Lenny Baker

Leonard Joel Baker (January 17, 1945 – April 12, 1982) was an American actor of stage, film, and television, best known for his Golden-Globe-nominated performance in the 1976 Paul Mazursky film Next Stop, Greenwich Village and his 1977 Tony Award-winning performance in the stage play I Love My Wife.

Early life and education Baker was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the middle child of William, who owned his own plumbing business, and Bertha (née August) Baker. He had two brothers, Alan and Malcolm, and described his upbringing as "middle-middle class."

As the middle child, he referred to himself as "the pickle in the middle" and dreamed of being in musicals. He began acting in kindergarten, where he was cast as an elephant in a school play, and from fourth grade on, he was "constantly" on stage, eventually becoming the vice president of Brookline High School's dramatic society.

While his brothers followed his father into plumbing, Baker stuck to acting.

Career Theatre Baker described himself as a "skinny, silly shlump." He played offbeat characters, which he described as being "long, skinny funny-looking goofy types." Instead, he accepted an offer from Richard Block, the director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL) in Kentucky, to be a journeyman, rounding out its 10 principal cast members:

quote|...I jumped at it [the chance to join ATL]. Decided it would be much better to play bigger roles...to be a big fish in a little pond." The following year, he made Actors' Equity and earned the minimum, $125 per week (approximately $950 in 2019). It was often due to his physique and nose that he got auditions, jobs and laughs. However, as a child, Baker had been self-conscious about his body, particularly his prominent nose:

quote|There was a time when my nose bothered me. In my adolescence, I thought, "What am I stuck with here?" It seemed to me that the only thing growing on my body was my nose. I went through an awkward stage when I felt out of place. Now I'm very happy with the nose and this body and who I am." His final television performance was a guest-star appearance on the sitcom Taxi in 1979. His last noted stage performance was in March 1980, in which he reprised the one-act Horovitz plays he had performed in Paris.

He was eventually diagnosed with Medullary thyroid cancer. Decades after Baker's death, commentator David Ehrenstein incorrectly speculated in LA Weekly that Baker had suffered from AIDS, then known as "gay-related immune deficiency" (GRID), for approximately two years before his death. Ehrenstein's 2003 LA Weekly essay includes a quote from actor Anthony Holland that indicates that Baker lived in Los Angeles in 1980.

quote|...poor Lenny Baker. Nobody sees him anymore. He’s up there [in his apartment] alone now. He’s dying of cancer, and the doctors can’t seem to figure out why. He died on April 12, 1982, at the Community Hospital of South Broward in Hallandale Beach, Florida. He is buried in Moses Mendelsohn Memorial Park in Randolph, Massachusetts.

Stage Broadway The Freedom of the City – Alvin Theatre, 1974 Secret Service – Playhouse Theatre, 1976 as Henry Dumont Boy Meets Girl – Playhouse Theatre, 1976 as Robert Law I Love My Wife – Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1977 as Alvin

Off Broadway Conerico Was Here to Stay – Fortune Theatre, 1969 as Young Man Summertree – Players Theatre, 1969 as Young Man Paradise Gardens East – Fortune Theatre, 1969 as Brother The Year Boston Won the Pennant – Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, 1969 as Dillinger/Peabody Barbary Shore – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1973 as Mike Lovett Pericles, Prince of Tyre – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1974 as Thailard/Knight of Ephesus/Boult The Merry Wives of Windsor – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1974 as Abraham Slender Henry V – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1976 as Dauphin Measure for Measure – Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, 1976 as Lucio

Film The Hospital (1971) as Dr. Schaefer A.W.O.L. (1972) as Sidney Feitel The Paper Chase (1973) as William Moss Malatesta's Carnival of Blood (1973) as Sonja Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) as Larry Lapinsky

Television The Teaching (1970, TV movie) as Samuel Golden Pueblo (1973, TV movie) as Ens. T.L. Harris Kojak (1974, episode: "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die") as Joyce Harrington Sunshine (1975, episode: "White Bread and Margarine") as Jinx Secret Service (1977, episode: "Secret Service") as Henry Dumont The Rubber Gun Squad (1977, TV movie) as Eddie Starsky and Hutch (1979, episode: "Ninety Pounds of Trouble") as Damon The Rockford Files (1979, episode: "Only Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die" Parts 1 and 2) as Ronny Martz Taxi (1979, episode: "Latka's Revolting") as Baschi (final appearance)

Accolades Baker was highly praised by critics, including Clive Barnes and Walter Kerr.

He was nominated for Jeff Awards –– for Best Actor in a Principal Role –– for his work in Chicago theatre.

He won the Tony Award for his performance in I Love My Wife.

His performance in Next Stop, Greenwich Village was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" category.