One of Britain's most recognizable (and most larger-than-life) character actors, Tom Baker is best known for his record-setting seven-year stint as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). His father, John Stewart Baker, was of English
and Scottish descent, while his mother, Mary Jane (Fleming), was from a family originally from Ireland. Along with his younger sister, Lulu, and younger brother,
John, he was raised in a poor Catholic community by his mother, a
house-cleaner and barmaid, who was a devout Catholic, and his father, a
sailor, who was rarely at home.
At age fifteen, Baker left school to
become a monk with the Brothers of Ploermel on the island of Jersey.
Six years later, he abandoned the monastic life and performed his
National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps., where he became
interested in acting. Baker then served on the Queen Mary for seven
months as a sailor in the Merchant Navy before attending Rose Bruford
College of Speech and Drama in Kent, England, on scholarship.
Baker
acted in repertory theaters around Britain until the late 1960s when he
joined up with the National Theatre, where he performed with such
respected actors as Maggie Smith,
Anthony Hopkins and
Laurence Olivier, who helped him get
his first prominent movie role as Rasputin in
Nikolaus und Alexandra (1971).
His performance in this movie earned him two Golden Globe Award
nominations, one for best actor in a supporting role and another for
best new star of the year. A couple of years earlier, Baker had made
his movie debut in
The Winter's Tale (1967).
Despite appearances in a spate of movies, including Pasolinis tolldreiste Geschichten (1972), In der Schlinge des Teufels (1973), Sindbads gefährliche Abenteuer (1973) and Das Labor des Grauens - The Freakmaker (1974), Baker found himself in a career lull and working as a labourer at a building site. However, the BBC's Head of Serials, William Slater, who had directed Baker in BBC Play of the Month (1965), recommended him to producer Barry Letts, who was looking for a replacement for Jon Pertwee as the Fourth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). Baker's performance in Sindbads gefährliche Abenteuer (1973) convinced Letts that he was right for it. It brought Baker international fame and popularity. He played the role for seven years, longer than any actor before or since.
After leaving Doctor Who (1963) in 1981, Baker returned to theatre, which included playing the role for the Royal Shakespeare Company that Sir Michael Caine played in the movie Rita will es endlich wissen (1983), and he made
occasional television and movie appearances, playing Sherlock Holmes in
Der Hund von Baskerville (1982),
Puddleglum in The Chronicles of Narnia story
Der König von Narnia - Der silberne Sessel (1990) and
Hallvarth, Clan Leader of the Hunter Elves, in
Dungeons & Dragons (2000).
