Lenny Baker(1945-1982)

Actor Leonard Joel "Lenny" Baker was born on January 17, 1945 in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of Bertha and William Baker, Lenny graduated from Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1962 and attended Boston University, where he received his Bachelor's Degree. Baker began his acting career in regional theater and spent several summers at the O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Connecticut. After moving to New York City in 1969, Lenny acted in such Off-Broadway stage productions as "'Paradise Gardens East," "Conerico Was Here to Stay," "The Year Boston Won the Pennant," and "The Survival of St. Joan."

Baker made his Broadway stage debut in 1974 in "The Freedom of the City" and won a Tony award in 1977 for his performance in the musical "I Love My Wife." Moreover, in 1976 Lenny performed in repertory in Phoenix Theater productions of "Secret Service" and "Boy Meets Girl" as well as appeared in both "Henry V" and "Measure for Measure" with the New York Shakespeare Festival in the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In addition, Baker also acted in a handful of films and television shows. Lenny had his sole lead role as aspiring actor Larry Lapinsky in Paul Mazursky's autobiographical Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture - Male. Baker died at age 37 from AIDS-related cancer on April 12, 1982 in a hospital in Hallandale Beach, Florida. He was survived at the time of his death by both his parents and his brothers Alan and Malcolm.