George Morris Baker (1 April 1931 – 7 October 2011) was an English actor and writer. He was best known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.
Early life
Baker was born in Varna, Bulgaria. His father was an English businessman and honorary vice consul and his mother an Irish Red Cross nurse who moved to Bulgaria to help fight cholera.
He attended Lancing College, Sussex; he then appeared as an actor in repertory theatre and at The Old Vic.
Career
Early film stardom
Baker's first film was The Intruder (1953). He made his name in The Dam Busters (1955), and his first starring role was in The Ship That Died of Shame (1955) with Richard Attenborough.
Baker also starred as a leading man in The Woman for Joe (1955) opposite Diane Cilento; The Feminine Touch (1956), playing a handsome doctor in a film about nurses; A Hill in Korea (1956), playing a heroic soldier, with Robert Shaw and Stanley Baker in support; and The Extra Day (1956), a comedy. The same year he appeared in the West End in Agatha Christie's play Towards Zero.
Baker was also the lead in These Dangerous Years (1957), an attempt to make a film star of Frankie Vaughan. He was a doctor again in No Time for Tears (1957) and played a royalist swashbuckling hero of the English Civil War in The Moonraker (1958). He supported Diana Dors in Tread Softly Stranger (1958). However, he never quite became a movie star.
Baker's later films include Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) and Curse of the Fly (1965).
Television work
Over time, Baker became better known as a television actor. He had the heroic lead in Rupert of Hentzau (1964), played security chief Thallon in Undermind (1965), and was the second (to Guy Doleman) of many actors to portray the role of "Number Two" in the series The Prisoner, appearing in the series' first episode. He portrayed the character of George King in Dennis Potter's The Bone Grinder (1968), a metaphor for the decline of the British Empire and the rise of American power in the post-war world.
He appeared in his own television comedy series Bowler. He was also in the first episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, playing a company boss interviewing the show's hapless main character.
In the acclaimed 1976 drama serial I, Claudius, Baker played the emperor Tiberius Caesar. George R. R. Martin, author of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, which was later adapted into TV's Game of Thrones, has stated that the historical Tiberius and Baker's performance in particular were part of the inspiration for his character Stannis Baratheon. He also appeared in an episode of Get Some In!.
In 1977, he starred as Inspector Roderick Alleyn in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre, comprising four adaptations of the crime and mystery novels of Ngaio Marsh with New Zealand settings, in a production for New Zealand television. From 1987 to 2000, he played Inspector Reg Wexford in numerous television adaptations of mysteries by Ruth Rendell, and this is probably the role for which he became best known. In 1993, following the death of his second wife, he married the actress Louie Ramsay, who played Mrs Wexford in the same television series.
He also appeared in The Baron, Survivors, Minder in Series 1's '"You Gotta Have Friends", Coronation Street (as brewery owner Cecil Newton), in the Doctor Who story Full Circle and as twin brothers in a 2005 episode of Midsomer Murders titled "The House in the Woods".
Baker also appeared in the British comedy television series The Goodies<nowiki>'</nowiki> episode "Tower of London" as the "Chief Beefeater", as well as in the sitcom No Job for a Lady, and he is popularly known for playing Captain Benson, the James Bond ally in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, and for playing Sir Hilary Bray, a heraldry expert, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Later, when Bond, played by George Lazenby, impersonates Bray to gain access to Blofeld, Baker's voice was dubbed in place of Lazenby's to provide the accent. Baker also played an (uncredited) NASA engineer in You Only Live Twice.
Ian Fleming considered Baker to be the ideal candidate to play James Bond in the films, but the role went to Sean Connery, because Baker had prior commitments.
He played a character called "Jamus Bondus" in an episode of the 1970s farcical sitcom Up Pompeii!.
Baker's first theatre work was in repertory at Deal, Kent. His major stage credits include a season with The Old Vic company (1959–61), where he played Bolingbroke in Richard II, Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest and Warwick in Saint Joan. In 1965, he started his own touring company, Candida Plays, based at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He was Claudius in Buzz Goodbody's celebrated, modern-dress Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1975.
In 1980, Baker wrote Fatal Spring, a play for television dealing with lives of poets Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves; this appeared on BBC Two on 7 November 1980. It won him a United Nations peace award. His other writing credits included four of the Wexford screenplays.
Baker was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1995 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during a photo shoot on board a boat at Port Solent on the Hampshire coast. He also appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.
