The star penned: "Anybody would be insane to choose to live such a very difficult life. Despite his success, he had, in fact, always had a certain invisibility. Stanley Baxter as panto dame May 1985:Baxter was desperately unhappy, his personal life a battlefield as he constantly lived in dread of being exposed in the press as a gay man. Im a character actor. One of Scotland's greatest comedians has come out as gay but admitted: "I never wanted to be, I still don't." Stanley Baxter, 94, said that he and his wife, Moira Robertson, knew that he was. . They included women, from Shirley Bassey to, later, the Princess of Wales, each precisely observed. I tried to keep things calm and said, Okay, okay, well if you want to get engaged, we could try it for a year or so and see what happens., Just after the window ledge moment, Stanley was handed a Get Out of Jail Free card. Those who didnt want to be troubled with it could simply take it at face value. And then my impulse to pick up the trail again received further encouragement, when, out of the blue, one of the many former associates of Baxter with whom I had placed calls finally decided to ring me back. I thought, I really hate this. Like his previous TV specials, it was a delirious collection of sketches and set-pieces featuring Baxter in character (his meticulously observed parodies of women like Shirley Bassey and Marlene Dietrich were a trademark), complete with spectacular sets and breathtaking changes of costume and make-up. So, no pantos either then? I don't wish that to stop. . But unknown to the world, Granny and the eponymous hero had decided to marry. The honeymoon night predictably was a disaster. I don't want to be involved in this kind of world'. The star, who is best known for his self-titled comedy shows and his childrens TV series Mr Majeika, stepped away from the spotlight 25 years ago. Stanley explained he had tender feelings for Moira but agreeing to continue the relationship was real weakness on my part. And so, a few weeks later, I did the right journalistic thing and rang Mentorn and Channel 4. Chic, with hooded eyes, Moira could have been Bette Davis's younger sister. . Stanley Baxter (pictured) was married for 46 years, but he reveals in his new autobiography beneath his cheerful exterior lies a man tortured by the fact he is gay. She is the. Although we'd spend lots of time in each other's beds, nothing happened. Moira was dead on her bed from an overdose. Today aged 94, he lives as he has for 25 years a virtual recluse at his flat in Highgate Village, North London. I dont see Stanley ever leaving himself that vulnerable hes too self- obsessed a cookie), not about Baxter the human being. She looked up at me, shrugged and said Oh, I don't care about that at all. Something was happening between us but I didn't wish to acknowledge the fact. Vergrern Sie die Reichweite Ihrer Marke authentisch und teilen Sie Markeninhalte mit Kreativen im Internet. Who was this man, who inspired so much silence? The rest was silence. Stanley Baxter specials became vanishingly rare: one at Christmas 1976, the next at Easter 1979. Whatever changes come into society, they have already learnt discretion. Later, they decamped to an island outside the city. Stanley Baxter, Actor: Crooks Anonymous. His sketch shows were months in the making and the talk of the nation spectacular, controversial, unlike anything ever seen. Absolutely not? Alpha Events. Moira's behaviour became more alarming. For years, they have resisted the English trend towards pop and soap stars making fools of themselves in tights, in favour of veteran panto specialists like Baxter. Tayside & Stirling. Many weeks later, I was browsing for biographical material on someone else when I came across an old copy of Whos Who In Television, with an entry on Baxter. Rather than resolve the issue, I let it slip. Moira tried to take her own life on two occasions. Its a long season in Scotland, it runs from November through to February. Wearing a calf-length tweed coat with a smart scarf folded across the throat. 'I. Pull out the pin, and its every man for himself. She visited the LWT studios while her husband's show was recording, and danced in the lobby when she was not allowed onto the stage. When hes like this, one could die for him. 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But even today he finds it difficult to discuss the case, referring to it as 'le scandale'. Feeling she was too ill to travel, Baxter told her she must stay in London. He was working out in a gym and swimming several lengths of the RAC pool every day. Clerical Office Worker. And wasnt marriage about compromise? Not at all? What Williams didnt know, however, was the pressure Stanley had been under. I turned to walk away. I told her my preference and said, Thats why I am breaking off the relationship. People who knew you knew the shorthand and the jargon. Yet my interest had been rekindled, my hopes raised, before being dashed against the same old stonewalling. 