Peter Arne was born in Kuala Lumpar, Malaya in 1930 to a Swiss-Franch mother and an American father. His first film in 1944 was “Fot Those in Peirl”. Among his film credits are “The Purple Plain”, “The Moonraker”, “High Tide at Noon” and “Conspiracy of Hearts” in 1959. Sadly he was murdred in his apartment in Knightsbridge in London in 1983.
IMDB mini biography:
Peter Arne was for a short time the perfect villain in British film. After a couple of roles in war movies (The Purple Plain (1954) and The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)) and a Tarzan movie (Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)) he became a villain in Strangers’ Meeting(1957). From than on he continued to play sinister types in The Moonraker (1958), Intent to Kill (1958), Breakout (1959), Conspiracy of Hearts (1960), The Hellfire Club (1961) andThe Secret of Monte Cristo (1961). He was very convincing as a Cromwell officer, an Italian camp commander or a Nazi officer. Several times he had sword fights as a devious count. In 1962 he was a pirate sidekick of Christopher Lee in The Pirates of Blood River(1962), but a new kid on the block by the name of Oliver Reed challenged him and killed him halfway through the picture. It seemed like a symbolic fight because for a while Oliver Reed played the roles in Hammer Pictures that Peter Arne could have played and Arne moved to TV roles. His days as a leading actor were over and he continued work in TV and in bit parts in features. Sometimes directors he worked with before brought him back for a little role. In 1972 he got a nice break with “The Stallion”, a TV movie in which he starred with a horse. He was also in a couple of Blake Edwards movies. He became an antique dealer with his sister as a sideline. He died at the age of 63.
Julia Foster was born in 1943 in Lewes in Sussex. Among her film credits are “The Bargee” with Harry H. Corbett in 1964 followed two years later by “Alfie” with Michael Caine. She was the lading lady to Tommy Steele in the film of the musical “Half A Sixpence” in 1967. Still makes occasional television appearances. Is the mother of television broadcaster Ben Fogle.
TCM Overview:
Julia Foster
Julia Foster was an actress with a strong presence in film throughout her career. Foster started off her career in film with roles in “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1962), the dramatic adaptation “One Way Pendulum” (1964) with Eric Sykes and the dramatic adaptation “Alfie” (1965) with Michael Caine. She then acted in “Half a Sixpence” (1968), “Percy” (1970) and the Spike Milligan comedy “The Great McGonagall” (1974). She also appeared in “F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood” (ABC, 1975-76). More recently, Foster acted in “Flick” (2010) with Faye Dunaway.
Article in “Sussex Life” in 2010:
TV presenter, writer and adventurer Ben Fogle believes he inherited his performance gene from his mother, Lewes-born actress Julia Foster, who made her name in the 1960s films Alfie and Half a Sixpence. Ben, who spent his childhood weekends at his parents holiday cottage in Horsham, reflects on the debt he owes her Ben Fogle has always been close to his mum. A shy and introverted child, he often felt overwhelmed by his louder, more extrovert sisters, and clung tenaciously to his mothers apron strings.
When his parents sent him to board at Bryanston in Dorset, he stood in the middle of the drive with tears pouring down his cheeks, pleading with them not to leave him. It was no different at nursery school. Its not that I dont like it here, he told his mother. Its just that Id rather be with you. These days, of course, Ben is a very different animal a bubbly and outgoing TV personality and daring adventurer, who has tested the limits of his physical and mental endurance while trekking across some of the planets toughest terrain. But he and his mother remain close to this day.
Were very similar in many ways, he says thoughtfully. Were both sensitive to criticism, and its ironic that we ended up in careers where it can be frequently directed at you. Mummy always said that she never read her reviews, but we knew she did really. And Im just the same. I have a very thin skin.
Ben grew up with histwo sisters, Emily and Tamara, in a large house near Marble Arch in the centre of London, where his father, the TV vet Bruce Fogle, ran a veterinary clinic. Every day after school, he would walk through his dads clinic full of dogs and snakes up to their flat, where his mother, then a big name on stage and screen, would invariably be posing for a photoshoot. There were usually lights and photographic umbrellas everywhere, and that was my childhood animals and cameras, he says. Mummy was very much the performer when I was growing up. And now its me that does it.