MBE
In 2007, Baker was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his charitable work helping to establish a youth club in his home village.
Personal life
Baker's third wife, Louie Ramsay, who died earlier in 2011, played his onscreen wife Dora in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Baker was survived by five daughters (four from his first marriage to Julia Squire, one from his second to Sally Home).
Baker’s eldest daughter is Candida Baker, an Australian journalist and author, who moved to Australia in 1977. Her published works include fiction, non-fiction and autobiographical writing. She is known for her long-standing interest in horses and natural horsemanship.
His granddaughter Kim Sherwood is a writer; her debut novel, Testament, was inspired by her paternal grandmother's experience of the Holocaust as well as her grief over Baker's death. Sherwood was selected in 2021 to write a trilogy of James Bond books, the franchise of which Baker participated in several of its film adaptations, becoming the first woman to do so.
Death
Baker died of pneumonia, following a stroke, on 7 October 2011 at the age of 80.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1953
|The Intruder
|Adjutant
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1955
|The Ship That Died of Shame
|Bill
|
|-
|The Dam Busters
|Flight Lieutenant D.J.H. David Maltby, D.S.O., D.F.C
|
|-
|The Woman for Joe
|Joe Harrop
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1956
|The Feminine Touch
|Jim
|
|-
|A Hill in Korea
|Lt. Butler
|
|-
|The Extra Day
|Steven Marlow
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1957
|These Dangerous Years
|Padre
|
|-
|No Time for Tears
|Dr. Nigel Barnes
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1958
|The Moonraker
|The Moonraker
|
|-
|Tread Softly Stranger
|Jonny Mansell
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
|Lancelot and Guinevere
|Sir Gawaine
|
|-
|The Finest Hours
|Lord Randolph
|Voice
|-
|1965
|Curse of the Fly
|Martin Delambre
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1967
|Mister Ten Per Cent
|Lord Edward
|
|-
|You Only Live Twice
|NASA Engineer
|Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="3" |1969
|Justine
|British Ambassador David Mountolive
|
|-
|Goodbye, Mr. Chips
|Lord Sutterwick
|
|-
|On Her Majesty's Secret Service
|Sir Hilary Bray
|
|-
|1970
|The Executioner
|Philip Crawford
|
|-
|1973
|A Warm December
|Dr. Henry Barlow
|
|-
|1975
|Three for All
|Eddie Boyes
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1976
|Intimate Games
|Professor Gottlieb
|
|-
|The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
|Additional Voices
|English dub
|-
|1977
|The Spy Who Loved Me
|Admiral Benson
|
|-
|1978
|The Thirty Nine Steps
|Sir Walter Bullivant
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1980
|North Sea Hijack
|Fletcher
|
|-
|Hopscotch
|Westlake
|
|-
|1987
|Out of Order
|Chief Inspector
|
|-
|1988
|For Queen and Country
|Kilcoyne
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1957
|Sunday Night Theatre
|Percy French
|Episode: "The Last Troubador"
|-
|1957-1961
|ITV Play of the Week
| rowspan="3" |Various
|4 episodes
|-
|1957-1968
|Armchair Theatre
|5 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1959
|Play of the Week
|4 episodes, including The Square Ring
|-
|Nick of the River
|Detective Inspector D.H.C. 'Nick' Nixon
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1961
|ITV Television Playhouse
|Louis Cordunet
|Episode: "Boule de Suif"
|-
|Maigret
|Dominic Pere
|Episode: "The Simple Case"
|-
|1964
|Rupert of Hentzau
|Rudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf V
|Miniseries
|-
| rowspan="2" |1965
|The Sullavan Brothers
|Edward Drayton
|Episode: "Insufficent Evidence"
|-
|Drama 61-67
|Peter Evett
|Episode: "A Question of Disposal"
|-
|1965-1967
|The Wednesday Play
|Various
|4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1966
|Theatre 625
|Edward Jackson/Matthew Hobhouse
|2 episode
|-
|The Baron
|Frank Ashton
|Episode: "So Dark the Night"
|-
|1967
|The Prisoner
| The New Number Two
|Episode: "Arrival"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1968
|Thirty-Minute Theatre
|Ernest Whipple
|Episode: "Happiness is E Shaped"
|-
|Comedy Playhouse
|Commander Benbow
|Episode: "Stiff Upper Lip"
|-
|1968-1979
|ITV Playhouse
|George King/Robert Ballad
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="4" |1970
|Paul Temple
|Mark Hill
|Episode: "Games People Play"
|-
|Doomwatch
|John Mitchell
|Episode: "Train and De-Train"
|-
|Up Pompeii!
