she was married from 1964 until her death.
Cook had a long stage career, appearing in the original production of the Broadway hit “Romantic Comedy” and the national tour of “Steel Magnolias,” for which she received a Helen Hayes Award nomination. She also won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance on the tour of Father’s Day.
Her films include American Gigolo, Sixteen Candles and the Disney animated film Home on the Range. She has also guest-starred on several TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy.
In 2002, Cook and Troupe became the first married couple to receive a Theater Ovation Award for career achievement. In lieu of flowers, Cook’s family is asking for donations to the Entertainment Community Fund, which aims to provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals.
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