Portrait of Elisha Cook Jr.

Birthday profile

Elisha Cook Jr.

Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (died 1995)

Born
December 26, 1903
Died
May 18, 1995
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1903

About Elisha Cook Jr.

Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor famed for his work in film noir. He played cheerful, brainy collegiates until he was cast against type as the bug-eyed baby-faced killer Wilmer Cook in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. He went on to play deceptively mild-mannered villains. According to his enlistment record he stood 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighed 123 pounds. Cook's military record documents his level of education at "3 years of high. 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 B.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Elisha Cook Jr. was born

Elisha Cook Jr. was born in 1903. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1903

  • Top movieThe Great Train Robbery (first narrative film)
  • Best-selling book"Lady Rose's Daughter" – Mrs. Humphry Ward

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst World Series — Boston vs Pittsburgh
  • Top headlineWright brothers achieve first powered flight
  • Technology milestoneFirst powered airplane flight (12 seconds, 120 feet)
  • World population~1.63B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population80.4M

1903 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Elisha Cook Jr.'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19032026
Population80.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.