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.)

Kenny Baker born 1 March 1921

Kenny Baker MBE (1 March 1921 – 7 December 1999) was an English jazz trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn player, and a composer. 

Kenny Baker was born in Withernsea, Yorkshire. Both his parents were musical and he credited his mother with giving him a thorough musical grounding in theory and harmony at a very early age. This stood him in good stead when he wanted to arrange and compose. He began by playing piano, sax, violin and piano-accordian before switching to tenor horn and then cornet. While in Withernsea he played in the Gospel Mission Band and by the age of 17 was leading his own band at the Queens hotel.

When the family moved to Hull he played local gigs as well as playing in the West Hull Silver Band. In 1940 he came to London with comedian Sandy Powell for a three week season at the London Coliseum. He worked in the theatre first with Lew Stone for the revue Under your Hat and then in the Jack Buchanan show Top Hat and Tails. He worked with Ambrose, Maurice Winnick and Ken "Snakehips" Johnson before joining the RAF in 1942. Here he began his big band training playing in the RAF Fighter Command Band and also the American Base Command Dance Band. He also called up, when available to do forces programmes  with Ambrose, the Squadronaires, Geraldo and Sidney Gross until his discharge from the RAF. 

Baker was first heard on record in a British public jam session in 1941 and quickly established a strong reputation in London clubs. He was brass band trained and had faultless technical command. In 1945 the young Baker was lead trumpeter with Ted Heath's post war orchestra, and with Jack Parnell is credited with stopping Ted Heath having the "sweet" band that he wanted. They consistently brought a jazz feel to the music. Baker was a featured soloist in the Ted Heath band, he was by now a virtuoso performer and recorded "Bakerloo Non-Stop" for the Decca record label in 1946. He played a tenor saxophone solo on "Johnny Gray", the piece recorded by both Baker and the drummer Jack Parnell. He  remained with Heath until the end of 1948, occasionally returning for one off performances through to the 1990s. 

                              

In the 1950’s he led and recorded with a variety of bands including probably his best jazz group the 'Baker's Dozen' that had a regular late night broadcast on the BBC from 1952 for many years with the Light Programme series Let's Settle For Music. By now he was constantly in demand as a freelance in the theatre, for broadcasts, films as well as playing theatres as a solo variety act. 

In this period he played with many top USA stars including Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Billy May, Bobby Hackett, Bing Crosby, Billy Eckstine and even Billie Holiday at London's Festival Hall in 1954. He he was regularly performing in studios with his numerous jazz recordings appearing as a quartet for Parlophone, and groups of all kinds for Nixa and others. 

A notable appearance on soundtrack for Baker was a long hot trumpet solo mimed by Kay Kendall (who like Baker was a native of Withernsea, a small Yorkshire coastal town) in the 1954 film Genevieve. He regularly emerged to play at jazz clubs often with co-trumpeter John McLevey. Baker's skills brought him wider prominence, starting in 1955 when he appeared at Blackpool with the up-and-coming comic pair of Morecambe and Wise. 

He also went on to share top billings with other big comedy variety acts of the day, such as Tommy Trinder, Benny Hill and Ken Dodd. Appearing on the BBC's Big Band Special in 1962, leading British jazzman John Dankworth said, "Everybody regarded him on a different level to any other trumpeter in the British Isles. He was a world class performer." 

His career saw him play with alongside Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Tony Bennett. He also performed on James Bond soundtracks and with The Beatles. In addition, he was also heard on hundreds of TV programmes including The Muppet Show, through his involvement with the Jack Parnell Orchestra, which played for the now-defunct ATV company. In 1962, he recorded a light jazz set with Petula Clark at the Pye Studios at Great Cumberland Place, live and late at night with the Kenny Baker Trio. 

He often appeared on BBC Radio's Sounds of Jazz programme introduced by Peter Clayton in the 1970s with recordings made at the Maida Vale Studios in London and broadcast late on Sunday evenings. He formed the 'Best of British Jazz', which was a show with Don Lusher and Betty Smith. This group toured regularly in 1976 and after the death of Harry James in 1983, he was asked by the James Foundation to take over their orchestra; a request he declined.  His group, Baker's Dozen, reformed in 1993 for four sell-out nights at Ronnie Scott's in Birmingham, releasing an album of the set on Big Bear Records, The Boss Is Home (1994). 

He was presented with the best trumpet player title for the third time at the BT British Jazz Awards in 1999. He was also awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1999.  He was active until just a few months before his death He died in a hospital close to his home at Felpham, West Sussex, at the age of 78 after suffering from a viral infection for more than three weeks. (Edited from Henry Bebop & Wikipedia)

Here’s a clip of Kenny Baker playing "Mean to me" at the Royal Albert Hall in the mid 1990's. Kenny was a member of Laurie Johnston's London Big Band who were joined for the concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.