Stanley Baxter was 83 yesterday. I'd forgotten about him and then remembered his galaxy of TV comedy characters in the
What you possible didn't know about Stanley was that he :
* wad born in Glasgow the son of an insurance manager, schooled for the stage by his mother and began his career as a child actor in the Scottish edition of BBC Radio's 'Children's Hour'.
* developed his performing skills during his 'National Service' with the 'Combined Services Entertainment Unit', working alongside the likes of comedy actor Kenneth Williams, film director John Schlesinger and dramatist Peter Nichols, who used the experience as the basis for his play 'Privates on Parade'.
* worked at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre before moving to London to work in tv in 1959
* starred in 'The Stanley Baxter Show' 1963 and 1971 on BBC One and his 'Stanley Baxter Picture Show' from 1972 to 1975 on ITV.
The Nation Speaks in 1973 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2eOaOVAsMI
As the Queen :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofa8fDyOh4Y
As various characters :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umzKoNKjXYU&feature=related
Teach yourself to speak Scottish :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnKPnPhhYw
* performed in the original production of Joe Orton's then controversial farce 'What The Butler Saw' at the Queen's Theatre in 1969 and in the West End with Sir Ralph Richardson, Coral Browne and Hayward Morse.
* After a lengthy spell in self-imposed retirement, featured in 2004 in a series of three half-hour radio sitcoms for BBC Radio 4, entitled 'Stanley Baxter and Friends'.
P.S. He still makes me laugh very much.
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