Well-known actors such as Tommy Steele or Michael Caine would often call in, but the young Ben was singularly unimpressed to him they were just Mummys friends. Fittingly, given his future career, he was much more interested in BBC TV Centre, where his mum would often take him after school. Each day shed turn up at the school gates in a different wig, depending on the character she was playing, he grins. Id sit in her dressing room doing my homework, while she did her performance. The smell of the greasepaint must have rubbed off because as soon as he completed his schooling Ben determined to become an actor with disastrous consequences. I think Mummy was quietly proud that Id chosen to follow her, but when I applied to all the drama schools I couldnt get into any of them and I was utterly distraught. My abiding memory is of Mummy saying to me: Ben, if you become an actor, you will have to put up with rejection every day of your life. That was a big wake-up call and it made me realise what my mother had had to deal with. Shed been one of the biggest stars of the 1960s, and had then had to sit round and watch younger actresses fill her shoes.
He says his mother made a lot of career sacrifices, even turning down work in America so that she could be there for him while he prepared for his O-levels. I really admire the dignified way she stepped back when the acting work dried up and built up her own antique furniture business. Im very proud that she was able to build a new career and sad as well because I know how much acting meant to her. Im sure if the right job came up, shed love to have another go at it. And nothing would give me more pride than to see my mother treading the boards again.
Ben, who still lives near his parents in West London (though the family also have a second home in Ford, West Sussex), sees his mother most days and they frequently walk their dogs together. Sometimes Ill ask for her advice particularly if Ive been offered a big TV series because I value her perspective on things. But the media world has changed a lot since the 1960s and I dont think she quite understands how it works now. Shes sometimes surprised at how much of yourself you have to give away.
Ben recently became a father himself and hopes that he can be as good a parent to his son Ludo. My mother was always incredibly supportive when I was growing up, never questioning whether my decisions were a good idea. There was always a lot of optimism in our household and it gave me a lot of confidence, he says. My mum is one of the most generous people I know and Id like to pass on her qualities to my own children.
Were very similar in many ways, he says thoughtfully. Were both sensitive to criticism, and its ironic that we ended up in careers where it can be frequently directed at you. Mummy always said that she never read her reviews, but we knew she did really. And Im just the same. I have a very thin skin.
Ben grew up with his two sisters, Emily and Tamara, in a large house near Marble Arch in the centre of London, where his father, the TV vet Bruce Fogle, ran a veterinary clinic. Every day after school, he would walk through his dads clinic full of dogs and snakes up to their flat, where his mother, then a big name on stage and screen, would invariably be posing for a photoshoot. There were usually lights and photographic umbrellas everywhere, and that was my childhood animals and cameras, he says. Mummy was very much the performer when I was growing up. And now its me that does it.
Well-known actors such as Tommy Steele or Michael Caine would often call in, but the young Ben was singularly unimpressed to him they were just Mummys friends. Fittingly, given his future career, he was much more interested in BBC TV Centre, where his mum would often take him after school. Each day shed turn up at the school gates in a different wig, depending on the character she was playing, he grins. Id sit in her dressing room doing my homework, while she did her performance. The smell of the greasepaint must have rubbed off because as soon as he completed his schooling Ben determined to become an actor with disastrous consequences. I think Mummy was quietly proud that Id chosen to follow her, but when I applied to all the drama schools I couldnt get into any of them and I was utterly distraught. My abiding memory is of Mummy saying to me: Ben, if you become an actor, you will have to put up with rejection every day of your life. That was a big wake-up call and it made me realise what my mother had had to deal with. Shed been one of the biggest stars of the 1960s, and had then had to sit round and watch younger actresses fill her shoes.
He says his mother made a lot of career sacrifices, even turning down work in America so that she could be there for him while he prepared for his O-levels. I really admire the dignified way she stepped back when the acting work dried up and built up her own antique furniture business. Im very proud that she was able to build a new career and sad as well because I know how much acting meant to her. Im sure if the right job came up, shed love to have another go at it. And nothing would give me more pride than to see my mother treading the boards again.
Ben, who still lives near his parents in West London (though the family also have a second home in Ford, West Sussex), sees his mother most days and they frequently walk their dogs together. Sometimes Ill ask for her advice particularly if Ive been offered a big TV series because I value her perspective on things. But the media world has changed a lot since the 1960s and I dont think she quite understands how it works now. Shes sometimes surprised at how much of yourself you have to give away.
