Peter Cook (1937-1995)

When comedian and Private Eye owner Peter Cook died in London at the age of 58, his third wife Lin banished his previous two wives from the funeral. Not surprisingly, his will provoked claim and counter-claim, but no major legal battle erupted, although solicitors were consulted.

Best known for his partnership with diminutive comic actor and musical genius Dudley Moore, Cook's biographical highlights include Cambridge Footlights, the groundbreaking 1960s television programme Beyond the Fringe, and a nightclub, The Establishment, which he founded.

Cook had two daughters with his first wife Wendy, and none with his second, Judy, or third wife Lin. His two sisters also survived him.

Cook's final (maybe - see below) will was dated 10 October 1991, slightly more than three years before his death. His estate was valued at £1.1 million, after subtracting an overdraft in excess of £100,000. His executors were his wife, Lin, and sister, Sarah.

To date, the major source of information on Cook's will and estate is his biographer, Harry Thompson. (Cook's widow claimed that the 1997 biography is factually inaccurate in many details.) Thompson, a writer and comedy producer, died in 2005 at the age of 45.

Shurely shome mishtakes

Cook left the bulk of his estate to Lin, but the dust didn't settle smoothly, and several questions remain unanswered, according to Thompson's account.

Cook bequeathed his valuable Tiffany lamp to Dudley Moore, but Cook's sister Sarah suspected that Cook never received it and involved solicitors. It seems that Moore gave the lamp to Lin. Case closed. However, Thompson relates that when Sarah asked Moore if he had received the lamp, Moore replied that he had not. If Moore had given the lamp to Lin, or intended to do so, he presumably would have said as much. Moore died in 2002 at the age of 66.

More tantalising is Thompson's brief account of Cook revising his will to reduce his wife's share. Shortly after Cook's death, a friend, Lawrence Levy, said that Cook had told him that he had drawn up a new will. No such will was found, and shortly after Levy made this assertion, he himself died without providing any clarification. Another person, a chartered accountant, was present when Cook discussed his new will, but he refused to comment one way or the other.

If Cook did indeed make a new will, he in any event did not destroy his old one. And he may indeed have made a new will but not signed it.

Peter Cook's death created confusion at Private Eye. Cook held a majority interest in the satirical magazine, which he divided between his wife and two sisters, but the editors at first thought that his wife was the sole owner. In addition, a complicated share sale meant that the shares were not divided evenly between the three women. Despite the confusion, the magazine soldiers on.