George Morris Baker (1 April 1931 – 7 October 2011) was an English actor and writer. He was best known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

Early life Baker was born in Varna, Bulgaria. His father was an English businessman and honorary vice consul and his mother an Irish Red Cross nurse who moved to Bulgaria to help fight cholera.

He attended Lancing College, Sussex; he then appeared as an actor in repertory theatre and at The Old Vic.

Career Early film stardom Baker's first film was The Intruder (1953). He made his name in The Dam Busters (1955), and his first starring role was in The Ship That Died of Shame (1955) with Richard Attenborough.

Baker also starred as a leading man in The Woman for Joe (1955) opposite Diane Cilento; The Feminine Touch (1956), playing a handsome doctor in a film about nurses; A Hill in Korea (1956), playing a heroic soldier, with Robert Shaw and Stanley Baker in support; and The Extra Day (1956), a comedy. The same year he appeared in the West End in Agatha Christie's play Towards Zero.

Baker was also the lead in These Dangerous Years (1957), an attempt to make a film star of Frankie Vaughan. He was a doctor again in No Time for Tears (1957) and played a royalist swashbuckling hero of the English Civil War in The Moonraker (1958). He supported Diana Dors in Tread Softly Stranger (1958). However, he never quite became a movie star.

Baker's later films include Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) and Curse of the Fly (1965).

Television work Over time, Baker became better known as a television actor. He had the heroic lead in Rupert of Hentzau (1964), played security chief Thallon in Undermind (1965), and was the second (to Guy Doleman) of many actors to portray the role of "Number Two" in the series The Prisoner, appearing in the series' first episode. He portrayed the character of George King in Dennis Potter's The Bone Grinder (1968),BFI Player a metaphor for the decline of the British Empire and the rise of American power in the post-war world."Playbill" by James Greenfield, TVTimes page 10, 11–17 May 1968

He appeared in his own television comedy series Bowler. He was also in the first episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, playing a company boss interviewing the show's hapless main character.

In the acclaimed 1976 drama serial I, Claudius, Baker played the emperor Tiberius Caesar. George R. R. Martin, author of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, which was later adapted into TV's Game of Thrones, has stated that the historical Tiberius and Baker's performance in particular were part of the inspiration for his character Stannis Baratheon. He also appeared in an episode of Get Some In!.

In 1977, he starred as Inspector Roderick Alleyn in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre, comprising four adaptations of the crime and mystery novels of Ngaio Marsh with New Zealand settings, in a production for New Zealand television. From 1987 to 2000, he played Inspector Reg Wexford in numerous television adaptations of mysteries by Ruth Rendell, and this is probably the role for which he became best known. In 1993, following the death of his second wife, he married the actress Louie Ramsay, who played Mrs Wexford in the same television series.

He also appeared in The Baron, Survivors, Minder in Series 1's '"You Gotta Have Friends", Coronation Street (as brewery owner Cecil Newton), in the Doctor Who story Full Circle and as twin brothers in a 2005 episode of Midsomer Murders titled "The House in the Woods".

Baker also appeared in the British comedy television series The Goodies' episode "Tower of London" as the "Chief Beefeater", as well as in the sitcom No Job for a Lady, and he is popularly known for playing Captain Benson, the James Bond ally in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, and for playing Sir Hilary Bray, a heraldry expert, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Later, when Bond, played by George Lazenby, impersonates Bray to gain access to Blofeld, Baker's voice was dubbed in place of Lazenby's to provide the accent. Baker also played an (uncredited) NASA engineer in You Only Live Twice.

Ian Fleming considered Baker to be the ideal candidate to play James Bond in the films, but the role went to Sean Connery, because Baker had prior commitments.

He played a character called "Jamus Bondus" in an episode of the 1970s farcical sitcom Up Pompeii!.

Baker's first theatre work was in repertory at Deal, Kent. His major stage credits include a season with The Old Vic company (1959–61), where he played Bolingbroke in Richard II, Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest and Warwick in Saint Joan. In 1965, he started his own touring company, Candida Plays, based at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He was Claudius in Buzz Goodbody's celebrated, modern-dress Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1975.

In 1980, Baker wrote Fatal Spring, a play for television dealing with lives of poets Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves; this appeared on BBC Two on 7 November 1980. It won him a United Nations peace award. His other writing credits included four of the Wexford screenplays.

Baker was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1995 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during a photo shoot on board a boat at Port Solent on the Hampshire coast. He also appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.

MBE In 2007, Baker was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his charitable work helping to establish a youth club in his home village.

Personal life Baker's third wife, Louie Ramsay, who died earlier in 2011, played his onscreen wife Dora in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Baker was survived by five daughters (four from his first marriage to Julia Squire, one from his second to Sally Home).

Baker’s eldest daughter is Candida Baker, an Australian journalist and author, who moved to Australia in 1977. Her published works include fiction, non-fiction and autobiographical writing. She is known for her long-standing interest in horses and natural horsemanship.

His granddaughter Kim Sherwood is a writer; her debut novel, Testament, was inspired by her paternal grandmother's experience of the Holocaust as well as her grief over Baker's death. Sherwood was selected in 2021 to write a trilogy of James Bond books, the franchise of which Baker participated in several of its film adaptations, becoming the first woman to do so.

Death Baker died of pneumonia, following a stroke, on 7 October 2011 at the age of 80.

