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Kenneth Laurence "Kenny" Baker (30 September 1912 – 10 August 1985) was an American singer/actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
's radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 shows during the 1930s.

At the height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in 1939 (succeeded by Dennis Day
Dennis Day

Dennis Day , born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio and television personality.Day was born and raised in New York City, the son of Irish immigrants....
, whose lilting tenor was similar to Baker's), he appeared in seventeen film musicals (At the Circus
At the Circus

At the Circus is a 1939 in film Marx Brothers comedy film in which they save a Circus from bankruptcy. It is notable for Groucho Marx's classic rendition of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." and co-stars include Margaret Dumont, Eve Arden, and Kenny Baker ....
, The Harvey Girls
The Harvey Girls

The Harvey Girls is a MGM musical film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about Fred Harvey 's famous Harvey House restaurants. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O'Brien, Ray Bolger, and Marjorie Main....
) and later co-starred with Mary Martin
Mary Martin

Mary Virginia Martin was an Tony Award and Emmy Award winning actress. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music....
 in the original Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 production of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill , was a Germany, and in his later years American, composer active from the 1920s until his death. He was a leading composer for the theatre....
 and Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash

Frederic Ogden Nash was an United Statesn poet well known for his Light poetry. At the time of his death in 1971, the The New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry"....
's One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus

One Touch of Venus is a musical theatre with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth....
.






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Kenneth Laurence "Kenny" Baker (30 September 1912 – 10 August 1985) was an American singer/actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
's radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 shows during the 1930s.

At the height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in 1939 (succeeded by Dennis Day
Dennis Day

Dennis Day , born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio and television personality.Day was born and raised in New York City, the son of Irish immigrants....
, whose lilting tenor was similar to Baker's), he appeared in seventeen film musicals (At the Circus
At the Circus

At the Circus is a 1939 in film Marx Brothers comedy film in which they save a Circus from bankruptcy. It is notable for Groucho Marx's classic rendition of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." and co-stars include Margaret Dumont, Eve Arden, and Kenny Baker ....
, The Harvey Girls
The Harvey Girls

The Harvey Girls is a MGM musical film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about Fred Harvey 's famous Harvey House restaurants. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O'Brien, Ray Bolger, and Marjorie Main....
) and later co-starred with Mary Martin
Mary Martin

Mary Virginia Martin was an Tony Award and Emmy Award winning actress. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music....
 in the original Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 production of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill , was a Germany, and in his later years American, composer active from the 1920s until his death. He was a leading composer for the theatre....
 and Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash

Frederic Ogden Nash was an United Statesn poet well known for his Light poetry. At the time of his death in 1971, the The New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry"....
's One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus

One Touch of Venus is a musical theatre with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth....
. He returned to radio as a regular performer on Fred Allen
Fred Allen

Fred Allen was an United States comedian whose absurdist, pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio....
's Texaco Star Theater
Texaco Star Theater

Texaco Star Theater, a comedy-variety show , was one of the first successful examples of United States television broadcasting. Remembered best as the show that made a household name out of comedian Milton Berle, the show's root was radio---first, in a manic late-1930s version starring Ed Wynn; then, the classic 1940-44 version, hosted b...
 program of 1940-1942. Baker also recorded a number of hymn albums for his church. After retiring from performing in the early 1950s, he became a Christian Science practitioner
Christian Science practitioner

A Christian Science practitioner is an individual who follows the practice of healing through prayer according to the teachings of Christian Science....
 and motivational speaker.

He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
 in Solvang, California
Solvang, California

Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, California, United States. The city of Solvang is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley....
.

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