Marilyn Cantor Baker
{{short description|American actress and author}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}{{Infobox person
| name = Marilyn Cantor Baker
| birth_name = Marilyn Cantor
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|09|16}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|09|17|1921|09|16}}
| death_place = New York City
}}
Marilyn Cantor Baker (September 16, 1921 – September 17, 2010){{Cite news |date=2010-09-19 |title=Marilyn Baker obituary |work=The New York Times}} was an American actress, author, writer, producer, and comedian. She appeared on Broadway and smaller theaters, in nightclubs, on television, and on radio.
Early life and education
Baker was born in New York City on {{Format date|1921|09|16}}{{Cite news |date=1921-09-20 |title=Notes of the Theater |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-notes-of-the-theater/140416955/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=New York Herald |pages=11}} to Eddie Cantor, a star of stage, screen, and radio as well as a songwriter and singer, and his wife Ida.Obituary Variety, October 14, 1964. She was their fourth daughter, and named after actress Marilyn Miller, whom Eddie had acted with.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ri3aAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Marilyn+Cantor+Baker%22&q=%22Marilyn+Cantor+Baker%22&hl=en
|title=Record Research |date=1971 |publisher=Record Research. |pages=9 |language=en}} The family was Jewish.
Baker graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1945. While studying, she supported herself as a secretary, and as a radio announcer during World War II.{{Cite news |date=1959-04-29 |title=Marilyn Cantor, Guest of Honor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-marilyn-canto/140416209/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=17}}
Career
Upon graduation, she got bit parts in small productions the summer of 1945, and briefly worked in musical theater under the stage name Marilyn Curtis in the fall. She was also worked during that period as a disc jockey catering to children on New York's WHN radio station,{{Cite news |date=1946-04-19 |title=Here's Soot in My Eye; Marilyn Cantor Shuns West, takes New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-heres-soot-in/140412376/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=11}}{{Cite news |date=1946-03-06 |title=Listeing In with Sid Shalit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-listeing-in-with-sid-shalit/140413334/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |work=Daily News |pages=96}} becoming the first woman disc jockey in the city.
By 1950 she was headlining at nightclubs{{Cite news |date=1950-04-21 |title=Marilyn Cantor at Monte Carlo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-marilyn-cantor-a/140414930/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |pages=22}} and producing her own shows.{{Cite news |date=1950-06-23 |title=Off the Cuff? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-off-the-cuff/140414568/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |pages=16}}
In 1956 and 1957, she appeared in some of the early telethons for United Cerebral Palsy.{{Cite news |date=1956-04-01 |title=Cullen to Star In CP Telethon; Replaces 'Cop' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-news-leader-cullen-to-st/142743181/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |work=The Springfield News-Leader |pages=39}}{{Cite news |date=1956-05-13 |title=TV Stars Don't Dread 18-Hour Camera Stint |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-tv-stars-dont/140415597/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |pages=7}}{{Cite news |last=Kidder |first=Karl M. |date=1957-08-19 |title=Palsy Fund Raising Drive Success Remains In Doubt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee-palsy-fund-raising-drive/142744522/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |work=The Fresno Bee |pages=1}} She started her long-time volunteer work promoting Israel Bonds around 1958, an effort to help financially support the new Jewish state of Israel.{{Cite news |date=1958-08-08 |title=Marilyn Cantor Will Narrate Israel Fashion Show for Hadassah Program |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wisconsin-jewish-chronicle-marilyn-c/140415107/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle |pages=4}}{{Cite news |date=1958-09-01 |title=Comedian's daughter to be guest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-globe-democrat-comedians-daug/140415341/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat |pages=60}}{{Cite news |date=1958-12-16 |title='They Fussed, then Ignored Me' - But Marilyn Cantor Undismayed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-they-fussed-then-igno/140415872/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=The Toronto Star |pages=33}}
She appeared on stage and television with her father a number of times.
In 1970, she produced the off-Broadway musical Lyle, based on the Lyle books by Bernard Waber.{{Cite book |last=Dietz |first=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgOqZWHCLbUC&dq=%22Marilyn+Cantor+Baker%22&pg=PA272 |title=Off Broadway Musicals, 1910-2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows |date=2010-03-10 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5731-1 |pages=272 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=1970-01-28 |title=Eddie Cantor Daughters Shepherding a Musical |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/28/archives/eddie-cantor-daughters-shepherding-a-musical.html |work=The New York Times}} Her sister, Janet Cantor Gari, was the show's music director.
Baker wrote the short story Sidney Shorr, which in 1981 was adapted into a film and a television show called Love, Sidney.{{Cite book |last=Whitfield |first=Stephen J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cj_2I-6Xj60C&dq=%22Marilyn+Cantor+Baker%22&pg=PA129 |title=In Search of American Jewish Culture |date=1999 |publisher=UPNE |isbn=978-1-58465-171-0 |pages=129 |language=en}}
Personal life
She married Michael Baker in 1960. Newspaper accounts gave her age as 33 at the time, but she was actually 39.{{Cite news |date=1960-02-29 |title=Eddie Cantor Gets a Son |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-eddie-cantor-gets-a-son/140411445/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=Daily News |pages=24}} Together, they had a daughter, Lynne, and a son, Jed. They were married for over 50 years at her death in New York City on {{Format date|2010|09|17}}.
Daughter Lynne married Andrew (Drew) Eichner but later divorced him. They have three sons.{{Cite web |last=Schorn |first=Daniel |date=2006-09-13 |title=Making Divorce Easier On Kids - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/making-divorce-easier-on-kids/ |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}
Son Jedediah married Beth Sklar on {{Format date|1999|01|09}}{{Cite news |date={{Format date|1999|01|10}} |title=WEDDINGS; Beth Sklar and Jedediah Baker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/10/style/weddings-beth-sklar-and-jedediah-baker.html |access-date=2024-02-07 |work=New York Times |page=7 (Section 9)}} They have a son and a daughter.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=nm1419700}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Marilyn Cantor}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American Jews