![]() Hence, cant dogs stood in a corner next to the yard goods. ![]() You had to look, and in looking you could find that there was, spread before your eyes, almost everything that man, woman or child could need. There were no signs to designate the various departments. These were the major balms and musky aromas that blended to produce the heavenly redolence of the general store. Combining with these was the pungency of pounds of plug tobacco, each cut marked with a tin tag denoting Spearhead and Everyday Smoke, and the small open barrel labeled Pittsburgh Stogies. Modifying it were the milder and quite indescribable smells of unbleached muslin and the display of rubber and felt boots, buckle rubbers and moccasins. ![]() This was only the beginning, not the sum total, of the general store’s fragrance. Now add to this a mild dose of kerosene tinged strongly with salt salmon and dried cod. The general store’s bouquet came from its huge coffee mill, as bright red as a fire engine its great tin canisters of bulk tea and a vast cabinet of lesser canisters containing cinnamon bark, allspice, cloves and nutmeg seeds from which emanated the combined incense of India and the other spice countries. Not just any store in the village could muster this fragrance simply because most everything sold in other stores is packaged. Thomas Stewart Baker was born on Scotland Road in the Vauxhall area of Liverpool on 20 January 1934.The romance and enchantment of a general store begin when you enter and sniff the deep aroma of many spices, tobacco and the stove with its burning fragrance so distinct it can dissolve the years off any aging country boy. His mother, Mary Jane ( née Fleming) was a cleaner and devout Catholic. His father, John Stewart Baker, was a seaman and largely absent from the family due to being away at sea. īaker attended Cheswardine Hall Boarding School in Shropshire. At age 15, he became a novice religious brother with the Brothers of Ploermel (Brothers of Christian Instruction) in Jersey and later in Shropshire. He left the monastery six years later after losing his faith. In his autobiography, he said he realised he wanted to break each of the Ten Commandments in order and thought he should get out before he did something serious. He undertook his national service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving from 1955 until 1957. Upon leaving the army, he served in the Merchant Navy. He took up acting around 1956, joining the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup. He went on to become a professional actor in the late 1960s. Career Early work īaker was in his thirties when his professional acting career began. He had his first break in 1968 whilst performing in a late-night pub revue for the 1968 York Festival. ![]() His performance was seen by someone with the Royal National Theatre who encouraged him to audition for the company, then headed by Laurence Olivier. From 1968 to 1971, he was given small parts and understudied, one of his bigger roles being the horse Rosinante in Don Quixote. īaker's stage work led to work on television where he gained small parts in series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Market in Honey Lane and Softly, Softly. He had his first major film role was as Grigori Rasputin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) after Olivier had recommended him for the part. He was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer. In 1974, Baker took over the role of the Doctor from Jon Pertwee to become the Fourth Doctor in the BBC TV series.īaker appeared as Moore, an artist whose paintings are imbued with voodoo power, in The Vault of Horror (1973) and as Koura, the villainous sorcerer, in Ray Harryhausen's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973).īaker also appeared in Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1972 version of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales as the younger husband of the Wife of Bath. He was recommended to producer Barry Letts by the BBC's Head of Serials, Bill Slater, who had directed Baker in a Play of the Month production of Shaw's play The Millionairess. Impressed by Baker upon meeting him, Letts then became convinced he was right for the part after seeing his performance in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Baker was working on a construction site at the time, as acting jobs were scarce. Initially, he was dubbed "Boiler Suit Tom" by the media because he had been supplied for a press conference with some old studio set clothes to replace his modest garments. Letts left the series after producing Baker's debut story, Robot (1974–75), and was replaced by Philip Hinchcliffe.
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