Television Personality. British Broadcaster and Commentator for BBC Radio and Television.  He is best remembered for his “Letters from America” series for BBC World Service, and for hosting the “Masterpiece Theatre” television series from 1971 to 1992.   He received four Emmy Awards, three George Foster Peabody awards for broadcasting, and was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Born in Manchester, England, he earned an honors degree from Cambridge University, and in 1932, came to the United States to study at Yale University.  In 1934, he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a film critic, and began reporting for them in 1937 from the United States.  Remaining as a BBC World Service correspondent, he became an American citizen in 1941.  In 1946, he began a series “Letters from America,” giving a weekly snapshot of life in the United States.  Over the next sixty years, he provided listeners with insightful reports of American’s cultural and political affairs, producing over 2,800 shows, one of the longest running shows in radio history.  He retired in 2004, at the age of 95.  During the 1950s, he had his own television show, “Omnibus” and later, “Alistair Cooke’s America.”  He lived most of his life in New York City, living in an apartment that overlooked Central Park.  He was married twice, first to Ruth Emerson and then to Jane White Hawkes.  He has written 12 books, including “Alistair Cooke’s America” which was a best seller in 1973.  In an interview in 1997, he stated “I discovered very early on that broadcasting is the control of suspense.  No matter what you are talking about, you’re telling a story.  If you say a dull sentence, people have a right to switch off.” (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)