Filmography

Film +YearTitleRoleNotes1953The IntruderAdjutant1955The Ship That Died of Shame BillThe Dam Busters Flight Lieutenant D.J.H. David Maltby, D.S.O., D.F.CThe Woman for Joe Joe Harrop1956The Feminine TouchJimA Hill in Korea Lt. ButlerThe Extra Day Steven Marlow1957These Dangerous Years PadreNo Time for Tears Dr. Nigel Barnes1958The Moonraker The MoonrakerTread Softly StrangerJonny Mansell1964Lancelot and Guinevere Sir GawaineThe Finest Hours Lord RandolphVoice1965Curse of the Fly Martin Delambre1967Mister Ten Per Cent Lord EdwardYou Only Live Twice NASA EngineerUncredited1969Justine British Ambassador David MountoliveGoodbye, Mr. Chips Lord SutterwickOn Her Majesty's Secret Service Sir Hilary Bray1970The ExecutionerPhilip Crawford1973A Warm December Dr. Henry Barlow1975Three for All Eddie Boyes1976Intimate Games Professor GottliebThe Twelve Tasks of AsterixAdditional VoicesEnglish dub1977The Spy Who Loved MeAdmiral Benson1978The Thirty Nine Steps Sir Walter Bullivant1980North Sea Hijack FletcherHopscotch Westlake1987Out of Order Chief Inspector1988For Queen and CountryKilcoyne

Television +YearTitleRoleNotes1957Sunday Night TheatrePercy FrenchEpisode: "The Last Troubador"1957–1961ITV Play of the WeekVarious4 episodes1957–1968Armchair Theatre5 episodes1959Play of the Week4 episodes, including The Square RingNick of the RiverDetective Inspector D.H.C. 'Nick' Nixon1961ITV Television PlayhouseLouis CordunetEpisode: "Boule de Suif"Maigret Dominic PereEpisode: "The Simple Case"1964Rupert of HentzauRudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf VMiniseries1965The Sullavan Brothers Edward DraytonEpisode: "Insufficent Evidence"Drama 61-67Peter EvettEpisode: "A Question of Disposal"1965–1967The Wednesday PlayVarious4 episodes1966Theatre 625Edward Jackson/Matthew Hobhouse2 episodeThe BaronFrank AshtonEpisode: "So Dark the Night"1967The Prisoner The New Number TwoEpisode: "Arrival" 1968Thirty-Minute TheatreErnest WhippleEpisode: "Happiness is E Shaped"Comedy PlayhouseCommander BenbowEpisode: "Stiff Upper Lip"1968–1979ITV PlayhouseGeorge King/Robert Ballad2 episodes1970Paul TempleMark HillEpisode: "Games People Play"DoomwatchJohn MitchellEpisode: "Train and De-Train"Up Pompeii!Jamdus BondusEpisode: "Secret Agents James Bondus"The GoodiesChief BeefeaterEpisode: "Tower of London"1970–1976Z-CarsVarious4 episodes1971BBC Play of the MonthMorellEpisode: "Candida"The Persuaders!BrittenEpisode: "Chain of Events"1972The Main ChancePhilip LockleyEpisode: "Mandala"New Scotland YardJohn RandallEpisode: "Two Into One Will Go"The Fenn Street GangStanley Bowler4 episodes1973Bowler Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'EmMr. LewisEpisode: "Getting a Job"The Protectors George DixonEpisode: "Your Witness"1974Whodunnit?Det. Inspector MartinEpisode: "The Final Chapter"1975Survivors Arthur WormleyEpisode: "Genesis"Spy TrapColonel JacobyEpisode: "April Sixty-Seven"1976Get Some In!Wing-Commander BirchEpisode: "Flight"Softly, Softly: Task ForceFrank ChandlerEpisode: "Baked Beans"I, ClaudiusTiberius10 episodes1977Ngaio Marsh TheatreChief Inspector Roderick Alleyn4 miniseries1979Empire RoadMr. ButterworthEpisode: "Godfadder at Bay"1980Doctor WhoDecider LoginSerial: "Full Circle"1980Lady KillersTerence O'ConnorEpisode: "Don't Let Them Kill Me on Wednesday"1980–1989MinderAltman/Cooper2 episodes1981Jackanory PlayhouseJanakaEpisode: "The Mouse, the Merchant and the Elephant"Crown CourtEpisode: "The Merry Widow Part 1"The Gentle TouchGerald Harvey2 episodes1982Q.E.D. Sir Harold MetcalfeEpisode: "The Great Motor Race"The Chinese DetectiveJack BalfeEpisode: "Chorale"1982–1983Triangle David WestSeasons 2-31983Agatha Christie's Partners in CrimeWhittingtonEpisode: "The Secret Adversary"1984–1986Robin of SherwoodSir Richard of Leaford4 episodes1984Hart to HartGeorge DamosEpisode: "Death Dig"A Woman of SubstanceBruce McGillMiniseries1985Marjorie and MenNorton PhillipsEpisode: "Be Your Age"We'll Support You EvermoreColonelTV film1986Dead Head Eldridge3 episodesIf Tomorrow Comes Maximillian Pierpont1 episodeTime After TimeValentine SwiftTV filmScreen TwoValentine Swift/Greaves2 episodesRoom at the BottomDirector General1987Miss Marple Inspector Fred DavyEpisode: "At Bertram's Hotel"The CharmerHarold Bennett2 episodes1987–2000The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Inspector Wexford1988Bergerac HigginsEpisode: "A Man of Sorrows"1990No Job for a Lady Godfrey EaganSeasons 1-22001Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Berry PomeroyEpisode: "O Happy Isle"Back to the Secret GardenWill WeatherstaffTV film2003Coronation StreetCecil Newton6 episodes2005Midsomer MurdersCharlie and Jack MagwoodEpisode: "The House in the Woods" Spooks Hugo RossEpisode: "The Russian"2007Heartbeat Maurice DodsonEpisode: "Vendetta"New TricksSteve PalmerEpisode: "Ducking and Diving"

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Works cited

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