She did it her way TV star puts on final show for family and friends
GOGGLEBOX star Mary Cook put on one last show for her family and friends – at her funeral service.
Recordings of the Bristolian television star singing Frank Sinatra numbers My Way and Fly Me to the Moon were played at South Bristol Crematorium – something her family said Mary would have loved.
The 92-year-old former hospitality worker from Bedminster died in hospital in late August.
Warm tributes were paid to her from across Bristol and beyond, after she found fame late in life on the Channel 4 hit Gogglebox alongside her best friend and fellow Bristolian Marina Wingrove.
Marina was in attendance at the crematorium on Friday with Mary’s daughters Lynn and Gillian, grandson Darren, great granddaughter Eva and granddaughter Nikki Ind.
Nikki gave the personal eulogy at the service and said: “My nan loved life and certainly wasn’t ready to leave. This radiated from her.
“She was a great singer, a great actress (the family are related to Cary Grant, aka Archie Leach) and as viewers saw, she definitely enjoyed entertaining the nation over the last five years of fame that she had on Gogglebox.
“It was a very beautiful service with so many friends and family – nan would have enjoyed every minute of it.
“It was really special to hear nan’s songs throughout the service, especially her singing My Way, which was my mum and aunt’s favourite song of nan’s.
“My nan was – is – an amazing and inspiring woman who wanted to live forever and she will, of course, as she will live on through us and in our hearts. We should all be more like her – full of life, full of fun and full of love.”
Gogglebox crew member Chris Bruce also gave a reading during the service, which was followed by a wake at the Fox and Goose in nearby Barrow Gurney.
Before being invited to join Gogglebox in 2016 and becoming instant national treasures, Mary and Marina became friends at a retirement village more than 10 years ago.
They were discovered by a researcher for Gogglebox during a trip to Asda in Bedminster, near their homes at St Monica’s Trust.
The pair were temporarily absent from the programme earlier in the pandemic. However, they returned in May’s series finale of the programme.