Ben recently became a father himself and hopes that he can be as good a parent to his son Ludo. My mother was always incredibly supportive when I was growing up, never questioning whether my decisions were a good idea. There was always a lot of optimism in our household and it gave me a lot of confidence, he says. My mum is one of the most generous people I know and Id like to pass on her qualities to my own children.
This “Sussex Life” article can also be accessed online here.
Ralf Little is fondly remembered as Antony the son in the classic TV series “The Royle Family”. This show is without doubt one of the very best television series ever. Antony always seemed to be fetching and carrying for his lazy family who were glued to the sofa, watching rubbish on television and making innane comments on all and sundry, yet the love they had for each other seemed to shine through. Ralf Little was born in 1980 in Oldham in Manchester. His films include “24 Hour POarty People” and “The Waiting Room”. His other television series include “Two Pints of Lage and a Packet of Crisps” and “Paradise Heights”.
Article in “The Guardian” in 2013 :
would describe my face as angular and pale, with a big, wonky nose. My eyes are brown – dull brown. I am completely scruffy. My appearance is something that I never take much pride in because, the way I see it, when you haven’t got that much raw material to work with, you just don’t bother. Neither my mum nor my dad has a particularly big nose, so I don’t know where that comes from. It also got broken when I was 17, which didn’t help.
I am 33 now. I feel just as childish as I always have, so I don’t mind getting older. I haven’t started losing my hair, but I reckon that’s on the way. Both grandads were bald and my dad started losing his hair around about 35, so I reckon I’ve got two years left before it starts to disappear. Perhaps I should dye it pink while I still have the chance?
I am 6ft and I eat whatever I want. I am lucky enough to have a high metabolism, so I never have to give it a second thought, and that makes me an enemy of many people. People keep saying to me, “I can’t wait till you turn 40-45 and start piling weight on, because then you are going to be a lot less smug.” I do run around a lot, though, and I play football, so that helps.
I was going to say that my left foot is my best feature, because of the football. My ex used to say that my big, bent nose was. She thought it made me look like a French film star, but I don’t think that’s true.
The above “Guardian” article can also be accessed online here.
Norman Bird seemed to have cornered the market in British films as nervous fusspots or hen-pecked husbands. Life always seemed such a worry to him. He was born in 1920 in Coalville, England. He made his West End debut in Peter Brook’s “A Winter’s Tale” in 1951. His many film credits include “The Angry Silence”, “Whistle Down the Wind”, “Victim” and “Term of Trial”. He made over 200 film appearances, the last been “Shadowlands” with Anthony Hopkins in 1993. Norman Bird died in 2005.
Tom Vallance’s obituary on Norman Bird in “The Independent”:
Norman Bird, actor: born Coalville, Leicestershire 30 October 1920; married 1954 Nona Blair (two daughters); died Wolverhampton, West Midlands 22 April 2005.
One of the British cinema’s most reliable character actors, Norman Bird was a moustached, anxious-looking, doleful figure who once described himself as “the man with the cardigan”. He excelled at playing working-class men, such as minor officials, sales clerks or henpecked husbands, a body of work succinctly described by Brian McFarlane’s Encyclopedia of British Film as “a wonderful gallery of under-achievers.”
Two of his best roles were those of factory workers – as a striker in Guy Green’s The Angry Silence (1960), and as shop steward Sid Stubbins in the television series Up The Workers (1973). He was memorably effective as the shifty farm labourer in Bryan Forbes’s beautiful study of childhood faith, Whistle Down the Wind (1961), and he will also be remembered as Mr Braithwaite (with Megs Jenkins as his wife) in the popular television series Worzel Gummidge (1979/80).
Born in 1920 (some sources say 1924) in Leicestershire, he did office work briefly before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He spent the war years in the RAF, then worked in repertory, where he met his wife, Nona Blair, later to be the voice of Joan Hood on The Archers. In 1950 he joined John Gielgud’s company to be an understudy in Christopher Fry’s The Lady’s Not for Burning, and he toured the United States with the play. The following year he made his London stage début in The Winter’s Tale, directed by Peter Brook.
