Kenny Baker born 30 September 1912

Kenny Baker (September 30, 1912 – August 10, 1985) was an American singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on radio's The Jack Benny Program during the 1930s. His signature song became the title music he performed in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta 'A Wandering Minstrel.' 

Kenneth Laurence Baker was born in Monrovia, California. Before he became a star, Baker sang as a member of the Vitaphone chorus at Warner Bros. He was a young music student at Long Beach City College when his pristine tenor voice won him a radio contest. His initial reward was an engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, where he was brought to Benny's attention in the mid-1930s. 

Baker appeared in 17 film musicals, including Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937), At the Circus (1939), and The Harvey Girls, with Judy Garland (1946). He also starred in the 1939 movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. He later co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's One Touch of Venus (1943). He also was the off-screen singing voice for many actors in various Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney productions. 

Baker first appeared on Jack Benny's weekly radio program on November 3, 1935, having been hired to replace singer Frank Parker. Parker had been very popular on the Benny program, and with his departure, it was widely believed that Benny would lose a large part of his audience; however, Kenny Baker is said to have won audiences over almost instantly, even surpassing Parker in popularity. Baker portrayed a high-voiced, innocent young man on the show, who would frequently cause the Jack Benny character frustration with his "silly" remarks. 

                           

Baker's final regular appearance on Benny's radio show aired on June 25, 1939, leaving the $3,000 per week job because he no longer wanted to play the character. He was subsequently replaced by singer Dennis Day. After his four-year stint on the Benny program, Just before World War II he toured with Frances Langford in theaters across the country. Baker returned to radio as a regular performer on Fred Allen's Texaco Star Theater program (1940–1942). The singer himself, believe it or not, replaced the cigar-chomping Groucho Marx on a series entitled Blue Ribbon Town (1943-1944) because the producers thought Baker would be more entertaining. He was also heard on Glamour Manor (1945–1947). 

He had his own programs, the Kenny Baker Show and Sincerely – Kenny Baker (1946/7). The latter was syndicated by the Frederick W. Ziv Company via electrical transcription. Baker also recorded several albums of show tunes.  Baker had retired in the 1950s, telling the Los Angeles Times in 1954 that personal appearances across the country had made him "almost a stranger with his children." He became a Christian Science practitioner and motivational speaker and recorded a number of record albums of hymns for his church. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6329 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. 

On August 10, 1985, Baker died of a heart attack in Solvang, the small Danish resort community in Central California, where he lived in retirement with his family. He was 72 years old. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic, LA Times & IMDb) (Footnote: He is no relation to other performers named Kenny Baker which include a bluegrass fiddler, a British jazz trumpeter, and an R&B saxophonist, not to mention to the dimunitive actor famous for his portrayal of the robot R2-D2.)