Brian Cooke Brian Cooke Brian Cooke (born 1937, in Liverpool, Merseyside) is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer, Johnnie Mortimer, wrote scripts for and devised many of the top television sitcoms during the 1970s, including "Man About the House", "George and Mildred", and "Robin's Nest". Cooke also wrote and created the 1980s TV sitcom "Keep It in the Family", starring Robert Gillespie and the late-1960s/early-1970s sitcom "Father, Dear Father" starring Patrick Cargill. "Man About the House", "George and Mildred", "Robin's Nest", and "Keep It in the Family" were remade for American television as "Three's Company", "The Ropers", "Three's a Crowd"
Theatre Workshop planned to transform the centre of Stratford. Audiences mounted a campaign to save the theatre and for many years it remained open in the centre of a building site. In 1975 Gerry Raffles died of diabetes and in 1979 Littlewood moved to France, and ceased to direct. Many well-regarded television and stage actors began their professional careers at Theatre Workshop under Littlewood's tutelage. They included Yootha Joyce, Glynn Edwards, Harry H. Corbett, George A. Cooper, Richard Harris, Stephen Lewis, Howard Goorney, Brian Murphy, Murray Melvin, Nigel Hawthorne and Barbara Windsor. The last three were cast by the director Ken Russell