He made his first appearance on screen in Guy Hamilton’s An Inspector Calls (1954), playing a factory foreman in this adaptation of J.B. Priestley’s play starring Alastair Sim. It was the first of over 60 film roles, and he was even more prolific on television, claiming to have made over 200 appearances.
While at Rada, he had formed a lifelong friendship with Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes, and his second film was their production League of Gentlemen (1959), directed by Basil Dearden. In this delightful caper movie (the sixth biggest UK box-office hit of its year) he was the former bomb disposal officer who was responsible for the deaths of four men in his unit while drunk on duty. Now living with a nagging wife who dotes on her senile father, a TV soap-opera addict, he is a willing recruit into a team of former military men who apply their wartime skills to bring off an elaborate heist.
Next came The Angry Silence (1960), the first film to be made by Beaver Films, a production company formed by Attenborough and Forbes, and Bird played in several other films directed by Forbes, including Whistle Down the Wind, The Wrong Box (1966), The Raging Moon (1970) and The Slipper and the Rose (1976). He was also in Attenborough’s Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) and Young Winston (1972) and his last screen role was that of a taxi-driver in Attenborough’s Shadowlands (1993).
Other notable roles included a closet homosexual being blackmailed in Basil Dearden’s ground-breaking drama Victim (1961), the commandant of a military stockade in Sidney Lumet’s The Hill (1965), and he was the voice of Bilbo Baggins in Ralph Bakshi’s animated version of Lord of the Rings (1978).
His television roles included Z Cars, The Saint, The Avengers (a 1966 episode titled “Silent Dust”), Dixon of Dock Green, Steptoe and Son, Coronation Street (the role of Joe Hibbert in 1978), Yes, Minister (as another trade union official), and Boon. His last television role was that of a grandfather in the political drama, Crossing the Floor (1996).
In 1992 Bird and his wife, who lived in Middlesex, moved to Bridgnorth, Shropshire, to be near their two daughters and five grandchildren.
Tom Vallance
The above “Independent” obituary can be also accessed online here.
Dorothy Alison was a lovely Australian actress who featured in some fine British films in the 1950’s. She was born in Broken Hill in New South Wales. Her first film was “Sons of Matthew” in 1949 in her home country. Her first British film was “Mandy” in 1952. It is one of Alison’s most fondly remembered film performance as the sympathetic teacher of the hearing-impaired who finally gets a young girl to utter sounds in Alexander Mackendrick’s “Mandy” (1952). She gave warm and winning performances in “The Maggie”, “The Long Arm. “Reach for the Sky” and she was especially touching in “The Nun’s Story” in 1959. She played Meryl Streep’s mother in “A Cry in the Dark” in 1988. She died in London in 1992 at the age of 66.
Dorothy Alison was born on April 4, 1925 in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia as Dorothy Dickson. She was an actress, known for See No Evil (1971), A Town Like Alice(1981) and The Nun’s Story (1959). She was married to Leslie Linder. She died on January 17, 1992 in London, England.
“Encyclopedia of British Film” by Brian McFarlane:
“Incisive but sympathetic, Alison was one of the most reliable character players in 1950s British cinema. After two Australian films, “The Sons of Matthew” (1949) and “Eureka Stockade” (1949), she attracted favourable critical notice as the teacher of the deaf in Ealing’s “Mandy” (1952), as ‘Nurse Brace’ in the Douglas Bader biopic “Reach for the Sky” (1956) and as the young housewife who rescues a deranged Richard Attenborough in “The Man Upstairs” (1958) among others. She returned to ASustralian TV and films in the early 1980s, notable as Meryl Streep’s mother in “”Evil Angels” in 1988″
David Whitfield was born in 1925 in Kingston on Hull in Yorkshire. He had many popular Top Ten hits in Britain in the 1950’s per the rock’n’roll era. Among his most famous songs are “Cara Mia”, “Answer Me” and “Marta”. He made only one film “Sea Wife” which starred Richard Burton and Joan Collins. He was featured in may episodes of the television series “William Tell”. He died in 1980 aged 54 in Sydney, Australia.
