Early Life
George Baker was born on April 1, 1931, in Varna, Bulgaria, to an English father and an Irish mother. The family moved to England during his childhood. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and began his career on stage.
Major Role
Detective Chief Inspector Reg Wexford, Inspector Wexford (1987–2000)
Reg Wexford is the senior detective in the fictional Sussex town of Kingsmarkham — a man of intelligence, decency, and liberal instincts, operating in a world where murder is an intrusion into an otherwise orderly existence. Ruth Rendell’s novels gave Baker a character of genuine psychological complexity, and Baker played him across twelve years and twenty-three feature-length adaptations. The series was one of ITV’s most reliable crime drama performers through the 1990s, and Baker’s Wexford — thoughtful, compassionate, occasionally exasperated — was its centre. His partnership with DS Mike Burden (Christopher Ravenscroft) provided the show’s procedural engine, and his marriage to Dora (Louie Ramsay) gave the character a domestic foundation that television detectives rarely had. Baker played Wexford from 1987 until 2000, concluding the character with the same intelligence he had brought to the beginning.
Other Notable Work
Extensive film and television work including The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978), and the BBC’s acclaimed adaptation of I, Claudius (1976) as Tiberius. He was also a published novelist.
Acting Style
Baker worked through intelligence and warmth. His Wexford is a thinker — the cases are solved through consideration rather than confrontation — and Baker plays the consideration as genuine. The character’s decency is not performed; it is simply present.
Personal Life
Married three times. Four children. He died on October 7, 2011, aged 80.
Appeared In
- Played Inspector Reg Wexford in numerous television adaptations of Ruth Rendell’s mysteries from 1987 to 2000.
- Portrayed Tiberius in the 1976 drama serial ‘I, Claudius’.
- Played Inspector Roderick Alleyn in four feature-length adaptations of Ngaio Marsh’s novels in 1977.
- Appeared in the British comedy series ‘The Goodies’ episode ‘Tower of London’ as the ‘Chief Beefeater’.
- Played Captain Benson in the James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977).
- Appeared in the British comedy series ‘The Goodies’ episode ‘Tower of London’ as the ‘Chief Beefeater’.
- Played Captain Benson in the James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977).
- Appeared in the British comedy series ‘The Goodies’ episode ‘Tower of London’ as the ‘Chief Beefeater’.
- Played Captain Benson in the James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977).
- Appeared in the British comedy series ‘The Goodies’ episode ‘Tower of London’ as the ‘Chief Beefeater’.
In Closing
George Baker spent twelve years playing Reg Wexford — Ruth Rendell’s thoughtful, decent detective — and the performance was the anchor of one of ITV’s most enduring crime dramas.
For the broader cluster, see British Detective Dramas.