Scottish actor and comedian Stanley Baxter, 99, died on Dec. 11. Born in Glasgow, Baxter worked in the coal mines during WWII, and started performing on the radio and onstage. "I probably became an entertainer to please mother," he said. "She was forthright, while father was a retiring man. I was more like him in nature but to please her I pushed myself forward." Success came by the 1960s--Baxter had his own TV variety show, from 1963-71, and he appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, including Wee Geordie, A Coming-Out Party, Crooks Anonymous, Father Came Too!, Joey Boy, and The Fast Lady. On TV, Baxter did impressions, drag (though he was not as high-camp as his friend Kenneth Williams), and Carol Burnett-like parodies of old movies. Baxter felt that many modern comics “lack repose. The comedians I love most really were the American ones. Well, particularly, Jack Benny who could stand there, raise one eyebrow and have the audience in hysterics. He was the only comedian I ever wanted to meet.”