Artist Biography by Sharon Mawer in “All Music”:
David Whitfield was born on the 2nd of February 1925 in Kingston Upon Hull and as a child, became a choir boy in St. Peter’s Church and began a lifelong love of singing which made him Britain’s most successful solo male star of the chart’s early years 1953-1956 until the advent of Rock n Roll. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 17 and served in the Far East as well as being part of the D Day landings in France in 1944. During his days in the Navy, he would entertain shipmates and also at base hospitals. Returning to civilian life after the war, he began working in the concrete business until a break came as he appeared on the talent show Opportunity Knocks on Radio Luxembourg. The host of the show, Hughie Green got him a booking at the Washington Hotel in the West End of London where a talent scout from Decca records heard him singing and signed him to the label. His first couple of releases were not successful, but the third song, a recording of Bridge Of Sighs finally broke him into the top 10 (the chart was only a top 12 at that time) and the next release, Answer Me went all the way to no.1 despite a partial ban by the BBC for the song’s religious connotations. It had to share the top position with Frankie Laine’s version of the same song and after further top 10 hits, Rags To Riches and The Book (another religious song), he delivered the big one, an absolute cracker of a tenor ballad called Cara Mia backed by Mantovani & His Orchestra which spend 10 weeks at no.1 during July and August 1954 and was the record that earned him a golden disc for one million sales. Cara Mia was also a hit in the US and Whitfield was invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show as well as being one of the stars of the 1954 Royal Command Performance alongside Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Guy Mitchell, Norman Wisdom, Max Bygraves, Frankie Laine and Howard Keel. Many more hits followed throughout the 1950s but Rock n Roll was destroying the career of many singers who appeared old fashioned and part of the establishment. His final hit was a re-issue of one his earlier songs I Believe in 1960 but that only reached no.49. He recorded I’ll Find You, the song that was used as the theme to the film Sea Wife and continued touring throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His only album chart entry was the Decca compilation World Of David Whitfield which hit no.19 on the separate mid price charts which ran in the UK during the early 1970s. While on tour in Australia in 1980, he suffered a brain haemorrhage and died on the 16th January. His ashes were flown back to the UK where they were carried out to sea, south of Spurn Point near his birthplace of Hull. Over 50 years on, he is still one of only six artists to have spent 10 or more consecutive weeks at no.1 on the singles charts.
The above article can also be accessed online here.
Suzan Farmer was born in Kent in 1942. Her first film was “The Supreme Secret” in 1958. Her other films include “The Wild and the Willing” with Ian McShane to whom she was married from 1965 until 1968. She featured in several Hammer productions such as “The Scarlet Blade” and “Devil Ship Pirates”. Thread on Suzan Farmer on “Britmovie” website here.
James MacPherson is best known for his role as D.I. Jardine in the long running television series “Taggart”. He was born in Hamilton, Scotland in 1960. He first appeared on “Taggart” and featured in 48 episodes of the series. In 2002 he starred in a number of episodes of “The Bill” and in 2005 was in the film “Summer Solstice”.
IMDB mini biography:
James MacPherson was born on March 18, 1960 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He is an actor, known for Taggart (1983), The Scots Detective (2000) and Hurricanes (1993). He has been married to Jacqueline since 1986. They have three children.
George Baker was born in 1931 in Varna, Bulgaria. He trained at the Old Vic. He made his film debut in 1953 in “The Intruder”. He made his breakthrough in “The Ship that Died of Shame”. Other film highlights include “The Dam Busters”, “The Moonraker”, “A Hill in Korea” and “Goodbye Mr Chips”. He is of course most famous for his long running television series “Inspector Wexford”.
George Baker’s “Independent” obituary:
In 1987, two detectives from contemporary literature were transferred to television and their screen lives ran in parallel for 14 years.
While John Thaw stepped into the opera-loving shoes of Colin Dexter’s Oxford sleuth Inspector Morse, George Baker had his first outing as Ruth Rendell’s Shakespeare-quoting Detective Chief Inspector Wexford in “Wolf to the Slaughter”.
The 6ft 4in Baker traded his crisp vowels for a regional burr in the roleof the affable, fatherly figure investigating crimes in the fictional south of England market town Kingsmarkham. With his dour sidekick, Detective Inspector Mike Burden (Christopher Ravenscroft), he plodded thoughtfully through an alarmingly high number of murder cases.
Reg Wexford was also a dependable husband and doting father, and Rendell revealed that the character traits were taken from her own father. She was so enamoured with Baker’s portrayal that she admitted to writing The Veiled One, the first new Wexford novel published after the television adaptations began, with him in mind.
