Stanley Baxter
Stanley Livingstone Baxter was a Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on the BBC and later became known for his British television comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika. Baxter also wrote a number of books set in Glasgow.
Baxter is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in British comedy, particularly for his work in television variety and sketch shows throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His television productions, characterised by elaborate one-off specials and a mastery of impersonation and physical comedy, drew audiences in excess of 14 million at their peak and were celebrated for their technical ambition and originality.
Early life
The son of an insurance manager, Baxter was born in Glasgow, on 24 May 1926. He was educated at Hillhead High School, Glasgow, and schooled for the stage by his mother. He began his career as a child actor in the local edition of the BBC's Children's Hour. Following employment in mining as a Bevin Boy in World War II, he developed his performing skills further during his national service with the British Army's Combined Services Entertainment unit, working alongside comedy actor Kenneth Williams, actor Peter Vaughan, film director John Schlesinger and dramatist Peter Nichols, who used the experience as the basis for his play Privates on Parade.Career
Stage
After the war, Baxter returned to Glasgow taking to the stage for three years at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre. In 1949, he appeared in The Tintock Cup. Following success on the radio with Jimmy Logan, Howard & Wyndham Ltd invited him to star in pantomime at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow followed by the Half Past Eight Shows, and their successors the Five Past Eight Shows at Glasgow's Alhambra Theatre. He moved to London to work in television in 1959. He was shortly back performing in Glasgow at the Alhambra with his On the Brighter Side show.In 1969, Baxter performed in the original production of Joe Orton's then controversial farce What the Butler Saw at the Queen's Theatre in the West End with Sir Ralph Richardson, Coral Browne and Hayward Morse. Baxter nurtured the stage careers of Alyson McInnes and John Ramage. He starred, in pantomime, over many years along with other Scottish performers, such as Jimmy Logan Baxter remained a great favourite on the Scottish pantomime circuit, especially at the King's Theatre, Glasgow, until his retirement in 1992.
Radio
During the 1960s, Baxter had his own show on BBC Radio Scotland. In 1994, he returned to radio, taking the role of Noël Coward in the BBC World Service Play of the Week, Marvellous Party directed by Neil Cargill. Written by Jon Wynne-Tyson, it also starred Dorothy Tutin as Coward's lifelong friend, Esme Wynne-Tyson. Also with Cargill, he read Whisky Galore and Jimmy Swan – The Joy Traveller for BBC Radio, providing the voices of all the characters.After a lengthy spell in self-imposed retirement, Baxter appeared in 2004 in a series of four half-hour radio sitcoms for BBC Radio 4, entitled Stanley Baxter and Friends; the success of this led to further series entitled The Stanley Baxter Playhouse in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016, and Two Pipe Problems with Richard Briers in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Two further plays in this series were broadcast in 2013 with Geoffrey Palmer taking the Richard Briers role. In 2009, Eddie Izzard presented The Stanley Baxter Story on BBC Radio 2. A further series of Playhouse commenced airing on BBC Radio 4 in November 2018.
Television and entertainment
Baxter was known for his impressions of famous people, even appearing as 'the Duchess of Brendagh' - a character with a strong resemblance to The Queen. The Stanley Baxter Show ran between 1963 and 1971 on BBC One, and The Stanley Baxter Picture Show from 1972 to 1975 on ITV; the six-part Stanley Baxter Series was made by LWT in 1981. By 1983, it was reported that LWT could no longer afford to make Baxter's shows. In 1985, a return to the BBC was announced. Eight one-hour TV specials were made by LWT and the BBC between 1973 and 1986.Baxter participated in one of the earliest broadcasts of the new ITV franchise, STV, when the station began transmissions on 31 August 1957. STV's inaugural programme, This Is Scotland, was a live variety-style light entertainment show designed to mark the launch of Scotland's first independent television channel. Baxter appeared in comedy segments alongside other established Scottish performers, including Jimmy Logan and the Glasgow Police Pipe Band, contributing to sketches drawn from his variety theatre experience. The programme is recognised as his first television production for STV and one of his earliest major television appearances outside his work with the BBC. The broadcast of This Is Scotland showcased a mixture of song, dance and comedy, framed around Scottish identity and entertainment. Baxter's involvement drew on his established stage reputation from the Glasgow variety circuit and helped introduce him to a broader Scottish television audience at the very beginning of STV's history.
