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Tom Baker is a Actor and Scriptwriter British born on 20 january 1934 at Liverpool (United-kingdom)

Tom Baker

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Birth name Thomas Stewart Baker
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 20 january 1934 (90 years) at Liverpool (United-kingdom)

Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor. He is best known as the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1981, a longer tenure than any other actor, and for the narration of the comedy series Little Britain. Baker's voice, which has been described as "sonorous", was once voted the fourth most recognisable in the UK.

At the age of 15 Baker began study as a monk. However, he gradually lost his vocation and at 21 he left monastic life and undertook National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. On leaving the army, he joined the Merchant Navy and then became an actor, joining the Royal National Theatre Company under Laurence Olivier. Baker's first major film role was as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971. He went on to play the villainous Prince Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1973, which led to his casting in Doctor Who. His period of starring in the series was distinguished by high viewing figures and many stories which became regarded as classics. He remains one of the most instantly recognisable incarnations of the character. He continued to win regular roles in TV later in his career, most notably in the series Medics and Monarch of the Glen. In addition to performing acting roles, Baker has narrated commercials, video games, audiobooks and television series.

In a poll for the BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Baker was voted the world's fourth most eccentric star. He was beaten by Björk, Chris Eubank and David Icke. Married three times, the second to Doctor Who co-star Lalla Ward, Baker has two sons from his first marriage.

Biography

Baker's first marriage in 1961 was to Anna Wheatcroft, niece of rose grower Harry Wheatcroft. They had two sons, Daniel and Piers, but divorced in 1966. Baker lost contact with his sons until a chance meeting with Piers in a pub in New Zealand allowed them to renew their relationship. In December 1980, he married Lalla Ward, who had co-starred in Doctor Who (playing his companion Romana) with him for two years. However, the marriage lasted only 16 months.

In 1986, Baker married for a third time, this time to Sue Jerrard, who had been an assistant editor on Doctor Who. They moved to the Bell House, a converted school in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, where they kept several cats before moving to France in January 2003. They sold the property to Vic Reeves shortly after Baker had worked with him on the BBC revival (2000–2001) of Randall and Hopkirk. In November 2006, Baker returned to live in England, initially buying a house in Tunbridge Wells before moving to the East Sussex countryside.

Baker is sceptical of religion and describes himself as irreligious, or occasionally as Buddhist, but not anti-religious. He states: "People are quite happy believing the wrong things. I wasn't unhappy believing all that shit. Now I'm not unhappy thinking about it because I can laugh at it." Politically, Baker has expressed disdain for both the Conservatives and the Labour Party, saying in 1998: "When the Conservatives were in I cannot tell you how much I hated them. But I realise how shallow I am because I now hate the Labour Party as much.