Douglas S. Cook was an American screenwriter who co-wrote some of the most popular action films of the 1990s and 2000s, such as The Rock, Double Jeopardy, and Criminal. He was also the brother of Peter Mackenzie, an actor known for his roles in Herman’s Head and Black-ish. But how did Douglas S. Cook die at the age of 56? Here is what we know.
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A Sudden Death in Malibu
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cook died suddenly on July 19, 2015, while visiting Malibu, California, with his family. A business associate of Cook told the outlet that the screenwriter apparently died of a heart attack or a stroke while at the beach. His death was announced by his family a week later.
Cook was survived by his son Mackenzie, daughter Hannah, mother Helen, brothers Brad and Peter, sister Heather, girlfriend Hannah Cox, and several nieces and nephews. He was also mourned by his fans and colleagues in the film industry, who praised his talent and creativity.
A Successful Career in Hollywood
Cook was born on June 26, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he met his longtime friend and writing partner David Weisberg. The duo moved to California to pursue a career in screenwriting, and their first credit was Payoff, a 1991 TV film starring Keith Carradine.
Their breakthrough came in 1996, when they co-wrote The Rock, a blockbuster action film directed by Michael Bay and starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery as a chemist and a former spy who team up to stop a rogue general from launching a nerve gas attack on San Francisco. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning over $335 million worldwide and receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Sound.
Cook and Weisberg continued to collaborate on other action thrillers, such as Holy Matrimony (1994), Double Jeopardy (1999), and Criminal (2016). The latter film, which starred Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, and Alice Eve, was released after Cook’s death and was dedicated to his memory. The pair also wrote another script, Blank Slate, which was acquired by Bold Films in 2010 but remains unproduced.
A Personal Tragedy and a Legacy
Cook was married for 27 years to Justine Jacoby Cook, a former casting director and a production manager for the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet in Los Angeles. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 53 in November 2013, leaving behind their two children, who were both in their early 20s at the time.
Cook’s death came less than two years after his wife’s, and left a void in the lives of his family and friends. His brother Peter Mackenzie, who played his boss on Black-ish, paid tribute to him on Twitter, writing: “My brother Doug was a brilliant writer and a wonderful man. I will miss him terribly.”
Cook’s legacy lives on through his films, which have entertained and inspired millions of viewers around the world. He was a master of crafting thrilling stories, memorable characters, and witty dialogue, and his work will be remembered as some of the best examples of the action genre. Douglas S. Cook was a screenwriter who died at 56, but his words will live on forever.
