Alistair Cooke, the broadcaster who epitomized highbrow television as host of "Masterpiece Theatre'' and whose "Letter from America'' was a radio fixture in Britain for 58 years, has died, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Tuesday. He was 95.The cinetrix will forever associate Alistair Cooke with Masterpiece Theatre, but he began his career at the BBC in 1934 as a film critic. Oh, to hear those reviews. Cooke also authored a 1940 MOMA monograph about Douglas Fairbanks and edited a collection of British and American film criticism entitled Garbo and the night watchmen; a selection made in 1937 from the writings of British and American film critics. And his unmistakable voice anchored Joanne Woodward's multiple personalities as the narrator of the 1957 film The Three Faces of Eve.
Listen to Jean-Joseph Mouret's "Rondeau" from his Symphonies and Fanfares for the King's Supper, better known as the Masterpiece Theatre theme music, here. It's OK if you tear up a little.
