| Kenny Baker | |
|---|---|
Baker in the trailer for Stage Door Canteen (1943) |
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| Born | Kenneth Laurence Baker September 30, 1912 Monrovia, California |
| Died | August 10, 1985 (aged 72) Solvang, California |
| Occupation | Film actor, singer |
Kenneth Laurence "Kenny" Baker (30 September 1912 – 10 August 1985) was an American singer/actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on radio's The Jack Benny Program during the 1930s.
At the height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in 1939 (succeeded by Dennis Day, whose tenor was similar to Baker's), he appeared in seventeen film musicals, including Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937), At the Circus (1939), and The Harvey Girls (1946). Also starred in the 1939 movie version of Gilbert and Sullivans 'The Mikado'.
Baker later co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's One Touch of Venus (1943). He returned to radio as a regular performer on Fred Allen's Texaco Star Theater program (1940–1942).
Baker also recorded a number of record albums of hymns for his church. After retiring from performing in the early 1950s, he became a Christian Science practitioner and motivational speaker.
He died of a heart attack in Solvang, California, in 1985, aged 72.