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Lenny Baker 1945 - 1982

Lenny Baker was born on January 17, 1945 at Massachusetts in Brookline, MA to Bertha Baker and William Baker, and had siblings Malcolm Baker and Alan Baker. Lenny Baker died at age 37 years old on April 12, 1982 at (Parents' Home), in Miami, FL, and was buried at Moses Mendelsohn Memorial Park in Randolph, MA.

Lenny Baker
Leonard Joel Baker
Name
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Last residence
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January 17, 1945
Massachusetts in Brookline, MA
Birth
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April 12, 1982
(Parents' Home), in Miami, FL
Death
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Male
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Updated: October 19, 2022
Biography ID: 192703230 What's this
Lenny Baker Lenny Baker (1945 - 1982)
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Lenny Baker's History: 1945 - 1982

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  • Introduction

    Leonard “Lenny” Baker (January 17, 1945 – April 12, 1982) was an American actor of stage and film and screen best known for his Tony Award-winning performance in "I Love My Wife" in 1977. 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
  • 01/17
    1945

    Birthday

    January 17, 1945
    Birthdate
    Massachusetts in Brookline, MA
    Birthplace
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  • 04/12
    1982

    Death

    April 12, 1982
    Death date
    Throat Cancer (Chain Smoker)
    Cause of death
    (Parents' Home), in Miami, FL
    Death location
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  • Gravesite & Burial

    mm/dd/yyyy
    Funeral date
    Moses Mendelsohn Memorial Park in Randolph, MA
    Burial location

  • Obituary

    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.
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21 Memories, Stories & Photos about Lenny

Lenny Baker and John Lithgow
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Lenny Baker and John Lithgow
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker with John Lithgow
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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05/05/2022
He invited me up to his apartment and showed me posters that he designed and posed for many photographs. I missed him today.
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Lenny Baker
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Lenny Baker
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker
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Lenny Baker
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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03/30/2019
Lenny Baker
A photo of Lenny Baker in his apartment in front of a poster that he designed.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Ellen Greene & Lenny Baker
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Ellen Greene & Lenny Baker
A photo of Lenny Baker and co-star Ellen Greene in Next Stop Greenwich Village.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Lenny Baker and Ellen Greene
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Lenny Baker and Ellen Greene
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker and Ellen Greene.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Lenny Baker, Ellen Greene, and Lou Jacobi
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Lenny Baker, Ellen Greene, and Lou Jacobi
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Lenny Baker & Ellen Greene
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
01/16/2018
Lenny Baker & Ellen Greene
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker with Ellen Greene
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Lenny Baker, Lou Jacobi & Helen Hanft
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
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01/16/2018
Lenny Baker, Lou Jacobi & Helen Hanft
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker with Lou Jacobi and Helen Hanft
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Leonard Baker close-up
Photo of Amanda S. Stevenson Amanda S. Stevenson
17.8k+ favorites
01/16/2018
Leonard Baker close-up
A photo of Leonard "Lenny" Baker up close.
Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.
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Other Biographies

Other Lenny Baker Biographies

Baker, Lenny (Feb 13, 1941 - Sep 1977)

Other Baker Family Biographies

Baker, Mary Agnes (Born 1917) Baker, Betty Or (Born Jan 7, 1889) Baker, Eugene (Born Oct 29, 1895) Baker, Frank (Born May 17, 1949) Baker, Minnie (Born Mar 1, 1865) Baker, Emeline (Born Aug 18, 1883) Baker, David (Born Aug 28, 1883) Baker, Martha (Born Nov 29, 1889) Baker, Richard (Born Oct 2, 1887) Milhizer, Emma (Apr 22, 1878 - Apr 26, 1950)
Baker, Hannah (Born Aug 23, 1865) Baker, Willis (Born Apr 10, 1914) Baker, Kenneth (Born Apr 20, 1911) Baker, William (Born Jul 18, 1867) Baker, Lela Eritta Baker, Perry (Born 1850) Baker, Rosa (Born 1889) Baker, Ethel (Born Apr 1, 1911) Baker, Helen (Born May 15, 1909) Baker, Dawson (Aug 20, 1907 - Nov 1981)
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