Simon Baker

Simon Baker
Baker in Paris at the French premiere of I Give It a Year, 2013
Born	Simon Baker (1969-07-30) 30 July 1969 Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Other names	Simon Denny Simon Baker Denny
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1987–present
Height	5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m)
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Rigg (m. 1998)
Children	3

Simon Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor and director. In his television acting career, he is best known for his lead role in the CBS television series The Mentalist as Patrick Jane and as Nicholas Fallin in The Guardian.

In his film acting career, he is best known for the lead role of Riley Denbo in Land of the Dead and Christian Thompson in the film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, based on the 2003 novel of the same name.

Early life

Simon Baker was born to a high school English teacher, Elizabeth Labberton, and a groundskeeper/mechanic, Barry Baker, on 30 July 1969, in Launceston, Tasmania. He was raised as a Roman Catholic.^[1] His parents divorced while he was still young. His mother later married Tom Denny, a butcher. Simon Baker also has a sister, currently a doctor in Australia, and three younger half brothers. By 1972, the family had moved from Launceston to Ballina, New South Wales, where Baker's parents hoped to secure better paying jobs. In 1986, he graduated from Ballina High School as Simon Baker-Denny, after completing his primary school education at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, also in Ballina.

Acting career

Baker began acting on Australian television during the late 1980s using the name "Simon Denny". He first appeared in music videos for Melissa Tkautz ("Read My Lips") and Australian dance outfit Euphoria ("Love You Right") in 1991 before appearing in the successful series E Street, Home and Away and Heartbreak High. As "Simon Baker Denny" he was a co-star of the David Croft/Jeremy Lloyd sitcom pilot, Which Way to the War, which was not developed into a series.

Baker on the set of The Mentalist in March 2009.

In 1995, he was in an episode of the Australian television (ABC TV) series Naked (episode title: Blindside Breakaway) in the role of a rugby player. His character was an easy going mummy's boy until he met a girl who challenged his safe existence. He called the role "physically demanding" due to the fact most of the extras were actual rugby players.^[2] At the time he referred to this role as an important opportunity as well as being "the best job I've had in my life". He went on to say it was going to be hard afterwards to want to do anything offered.^[2]

He relocated to the United States, where he was cast in a small role in L.A. Confidential, which led to further opportunities in supporting roles in films. In 1998 he starred in a small, independent film by filmmaker Stephen Grynberg titled "Love from Ground Zero", and in 1999 appeared in Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil. In 2000, he played Michael Scott in Adam Collis's Sunset Strip. He also played an astronaut in Red Planet with Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Benjamin Bratt. He played the male lead in the television series The Guardian for three seasons beginning in 2001, and also appeared in The Affair of the Necklace. He played a distressed husband in 2004's Book of Love. In 2005, he starred as an altruistic hero in George A. Romero's Land of the Dead.

In 2006, he played Brian Kelly in the film Something New, writer Christian Thompson in The Devil Wears Prada, and had a leading role as Jeff in the short-lived television series Smith. In 2007, he was cast as Roderick Blank in Sex and Death 101. In 2008, Baker received the lead role of Patrick Jane, a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in CBS's The Mentalist. In 2009, Baker was nominated for an Emmy Award for The Mentalist. In late 2009, Baker was also nominated for his second Golden Globe Award (for The Mentalist) and his first SAG Award for his work. He played Howard Hendricks in The Killer Inside Me, which starred Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Bill Pullman.^[3] He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals.^[4]

Other activities

On 6 June 2010, he played in a charity soccer match for The Rest of The World team versus England on ITV's Soccer Aid 2010,^[5] coming on as a substitute in the second half. The match went to a penalty shootout; Baker took a penalty which was saved by England celebrity goalkeeper, Jamie Theakston. The Rest of the World went on to win the shoot out and the match for the first time since the tournament started. On 13 June 2012, Swiss watchmaker Longines introduced Simon Baker as its new Ambassador of Elegance.

Personal life

Baker at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2013.

In 1998, Baker married Australian actress Rebecca Rigg after five years of living together.^[6] They have three children: Stella Breeze (born 8 August 1993), Claude Blue (born 1998), and Harry Friday (born 19 September 2001). Fellow Australian, actress Nicole Kidman, is godmother to Harry while actress Naomi Watts is godmother to Claude.^[7] Baker and his family resided in Malibu, California,^[8] before moving back to Sydney; they then returned to Los Angeles so Simon could appear on Smith, and later on The Mentalist.^[6] He also owns property in Australia, near Byron Bay.^[9]

In January 2009, Baker told Parade Magazine that he and his wife were interested in becoming American citizens.^[7] Baker has been a dual U.S./Australian citizen since 2010.^[10]

Baker and his sons are fans of the Parramatta Eels in the Australian NRL.^[11] His name first appeared in Who's Who in Australia in 2011.^[12] In July 2009, Baker told PopMatters that he is an agnostic.^[13]

Honors

On 14 February 2013, Baker was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. Baker's star can be found at 6352 Hollywood Blvd.^[14]

Commercials

Simon Baker was selected by the French perfume house Givenchy to be the face of the Fragrance "Gentlemen Only".^[15] In it Baker walks down a pavement in pouring rain, whilst carrying an umbrella. He doesn't use his umbrella .... but when he sees a beautiful woman in red waiting for a taxi, he opens the umbrella and hands it over. The spot released 11 March 2013 also exists in a 33 sec version and reached a strong YouTube audience.

Baker also featured in an 18-month ad campaign for ANZ in Australia and New Zealand starting in 2012.^[16]

Since 2012, he has been a Longines Ambassador of Elegance ^[17] and featured in "Elegance is an attitude" advertising campaign which was shot in Chantilly Racecourse ^[18] as well as their magazine print campaign for the same slogan ^[19] shot by Le Studio Production SA.

Simon Baker fronted Samsung Electronics Australia's "Turn on Tomorrow" campaign featuring as announced in July 2010 ^{[20] [21]} He starred in a TV advertisement for Samsung Electronics Australia created by Leo Burnett Sydney which brings together all of Samsung's products in one 60-second TV spot. ^[22]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simon Baker.

• Simon Baker at AllRovi
• Simon Baker at the Internet Movie Database
• Simon Baker at TVGuide.com
• Simon Baker Australian Film Commission
• Simon Baker interview The Guardian Femail Magazine
• Simon Baker The Guardian The Age
• Simon Baker interview Land of the Dead Femail Magazine
• snappytoes on Instagram Simon Baker's instagram page