Kenneth Laurence Baker (September , â€" August , ) was an American
singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on
radio's The Jack Benny Program during the s.Before he became a star,
Baker sang as a member of the Vitaphone chorus at Warner Bros.At the
height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in
(succeeded by Dennis Day, whose tenor voice was very similar to
Baker's), he appeared in film musicals, including Mr. Dodd Takes the
Air (), At the Circus (), and The Harvey Girls (). He also starred in
the movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. He later
co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of
Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's One Touch of Venus ().Baker first appeared
on Jack Benny's weekly radio program on November , , having been hired
to replace singer Frank Parker. Parker had been very popular on the
Benny program, and with his departure, it was widely believed that
Benny would lose a large part of his audience; however, Kenny Baker is
said to have won audiences over almost instantly, even surpassing
Parker in popularity. Baker portrayed a high-voiced, innocent young
man on the show, who would frequently cause the Jack Benny character
frustration with his "silly" remarks.
singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on
radio's The Jack Benny Program during the s.Before he became a star,
Baker sang as a member of the Vitaphone chorus at Warner Bros.At the
height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in
(succeeded by Dennis Day, whose tenor voice was very similar to
Baker's), he appeared in film musicals, including Mr. Dodd Takes the
Air (), At the Circus (), and The Harvey Girls (). He also starred in
the movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. He later
co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of
Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's One Touch of Venus ().Baker first appeared
on Jack Benny's weekly radio program on November , , having been hired
to replace singer Frank Parker. Parker had been very popular on the
Benny program, and with his departure, it was widely believed that
Benny would lose a large part of his audience; however, Kenny Baker is
said to have won audiences over almost instantly, even surpassing
Parker in popularity. Baker portrayed a high-voiced, innocent young
man on the show, who would frequently cause the Jack Benny character
frustration with his "silly" remarks.
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