Broadway singer, actress Barbara Cook dies at 89

Credit: Kevin Wolf

Credit: Kevin Wolf

Barbara Cook, one of Broadway’s leading ingenues and cabaret performers, has passed away in her Manhattan home, her representative said Tuesday. She was 89.

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Amanda Kaus told WNBC that Cook died of respiratory failure.

Cook was the star of several Broadway musicals, including “The Music Man,” “She Loves Me” and “Candide.”

The New York Post reported that her Broadway career sadly ended in the early 1970s, when she began struggling with depression, alcoholism and weight gain. In the 80s, Cook reinvented herself and made a comeback in her role as Sally in the concert version of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies."

Her career spanned nearly six decades.

Friends and fans took to social media to mourn the star:

The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

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