Phil Baker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phil Baker (born August 26, 1896; died November 30, 1963) is best known as a popular American comedian and emcee on radio. However, Baker was also a vaudeville actor, composer, songwriter, accordionist and author.

Born in Philadelphia, Baker went to school in Boston.

His first stage appearance was on a Boston amateur show. Baker first appeared in vaudeville playing the piano for violinist, Ed Janis. After breaking with Janis, he teamed up with Ben Bernie in vaudeville as "Bernie and Baker."[1] The act, begun when Baker was 19, originally was a serious musical act with Baker on accordion and Bernie on violin but eventually ended up with comic elements. After breaking with Bernie shortly after World 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.[2]

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 pianist Oscar Levant. During World War I Baker served in the US Navy. Baker appeared in a number of Broadway musicals:

  • 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). He was featured on the radio program Take It or Leave It, starred in his own NBC radio series The Armour Jester in and later went on to host The $64 Question in the 1940s. Baker also 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

  1. ^ Laurie, Joe, Jr. Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 86.
  2. ^ Slide, Anthony. The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1994. p. 21.

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