Following the stand-alone first mini-series, the programmes – featuring 23 stories in all and running until 2000 – were screened as The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and, occasionally, The Ruth Rendell Mystery Movie. Location filming was done in and around the Hampshire town of Romsey, not far from Baker’s own home in Wiltshire.
In 1992, his second wife, the actress Sally Home, died after a three-year fight against cancer. The following year, he married Louie Ramsay – who played his screen wife, Dora, in the Wexford dramas and was a long-time friend of the couple – calling her his “soulmate” and adding: “Sally was the love of my life. With Louie, the love is quite different, but it’s almost as strong.” Ramsay died last March.
Baker was born at the British Embassy in Varna, Bulgaria, where his father, Frank – originally from Wetherby, West Yorkshire – was the honorary British vice-consul. A literate, cultured individual who was a writer and expert wine-taster, Baker was at pains to point out that, according to diplomatic etiquette, he was born on British soil.
When the Second World War broke out, he, his Irish mother Eva and four brothers and sisters moved to Yorkshire. Baker attended Lancing College, West Sussex, before joining Deal repertory company, in Kent, when he was just 15. During national service in Hong Kong he served with the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment. As a horse rider he was made regimental equitation officer but returned to Britain after contracting the intestinal disease sprue, and finished his Army service on a training range in Pembrokeshire.
Baker then acted in repertory theatre across Britain before making his London début as Arthur Wells in a revival of the Frederick Lonsdale drawing-room comedy Aren’t We All? (Haymarket Theatre, 1953). Many roles followed in the West End, and with the Old Vic company (1959-60) and the RSC (1975). He also directed some plays himself, including The Sleeping Prince (St Martin’s Theatre, 1968) and The Lady’s Not for Burning (Old Vic Theatre, 1978). As artistic director, Baker launched his own provincial touring company, Candida Plays (named after his eldest daughter), in 1966.
Film casting directors spotted his matinee-idol looks early on. His first screen appearance, alongside Jack Hawkins, was in The Intruder (1953) and he followed it with a role in theSecond World War drama The Dam Busters (1955). Then came star billing in another war film, A Hill in Korea (1956), and the Civil War adventure The Moonraker (1958).
Baker’s six-week affair with Brigitte Bardot while he was at Pinewood Studios filming The Woman for Joe (1955) and she was making Doctor at Sea put a strain on his marriage to the costume designer Julia Squire, which also suffered from the constant pressure of being in debt. He lived with Sally Home for 10 years before she became his second wife. His confidence was knocked by the film director Tony Richardson’s description of him as the worst actor in England and another disappointment was the James Bond author Ian Fleming’s assertion that Baker would make the perfect 007, before the part went to Sean Connery.
However, Baker appeared in three Bond films: as a Nasa engineer in You Only Live Twice (1967), Captain Benson in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), in which he also dubbed the voice of George Lazenby – in that actor’s one screen appearance as the secret agent – for a scene in which 007 impersonates his character.
Television began to play a bigger part in Baker’s career, with dramatic roles such as the second Number Two in The Prisoner (1967), Tiberius in I, Claudius (1976) and Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn in four feature-length adaptations of Ngaio Marsh’s novels, made in New Zealand in 1977.
He also had some success in sitcoms. After playing Peter Craven’s boss in The Fenn Street Gang (1972), Baker was spun off into his own series, Bowler (1973), in which he was seen as a spiv and petty villain trying to exude class but failing abysmally. Later, alongside Penelope Keith in the first two series of No Job for a Lady (1990-91), he played the Conservative MP Godfrey Eagan, sparring with the newly elected Labour MP Jean Price.
As a writer, Baker adapted four of the Ruth Rendell stories himself and scripted many radio dramas and the television play The Fatal Spring (1980), about the First World War poets Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, which won the United Nations Media Prize Award of Merit.
In 1999, Baker underwent surgery to remove his prostate gland after being diagnosed with cancer. His autobiography, The Way to Wexford, was published three years later. He also collected together recipes from his own culinary exploits in A Cook for All Seasons (1989). In 2007, Baker was made an MBE for youth club fund-raising activities in his then home village of West Lavington, Wiltshire.
