Leslie Baker (film executive)

{{Short description|British film executive}}

{{Other people|Leslie Baker}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}

Leslie Forsyth Baker, ACA, (30 April 1903 – 2 December 1981), was a British film executive based at Ealing Studios; he worked with his brother, Reginald Baker.

Biography

Baker entered the film industry in 1924 with Gainsborough Pictures; between 1930 and 1933, a senior partner in the accountancy firm of Baker, Todman and Co. He went on to become assistant general manager, production for Gainsborough and Gaumont British pictures corp, (1933–35). He was appointed director, secretary and general production manager and associate producer for Twentieth Century Productions Ltd, (1938–43). He joined Ealing studios as secretary in 1943 and was elected to the board in 1946."Kinematograph Year Book 1947", published by London, Kinematograph Publications Ltd, p.57

Baker married, in 1932, Doris Kathleen GodwinGeneral Register Office, England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, District. West Ham, vol. 4a, p. 740 born in Bristol to Leonard George Godwin, a Bread maker based in Essex.

Baker died at the age of 78.General Register Office, England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, District. Worthing, vol. 18, p. 2314

Family

Baker was the father of Anglican priest John Baker (1936-1988), vicar of Newick, Sussex who became acquainted sometime in 1983 with British con man Derry Mainwaring Knight"The Sussex Devils: A true story of the 1980s Satanic panic", by Marc Heal, published by Unbound (2015) (1939-2016). Knight who claimed to have been initiated into a cult called the Sons of Lucifer, persuaded Baker to help him financially in his crusade against satanism. In 1986, Knight appeared at the Crown Court in Maidstone, Kent and was convicted of 19 charges of fraud and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.

Filmography

References

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Sources

  • The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States (1931–40), by Patricia King Hanson and Alan Gevinson, published by University of California Press (1993).
  • Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome & Fantastic, by John Howard Reid, published by Lulu.com