Linda Cook obit

Linda Cook Has Passed Away: Star of LOVING, EDGE OF NIGHT, ALL MY CHILDREN, AS THE WORLD TURNS, RYAN'S HOPE

 

She was not on the list.

Actress Linda Cook Mann passed away on April 12 in New York City. The actress played memorable roles on a number of soaps including THE EDGE OF NIGHT, RYAN'S HOPE, LOVING, ALL MY CHILDREN and AS THE WORLD TURNS. In recent years she worked in real estate. We Love Soaps interviewed Linda in 2009 and she proved to be as delightful and courageous as she was talented.

She spoke about dealing with breast cancer in 1992 while continuing to work: "I was doing a show Off-Broadway at the time called 'Dearly Departed' and I was getting ready to go out to L.A. I think I had just had like a million dollars worth of pictures taken with my long, blonde hair. The show we were doing was a really black comedy about death.

"In the very first scene, grandma and grandpa are getting a letter and grandpa falls off his chair and dies. I was doing that show and found a lump in my breast. It was like New Year's Eve and I thought, 'Holy shit.' I knew immediately what it was, but then I had to go in and do this show. And I couldn't get into a doctor for days after that because it was New Year's. I had great doctors, and we caught it early. Luckily I didn't have to lose a whole breast, just a little chunk. I did six months or so of chemo and radiation treatments, and lost all my hair. That's when I made the switch to being a red head."

She got hired to play Cynthia on ATWT who had very short hair, Linda's real hair growing back.

She was married to designer/painter Patrick Mann, active in the work of SPSA Methodist Church in the women’s homeless shelter, after-school tutoring, and gay rights issues.

I last spoke with Linda last fall when the first AS THE WORLD TURNS Classics DVD set came out. She played Lucy Hunter on the 1981 episode "John Dixon Takes A Fall". She joked that she had played multiple characters on ATWT and couldn't remember which one was 1981.

Linda, we will miss you.

Linda Cook Mann, adored wife of Patrick Mann, passed away peacefully at home, the night of April 12th, after a courageous fight against cancer. Her family and her three cats kept a vigil for her with song, prayer and tears until dawn. As a creative and intrepid actor, a dedicated member of her church, and a vibrant friend to her loved-ones and co-workers, she is loved and missed by an extensive community in her beloved long-time home of New York City.

Born June 8th, 1948 in Lubbock, Texas, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Linda came to Manhattan in 1973 to pursue her love of acting. Linda’s bright talent landed her national commercial spots, sought-after television roles, and theater runs, on and off Broadway. In the 1980’s, Linda created her favorite television role, Egypt Jones, for the long running show Loving. An article describing the best TV casting of 1988 states, “Linda Cook has created a character who is funny, sexy, impulsive, frustrating, and endearing. Cook’s flair for both the dramatic and the comedic makes Egypt a valued addition to Loving.”

Linda had a successful and varied acting career which included co-staring with renowned talents including Carroll O’Connor in Home Front and George C. Scott in The Heat of the Night. Even through her illness, Linda remained active in FAB WOMEN, a women’s theatre group, contributing to several works in progress.  In Linda’s last commercial shoot, in December 2011, she played a cancer patient in the final stages of her life.

Linda’s family treasures their memories of her as an incredibly gifted and imaginative child, a mentor and partner in crime to her brother and sisters. She was a tough act to follow: a straight-A student, winning the Governor’s Honor Program to study at Wesleyan College while she was still in high school.  As a teenager, Linda was also a gifted visual artist and dancer. She was always a risk taker:  her interpretation of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane stirred a huge controversy at her high school, so that she was commanded to remove it from the wall!

Linda’s early commitment and talent as a dancer won her a position in the Atlanta Civic Ballet Company. She evolved as a modern dancer, and then taking her first acting roll at 18, performed in Carousel with Jane Powell at Theatre Under the Stars in Atlanta.  Her family was amazed to see her act and dance solo at this famous Atlanta venue. Linda had now caught the “acting bug” (as her parents put it!)

Linda attended Auburn University, and was a member of repertory theatre companies in Atlanta and New Orleans before making her home in Manhattan. On May 8th, 1976, Linda married the love of her life, Patrick Mann, an artist and scenic designer. We are grateful for the love and dedication we have witnessed in their marriage, and carry fond memories of summer time trips to Yosemite, family cabins, and great swims together in the Merced River.

Throughout her life, Linda was a staunch defender of free speech and was never afraid to speak out against injustice. In defense of the recent Occupy protestors, Linda writes, “The groups protesting across this country are made up of all kinds of people, of all kinds of politics - who are fed up with the unfair laws and lack of oversight that benefit the ultra wealthy. To try to lump them together and label them as Communists is a smear - probably funded by the Koch brothers, who have bought and paid for the policies that hurt us all, Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.”

Linda is especially missed by her beloved St. Paul and St. Andrews Methodist Church.  She was a true believer her Savior, and in the efficacy of the Methodist Prayer List.  Linda was also an inspired member of the church after-school tutoring program, and established a true mentorship with her star student, Fatima, whom she  loved and took great pride in.

Linda worked in Real Estate for many years, first for Benjamin James, and then Custom Brokers. She loved and trusted the people she worked with and was successful, even while battling cancer.  As always, Linda was happy to mentor and share her knowledge of the business with her co-workers in this very competitive field.

Linda battled cancer for almost 20 years.  She never lost her sense of humor, even though she lost and re-grew her hair at least three times over the years. She was an amazingly energetic, active, generous, and loving person.  She never ceased to be of support to her parents, 2 sisters and brother, nieces and nephews.  She loved to help people whenever she could.  She refused to feel sorry herself in her plight with cancer.  Linda would always say, “Other people in the world have it so much worse.” She believed in the goodness of people and often saw that goodness reflected in her beloved fellow New Yorkers. She never gave up her dreams. One of her last comments to us all was, “This ain’t a dress rehearsal, ya know!”

Filmography

Film

Year        Title        Role       Notes

1973     All the Young Wives         Melody

1989     Puppet Master  Leech Woman  

1991     The Arrival           Voice    

1992     Demonic Toys    Baby Oopsie Daisy           

1996     The Spitfire Grill Voice    

1998     Wrestling with Alligators               Agnes   

1999     Puppet Tania     

Television

Year        Title        Role       Notes

1975–1984         The Edge of Night             Laurie Ann Karr 13 episodes

1981     Nurse    Mrs. Hyams        Episode: "Equal Opportunity"

1981–2007         As the World Turns          Ann Reynolds / Lucy Hunter         4 episodes

1987     L.A. Law               Woman #2          Episode: "The Wizard of Odds"

1987     Newhart              Stephanie's Friend           Episode: "Till Depth Do Us Part: Part 2"

1988–1994         Loving   Egypt Jones Masters       57 episodes

1994     In the Heat of the Night Mary Walker       Episode: "A Matter of Justice"

2001     Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Susan Young       Episode: "Stole"

2001     Law & Order       Sonya Bergman / Paige   2 episodes