|Jamdus Bondus
|Episode: "Secret Agents James Bondus"
|-
|The Goodies
|Chief Beefeater
|Episode: "Tower of London"
|-
|1970-1976
|Z-Cars
|Various
|4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1971
|BBC Play of the Month
|Morell
|Episode: "Candida"
|-
|The Persuaders!
|Britten
|Episode: "Chain of Events"
|-
| rowspan="3" |1972
|The Main Chance
|Philip Lockley
|Episode: "Mandala"
|-
|New Scotland Yard
|John Randall
|Episode: "Two Into One Will Go"
|-
|The Fenn Street Gang
| rowspan="2" |Stanley Bowler
|4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1973
|Bowler
|
|-
|Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
|Mr. Lewis
|Episode: "Getting a Job"
|-
|The Protectors
|George Dixon
|Episode: "Your Witness"
|-
|1974
|Whodunnit?
|Det. Inspector Martin
|Episode: "The Final Chapter"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1975
|Survivors
|Arthur Wormley
|Episode: "Genesis"
|-
|Spy Trap
|Colonel Jacoby
|Episode: "April Sixty-Seven"
|-
| rowspan="3" |1976
|Get Some In!
|Wing-Commander Birch
|Episode: "Flight"
|-
|Softly, Softly: Task Force
|Frank Chandler
|Episode: "Baked Beans"
|-
|I, Claudius
|Tiberius
|10 episodes
|-
|1977
|Ngaio Marsh Theatre
|Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn
|4 miniseries
|-
|1979
|Empire Road
|Mr. Butterworth
|Episode: "Godfadder at Bay"
|-
|1980
|Doctor Who
|Decider Login
|Serial: "Full Circle"
|-
|1980-1989
|Minder
|Altman/Cooper
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1981
|Jackanory Playhouse
|Janaka
|Episode: "The Mouse, the Merchant and the Elephant"
|-
|Crown Court
|
|Episode: "The Merry Widow Part 1"
|-
|The Gentle Touch
|Gerald Harvey
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1982
|Q.E.D.
|Sir Harold Metcalfe
|Episode: "The Great Motor Race"
|-
|The Chinese Detective
|Jack Balfe
|Episode: "Chorale"
|-
|1982-1983
|Triangle
|David West
|Seasons 2-3
|-
|1983
|Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
|Whittington
|Episode: "The Secret Adversary"
|-
|1984-1986
|Robin of Sherwood
|Sir Richard of Leaford
|4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1984
|Hart to Hart
|George Damos
|Episode: "Death Dig"
|-
|A Woman of Substance
|Bruce McGill
|Miniseries
|-
| rowspan="2" |1985
|Marjorie and Men
|Norton Phillips
|Episode: "Be Your Age"
|-
|We'll Support You Evermore
|Colonel
|TV film
|-
| rowspan="5" |1986
|Dead Head
|Eldridge
|3 episodes
|-
|If Tomorrow Comes
|Maximillian Pierpont
|1 episode
|-
|Time After Time
|Valentine Swift
|TV film
|-
|Screen Two
|Valentine Swift/Greaves
| rowspan="2" |2 episodes
|-
|Room at the Bottom
|Director General
|-
| rowspan="2" |1987
|Miss Marple
|Inspector Fred Davy
|Episode: "At Bertram's Hotel"
|-
|The Charmer
|Harold Bennett
|2 episodes
|-
|1987-2000
|The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
|Inspector Wexford
|
|-
|1988
|Bergerac
|Higgins
|Episode: "A Man of Sorrows"
|-
|1990
|No Job for a Lady
|Godfrey Eagan
|Seasons 1-2
|-
| rowspan="2" |2001
|Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
|Berry Pomeroy
|Episode: "O Happy Isle"
|-
|Back to the Secret Garden
|Will Weatherstaff
|TV film
|-
|2003
|Coronation Street
|Cecil Newton
|6 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
|Midsomer Murders
|Charlie and Jack Magwood
|Episode: "The House in the Woods"
|-
|Spooks
|Hugo Ross
|Episode: "The Russian"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2007
|Heartbeat
|Maurice Dodson
|Episode: "Vendetta"
|-
|New Tricks
|Steve Palmer
|Episode: "Ducking and Diving"
|}