Peter Cook voted greatest comedian of all time

Peter Cook has been voted the greatest comedian of all time in a poll of fellow comics.

13:37 02 January 2005

Peter Cook has been voted the greatest comedian of all time in a poll of fellow comics.

More than 300 comedians, comedy writers, producers and directors on both sides of the Atlantic were asked to list the top 50 comics for the Channel 4 show The Comedians' Comedian.

Cook rose to fame with the 1960 stage show Beyond the Fringe and later founded the topical satirical magazine Private Eye.

The comic, who died in 1995, is best remembered for his comedy partnership with Dudley Moore - the Not Only...But Also television shows making them the funniest double act of the 1960s and 70s. Moore does not join his former comedy partner in the top 50 list.

Paying tribute to Cook in the reflective Channel 4 show, fellow comic Arthur Smith said: "He had talent oozing out of him and he hardly had to exert himself as he was so brilliantly funny."

"He influenced a whole generation of people - even now he's spoken of in terms of awe."

Cook beat Fawlty Towers and Monty Python star John Cleese to become the comedians' favourite, with American filmmaker Woody Allen coming in at third place.

Eric Morecambe and Groucho Marx make up the rest of the top five comedians, while double acts Laurel and Hardy and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer also made it into the top ten.

Female comics faired less well in the poll, with Victoria Wood and French and Saunders being among the few women who appeared in the top 50.

Comedians' Comedian Top 10:

1. Peter Cook

2. John Cleese (above)

3. Woody Allen

4. Eric Morecambe

5. Groucho Marx

6. Tommy Cooper

7. Laurel and Hardy

8. Billy Connolly

9. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer

10. Richard Pryor