Captain Hook
From Freepedia
Captain James Hook is the villain of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Hook is a pirate captain and Peter Pan's nemesis. It is said that he was Blackbeard's bosun, and that he was the only man Long John Silver ever feared. He wears an iron hook in place of his right hand, which was cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by a crocodile; the crocodile liked the taste of him so much that it followed him around for the rest of his life, hoping for more. He hates Peter obsessively, and lives for the day he can make him and all of his Lost Boys walk the plank.
(Lest anyone think Hook's name too convenient, Barrie notes that "Hook was not his true name. To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze.")
Barrie revealed at one point that the Captain was an Old Etonian.
In Barrie's play and novel, Hook kidnaps Wendy, the girl who loves Peter and who Peter views as his Mother, and challenges the boy to a final duel. He is bested, and, seeing a choice between surrender and death, commits suicide by throwing himself into the waiting jaws of the crocodile. Just before dying, however, he takes one last jab at Peter by taunting him about his bad manners. Peter, with the callousness of youth, quickly forgets him and finds a new nemesis, but, as Hook made a stronger impression on the public, most sequels brought him back one way or another.
In productions of the play, Hook is traditionally played by the same actor who portrays Wendy's father.
It is hypothesized that Captain Hook is modeled after the famous English captain Christopher Newport. Both were dark-haired captains of dubious pasts, and were missing their right hands which were replaced by a metal hook. Newport commanded the ships that landed the settlers at Jamestown in Virginia. He also seems to have a distinctive similarity with Bartholomew Roberts, especially regarding his choice of clothes and his impeccable manners.
Smee is Captain Hook's right hand man, so to speak.
The version of Captain Hook who appeared in the Disney animated film adaptation of Peter Pan, a foppish coward prone to crying out for his mother and has the hook in place of his left hand instead of his right, has subsequently appeared in a number of other Disney productions. He sometimes appears in comic book placed in the Scrooge McDuck universe of comic books as the nemesis of Moby Duck, a whaler cousin of Donald Duck. He has also appeared in the Disney/Squaresoft game Kingdom Hearts. A Captain Hook-like character appears briefly in the animated film Shrek 2, where he plays piano in a tavern.
The most famous actor to portray him is probably Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman (Best Actor, Kramer vs Kramer, Rain Man), in the 1991 film Hook, in which Oscar winner Robin Williams plays a grown-up Peter Pan who has forgotten all about Neverland. Other actors who played the role included Tim Curry, who provided his voice for the animated series Peter Pan and the Pirates, and Jason Isaacs in 2004's Peter Pan.
In 1974, as part of Shel Silverstein's poetry book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, there is a poem about this pirate, though it may be a different Captain Hook, minus his signature hook, because there are no references at all to Peter Pan. The poem goes as follows:
Captain Hook must remember Not to scratch his toes. Captain Hook must watch out And never pick his nose. Captain Hook must be gentle When he shakes your hand. Captain Hook must be careful Openin' sardine cans And playing tag and pouring tea And turnin' pages in his book. Lots of folks I'm glad I ain't-- But mostly Captain Hook!
During his tenure as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Sparky Anderson was known as "Captain Hook" due to his willingness to promptly make use of a relief pitcher when the starter got into trouble.
