Frank C. Baxter
| Doctor Frank C. Baxter |
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|---|---|
 Frank C. Baxter (left) and Eddie Albert from Our Mr. Sun |
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| Born | Francis Condie Baxter May 4, 1896 Newbold, New Jersey |
| Died | January 18, 1982 (aged 85) San Marino, California |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Citizenship |  United States |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania Cambridge University (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation | Professor, Actor |
| Employer | University of Southern California |
| Known for | Educational television |
| Notable work(s) | The Bell Laboratory Science Series |
| Television | Our Mr. Sun, Hemo the Magnificent |
| Title | Doctor |
| Spouse | Lydia Morris |
| Children | 2 |
Francis Condie Baxter (May 4, 1896 – January 18, 1982) was an American TV personality and educator.[1] He was a professor of English at the University of Southern California. Baxter hosted Telephone Time in 1957 and 1958 when ABC picked up the program and ended the tenure of John Nesbitt. During the 1950s, his program Shakespeare on TV won seven Emmy Awards.[2]
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[edit] Biography
Born in Camden, New Jersey, Baxter is best remembered for his appearance as Dr. Research in almost all of the Bell Laboratory Science Series of eight educational films produced for television in the late 1950s, and which became a staple in American classrooms from the 1960s through the 1980s. The Bell Laboratory Science Series combined scientific footage, live actors and animation to convey scientific concepts and history in a lively, entertaining way; and the bald, bespectacled and affable Baxter served as narrator, lecturer and host. These films made Baxter (who was not a scientist) something of a scientific icon among baby boomers. Several of Baxter's science films have been released on DVD.[3]
Baxter also appeared (as himself) in a prologue to the 1956 film The Mole People, in which he gave a brief history of theories of life beneath the surface of the earth.
In 1966, Baxter hosted a popular TV series called The Four Winds to Adventure, featuring filmmakers exploring little-known areas of the world, whether across continents, oceans, or local people and animals in a particular region.
Baxter died at age 85 in San Marino, California. His body was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a vault in Altadena's Mountain View Cemetery.
[edit] Awards
Baxter made history when he won the first Golden Gavel award by Toastmasters International. Baxter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
[edit] Selected filmography
- The Mole People (1956)
- Our Mr. Sun (1956)
- Hemo the Magnificent (1957)
- The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays (1957)
- Meteora: The Unchained Goddess (1958)
- Gateways to the Mind (1958)
- The Alphabet Conspiracy (1959)
- Thread of Life (1960)
- About Time (1962)
[edit] References
- ^ Templeton, David (September 23, 1999). "Weird Science: Are Dr. Frank Baxter and those wacky Bell Science films ready for a comeback?". Sonoma County Independent (San Jose, California: Metro Newspapers). ISSN 1074-309X. OCLC 29676731. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/09.23.99/bellscience-9938.html. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
- ^ Stewart, David (January 1996). "Frank Baxter, Television’s First Man of Learning". Current (Takoma Park, Maryland: Current LLC). http://www.current.org/education/ed9602baxter.shtml. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "Amazon.com: Our Mr. Sun/Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays: Eddie Albert: Movies & TV". amazon.com. Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AKY5Z.
[edit] Further reading
- Templeton, David (September 23-29, 1999). "Weird Science: Are Dr. Frank Baxter and those wacky Bell Science films ready for a comeback?". Sonoma County Independent. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/09.23.99/bellscience-9938.html. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
