Cook, who starred in Broadway shows like The Music Man and Candide, died on Tuesday. She spoke to Fresh Air in 2016 about her struggle with addiction and her second career as a cabaret singer.
Singer and actress Barbara Cook. Since the 1950's Cook has been in countless Broadway musicals--"Oklahoma", "The King and I", and Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" to name a few. She's been called a "no nonsense singer...able to thrust with gentility of tone." Cook has a new album--her first in five years--called "Dorothy Fields: Close as Pages in a Book." She won a Tony Award for her part as "Marian the librarian" which she originated in "The Music Man."
The musical theater actress walked away from Broadway, only to return to the stage as a cabaret singer. Cook was recently featured in a concert version of Follies and stars in a new musical revue.