'I'm too afraid of what people will think of me,' he said. I called his office, who promised to ring back with a comment, but didnt. Perhaps that is why hardly anyone noticed when, after 1985, he left the television spotlight altogether, just as the glare was getting hotter. The most outrageously funny man on British television 50 years ago was Stanley Baxter. This was the defining moment of Stanleys life. He felt guilty when he moved out, unable to share a home with her any longer. She's just 18 years old and has already started her astronaut training to be the first person to walk on Mars in 2033. Other cuttings described him as practically a recluse. . They all wanted him: Aspel, Parkinson. As I approached the flats, a figure bundled up in odd layers of clothing and a heavy overcoat came towards me, and turned towards the gate. THE LEAVES on the pavement were being sucked upwards by the cold wind, or turned to mush by rain. The last panto was in 1991, wasnt it? But Stanley couldnt contain his sexual frustrations. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika . That counts for a lot in this part of north London, where there are more antique shops than newsagents. The front door was open. Your Trusted Advocate. Again. You. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com. He moved to London eight years later. It said, words to the effect of, 'I'll let you off if you don't want to marry me'. Lara Clark, who said she was terribly sorry, but she couldnt show me round: the RAC liked to keep a low profile. Baxter himself often spoke of wanting to die. Baxter was 46, and thought their two-day fling would be no more than a brief encounter. In 1949, it was illegal to be gay and entrapment of homosexual men by covert police officers was common. He had to get on with it, focus on finishing the last 10 days of the panto season and his last 10 days at the Citz. They became lovers. WHEN DOES curiosity become intrusion? 'I'm not. His agent was still stonewalling, and his old television company had forgotten him. He adds, his voice dark: 'The truth is, I don't really want to be me.'. I began to be scared someone else would do better than me on stage, and my mother would clatter me.'. And I did love her deeply, in my own way.. Me, said David White. . Experiences in the Far East during his concert party stint confirmed to the Scot where his heart lay. However he changed his mind when she became very, very upset and appeared to be heartbroken. Baxter resolved to repress his sexuality when he returned to Glasgow two years later to live, as he put it, 'as a straight actor'. His act was so daring that he was probably the first TV comedian to impersonate the Queen. So he just thought: No, its all too much for me. It was in CSE that Baxter met openly gay men for the first time. They went on a trip to Amsterdam together in 1964, although Williams who described their sitting in clubs with a load of poofs returned to Britain early. You know, the same sort of thing as Kenneth Williams. Shall we say affinity, I asked? Millions were scandalised and breathless with laughter. May 2021 - Present1 year 9 months. Marcus was a constant support. LWTs press officer had never even heard of him, but promised to investigate. Anxious, he took a taxi to the house. One diary entry, for March 1954, described Baxter as suspicious and ungenerous and said that being with him was like sitting on an oven. And she never knew of the window ledge incident. He loved the applause 'a hundred people shouting 'Bravo' and I'm beating the adults to the prizes'. It was a golden period for British film-making, and he appeared in mildly successful black-and-white movies like the Highland comedy Geordie and Very Important Person, in which he starred alongside James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips. . The Real Stanley Baxter by Brian Beacom is published by Luath Press Ltd, 20. Then he vanished from our lives, leaving so little trace that few people even remarked on his disappearance. But a fellow member of the club in Pall Mall, which costs up to 500 a year, confirmed that Baxter was frequently there. This builders daughter and art school graduate was a clever and attractive, if rather ethereal, young woman. However, Moira was very, very upset. He is now out of the public eye, but appeared in ITV special Stanley Baxter: Now and Then in 2008 and Channel 5 documentary Comedy National Treasures: Stanley Baxter in 2019. Williams believed Stanley to be taking advantage of Moira and a traitor to the cause. Hed be a bit suspicious if a tabloid or something like that was trying to turn him over. He joined the Citizen's Theatre Company in the Gorbals, an idealistic group performing Ibsen and Shaw to working-class audiences. . Yes, there would be a show. Certainly not Kenneth Williams: 'I remember sitting with him in an Italian restaurant, and telling him that I was very low. Meanwhile, Moira had landed part-time work with a milliner but it didnt seem to hold her interest. