- Phil Baker
Phil Baker (
August 26 ,1896 ,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -November 30 ,1963 ,Copenhagen ) is best known as a popular Americancomedian andemcee onradio . Baker was also avaudeville actor ,composer ,songwriter ,accordionist andauthor .Baker went to school in
Boston , and his first stage appearance was in a Boston amateur show. Baker began in vaudeville playing the piano forviolinist Ed Janis, and he was 19 when he teamed withBen Bernie for the vaudeville act, "Bernie and Baker." [Laurie, Joe, Jr. "Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace." New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 86.] This originally was a serious musical act with Baker onaccordion and Bernie on violin but eventually ended up with comic elements. After breaking with Bernie shortly afterWorld War I , both young men went onto pursue successful solo careers. Baker's solo act included him singing, playing the accordion, telling jokes and being heckled by a planted audience member named "Jojo." With this act, Baker played the Palace Theatre in 1930 and 1931. [Slide, Anthony. "The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville." Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1994. p. 21.]In 1923, Baker appeared in an early DeForest
Phonofilm short "A Musical Monologue " in which he played the accordion and sang. Bernie also appeared in a DeForest Phonofilm "Ben Bernie and All the Lads " featuring Bernie's band and pianistOscar Levant . DuringWorld War I Baker served in the US Navy. Baker appeared in a number ofBroadway musical s:
* "Music Box Revue"
* "Crazy Quilt"
* "Artists and Models"
* "Greenwich Village Follies"
* "A Night in Spain"
* "Calling All Stars"Baker appeared in the
Carmen Miranda musical "The Gang's All Here" (1943). Baker's likeness was drawn in caricature byAlex Gard for the walls ofSardi's , theNew York City theater district restaurant. That picture is now part of the collection of the New York Public Library. [ [http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/thesardis.xml The New York Public Library Inventory of Sardi's Caricatures] ]Radio
On radio, he starred in his own series "The Armour Jester" on
NBC , and during the 1940s he was the host of the popular quiz show "Take It or Leave It", which later changed its title to "The $64 Question".Baker composed many songs, including:
* "Park Avenue Strut"
* "Look At Those Eyes"
* "Just Suppose"
* "Antoinette"
* "Strange Interlude"
* "Humming a Love Song"
* "Rainy Day Pal"
* "Pretty Little Baby"
* "Did You Mean It?"
* "My Heaven on Earth"
* "Invitation to a Broken Heart"Notes
External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0048831 Phil Baker at IMDB]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=23475 Phil Baker at IBDB]
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