Baxter guest-starred in an episode of The Goodies and later appeared in the lead role in Mr Majeika, developed from the books by Humphrey Carpenter, a children's show about a magic teacher, expelled from Walpurgis for failing his professional examinations. He later stated that he had wanted to retire after his spectacular hour-long shows had been cancelled and that the move to children's television was a "purely financial" arrangement.
In Bing Crosby's final Christmas special, taped for CBS in the UK just a few weeks before Crosby's death in 1977, Baxter played multiple roles, including a butler, cook and – in one skit opposite a cracking-up Crosby – the ghost of Bob Hope's court jester ancestor. Having retired in 1990, Baxter returned for a one-off Christmas 2008 special for ITV, containing a mix of archived and new material, with celebrity comedians commenting on Baxter's influence on their lives and careers.
Film
Baxter appeared in a number of films, including Geordie, Very Important Person, The Fast Lady, Crooks Anonymous and Father Came Too!, the last four alongside James Robertson Justice, together with the animation The Thief and the Cobbler. Baxter had a sporadic but notable film career that ran alongside his far more extensive work in radio, theatre and television. Although best known for his television variety and sketch shows, Baxter appeared in a number of British feature films from the 1950s through the 1960s and contributed voice work to later animated projects.Baxter's first substantial screen role came in the mid-1950s with the comedy *Geordie*, after which he returned to cinema work in the early 1960s in a string of comedies produced by Rank and independent companies. He appeared in Very Important Person, The Fast Lady, Crooks Anonymous and Father Came Too!, frequently sharing the screen with established character actors of the period and often cast in comic supporting roles that showcased his facility for dialect, impersonation and physical comedy. Baxter worked with directors such as Ken Annakin and appeared alongside leading comedy performers of the era; his film roles typically complemented rather than eclipsed his television persona. Reviewers and later obituaries noted that Baxter's film appearances allowed him to translate many of his radio and stage skills into screen comedy, but that he remained primarily a performer for television and live theatre.
Later and posthumous credits include voice contribution to the long-running animated project The Thief and the Cobbler, demonstrating the occasional return to film animation projects decades after his principal screen period. Though Baxter's film résumé is modest compared with his television output, the roles he took on reveal a throughline with his broader comic practice: a mastery of impersonation, an ear for regional dialects and an eye for visual and character gags. Film historians and obituarists have written that his screen work remains of interest chiefly because it captures a performer at ease translating stage and radio techniques for the cinema of the era.
Books and literature
Baxter wrote a number of books based on the language of Glasgow, as developed in his Parliamo Glasgow sketch, and on the humour of the city;- Bedside Book of Glasgow Humour, may be same as
- Parliamo Glasgow Omnibus and
- Let's Parliamo Glasgow Again – Merrorapattur
- ''Stanley Baxter's Suburban Shocker : Featuring Rosemary Morningside and the Garrulous Glaswegian Mr. Ballhead''
Legacy
Peers and subsequent generations of performers have cited Baxter as a major influence; contemporaries described him as a "giant of Scottish entertainment," and tributes from actors and comedians highlighted his ingenuity, warmth and the inspirational quality of his work. First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, among others, said that Baxter brought "incredible joy to generations" of audiences.
In addition to his television influence, Baxter's legacy extends to theatre and pantomime where he was a beloved regular, as well as to radio and film, where his wide-ranging talents were on display across multiple media. He received numerous honours for his contributions to entertainment, including a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards and the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television Award, reflecting his long-lasting impact on the industry.
Baxter's unique blend of high production values, technical ingenuity and character versatility remains influential in British comedy and is widely studied and remembered through retrospectives, archive releases and the forthcoming BBC Scotland documentary Being Stanley Baxter, which is intended to explore his life, career and enduring appeal.