Lenny Baker
(1945 - 1982)
Massachusetts
Florida
Biography
Early years
Baker was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Bertha and William Baker. A 1962 graduate of Brookline High School, he received his college degree from Boston University, and performed in regional theater. He spent several summers at the O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Connecticut.
Career
Baker appeared Off Broadway in plays such as Conerico Was Here to Stay, Paradise Gardens East, The Year Boston Won the Pennant, and Summertree, debuting on Broadway in 1974 in The Freedom of the City, performing in repertory in Secret Service and Boy Meets Girl, and in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry V and Measure for Measure with the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival. He devoted himself to the production of new plays at The O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference where he worked with Werner Liepolt and many other young playwrights. He was highly praised by critics Clive Barnes and Walter Kerr and won the Tony Award for his performance in "I LOVE MY WIFE"
In the course of his career Baker appeared in a number of television shows, such as Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, and Taxi.
Far and away most prominent amongst his film roles, which included The Hospital and The Paper Chase, was Next Stop, Greenwich Village, for which he was widely praised by critics and for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Personal life
Baker's career was cut short by illness. Throat problems led to him leaving the cast of the pre-Broadway show Broadway, Broadway in 1978, and his final television performances were in 1979. He died on April 12, 1982 of cancer, He had two brothers, Alan and Malcolm.
Work
Stage
Broadway
The Freedom of the City – Alvin Theatre, 1974
Secret Service – Playhouse Theatre, 1976 – Henry Dumont
Boy Meets Girl – Playhouse Theatre, 1976 – Robert Law
I Love My Wife – Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1977 – Alvin
Off Broadway
Conerico Was Here to Stay – Fortune Theatre, 1969 – Young Man
Summertree - Players Theatre, 1969 - Young Man
Paradise Gardens East – Fortune Theatre, 1969 – Brother
The Year Boston Won the Pennant – Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, 1969 – Dillinger/Peabody
Barbary Shore – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1973 – Mike Lovett
Pericles, Prince of Tyre – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1974 – Thailard/Knight of Ephesus/Boult
The Merry Wives of Windsor – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1974 – Abraham Slender
Henry V – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1976 – Dauphin
Measure for Measure – oseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1976 – Lucio
Television
The Teaching, 1970 – Samuel Golden
Pueblo, 1973 – Ensign T.L. Harris
Kojak: "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die", 1974 – Joyce Harrington
Sunshine: "White Bread and Margarine", 1975 – Jinx
Secret Service – Henry Dumont, 1977
The Rubber Gun Squad, 1977 – Eddie
Starsky and Hutch: "Ninety Pounds of Trouble", 1979 – Damon
The Rockford Files: "Only Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die" Parts 1 and 2, 1979 – Ronny Martz
Taxi: "Latka's Revolting", 1979 – Baschi
Film
The Hospital, 1971 – Dr. Schaefer
A.W.O.L., 1972 – Sidney Feitel
Malatesta's Carnival of Blood, 1973 – Sonja
The Paper Chase, 1973 – William Moss
Next Stop, Greenwich Village, 1976 – Larry Lapinsky
Ethnicity & Lineage
Nationality & Locations
Religion
Personal Life
Average Age
Life Expectancy
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NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY
LENNY BAKER, 37, STAGE ACTOR
By ELEANOR BLAU APRIL 13, 1982
Lenny Baker, who won a Tony award in 1977 for his performance in the Broadway musical ''I Love My Wife'' and who starred in the movie ''Next Stop, Greenwich Village,'' died of cancer yesterday in a hospital in Hallandale, Fla. He was 37 years old.
Mr. Baker won high praise for his leading role in ''I Love My Wife,'' a musical comedy about two couples who decide to swap partners. Clive Barnes wrote in The New York Times: ''Mr. Baker, with his look of heroic idiocy, his good nature and baffled mind, is a total joy. As an actor he has always been one of a kind.'' Walter Kerr, also writing in The Times, said, ''There's a zany on the prowl who will in the future (and right now) have to be reckoned with.''
The actor was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role as the hero who flees Brooklyn to become an actor in Paul Mazursky's 1976 autobiographical movie ''Next Stop, Greenwich Village.'' His other film credits included ''The Hospital'' (1971) and ''The Paper Chase'' (1973).
Making his Broadway debut in 1974 in ''The Freedom of the City,'' he was seen in 1976 in repertory in the Phoenix Theater's productions of ''Secret Service'' and ''Boy Meets Girl.'' Earlier, he worked frequently in the Off Broadway theater, in such plays as ''Conerico Was Here to Stay,'' ''Paradise Gardens East,'' ''The Year Boston Won the Pennant'' and ''Summertree.'' He also appeared in 1976 in ''Henry V'' and ''Measure for Measure'' with the New York Shakespeare Festival in the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
Mr. Baker, who was graduated from Boston University, played regional theaters and spent several summers at the O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn. He told an interviewer in 1977 that the center was instrumental in his career, partly because he saw the National Theater for the Deaf there. ''It's perhaps because of watching them work,'' he said, ''that I can be so brazen with comic uses of my body.''
Surviving are his parents, Bertha and William Baker, and two brothers, Alan and Malcolm. A memorial service will be held in the Little Theater of the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, Friday at 11 A.M.
Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Lenny's lifetime.
In 1945, in the year that Lenny Baker was born, on April 12th, President Roosevelt died of natural causes and Harry S. Truman, his Vice-President, became the 33rd President of the United States.
In 1955, Lenny was only 10 years old when on September 30th, movie star James Dean, 24, died in a car accident. He was headed in his new Porsche 550 to a race in Salinas California when, traveling at 85 mph, he collided with a 1950 Ford Tudor, also speeding, driven by a 23 year old college student. Dean died, his passenger and the other driver survived.
In 1961, when he was 16 years old, on August 13th, East Germany began erection of what would become the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin. In one day, they installed barbed wire entanglements and fences (called Barbed Wire Sunday in Germany). On August 17th, the first concrete elements and large blocks were put in place.
In 1973, Lenny was 28 years old when in October, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned - President Nixon nominated Gerald Ford for Vice President. Nixon's tax returns came under investigation. Nixon offered the recently discovered Oval Office tapes be heard by one person and summarized - his offer was rejected by the Special Prosecutor. Nixon ordered the Attorney General, then the assistant Attorney General, to fire the Special Prosecutor. Both refused and were fired. The Solicitor General became the acting Attorney General and fired the Special Prosecutor (the Saturday Night Massacre). Nixon releases some of the tapes, under extreme pressure because of the firings.
In 1982, in the year of Lenny Baker's passing, on September 14th, Princess Grace of Monaco (American actress Grace Kelly), 52, died of injuries when her car plunged off a mountain road. Her 17 year old daughter, Stephanie, was also in the car and suffered serious injuries but recovered. It's believed that the accident was caused when Princess Grace, who was driving, had a mild stroke.
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