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Moira's connections and jobs at similar companies. Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Writer and broadcaster, Interviewer of the Year for the Mail, winner of Radio Academy gold with BBC Radio 4. His associates would not return my calls. I like to retreat into playing other people. Managing Director. As he grew up, she was intensely jealous and would shoo away any girls who admired him: 'She started telling me about these two boys who once took a wee girl into a haunted house up the road and did terrible things to her. Stanleys marriage to Moira became difficult over the next few years, as she struggled with mental health issues and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Stanley Baxter is one of the most successful entertainers of his generation and for many years had his own Bafta-winning TV series. "There are many gay people these days who are fairly comfortable with their sexuality, fairly happy with who they are. Other members included Kenneth Williams, with whom Baxter formed a close friendship that was troubled but life-long.It was quite a strong thing, said Young. What none but his closest friends realised was that Baxter was desperately unhappy, his personal life a battlefield. She became disruptive. Ill tell you, he said, managing to communicate weariness down the line. The critics loved it. Published by Luath Press Ltd, 20. Theres a great move afoot for them to be repeated, to have a compilation made of them for the States and Canada, and all that, but thats still being worked on. The star was honest with her about being gay and told her: This would be NO life for you, married to someone who is essentially and primarily homosexual.. moira@scoliosisbracing.co.za +27 76 883 9526 Virginia Way Offices 0 Hamman Street Stellenbosch And we never really discovered who he was, other than a brilliant character actor and impersonator; as the rules of celebrity changed, he simply refused to play by them. It was all very selfish of me and a bit macho. 'Anybody else would have gotten rid of me but she was devoted. He later recalled trying to use his scripts to hide hands encrusted with coal dust, an early indication of the self- consciousness that was to become as ingrained as the coal.Invalided out of the mines with an ear problem, Baxter joined the left- wing Unity Theatre in Glasgow. Wait and see, was the answer. Helen Wright, 67, and Moira. I thought she would be still be heartbroken. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. We are lucky at The Herald. We like to think we can find out anything about anyone, as a matter of professional pride, and the challenge of doing so can get under your skin. Exclusively representing clients who are going through a divorce and . At one point during my researches I was intrigued to meet a person in north London who had lived near the Baxters for a while in recent years, and who believed that they now lived apart, but that Stanley visited his wifes new home for lunch most days. Fred Baxter, knowing his son was unconvincing in the role of Happy Groom, attempted a last-minute derailment. Just a decade ago, his annual television spectaculars were as much a part of Christmas as turkey and hangovers: in December 1985, more than 14 million people tuned in to watch the monkey-faced Scotsman mimic the Queen, in a lavish show that included a full-scale orchestra and battalions of dancers. But more than that, he feared his fiercely ambitious mother. Getting dark. Find him.. She would turn up at the stage door in Glasgow, unannounced. . Stanley maintains incredible control, but he can also come on like the wee woman on the stairhead talking about the price of mince, said Mary Brennan, who reviews around 20 panto performances a year. He rang back the next day, but the news was bad. A wee'un would surely have grown up with problems and taken drugs.'. Kenny thought I was making a terrible mistake, says Stanley. Well, if I do, perhaps yours will be the one. I wondered if I could have a word? Recluse. There was some communication, through Andy Young, who had been authorised to tell me that Baxter was refusing all work except voice-overs and radio. But Stanley, and Moiras family, coaxed her to take medication. Liked by Moira Robertson. This would be no life for you, married to someone who is essentially and primarily a homosexual.'. But Ill tell you the basic outline. Scots who never visit a theatre for the rest of the year still find their way to the panto, where the scenarios and jokes have the familiarity of ritual. A bit boring! 'She told me she was hearing voices,' Baxter says. He was also aware of the need to have a cover. This was Angus Lennie, once the chef in Crossroads. He lived in dread of being exposed in the press as a gay man. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Face full of character. Was a clever and attractive, if rather ethereal, young woman shows were months in the making the. In a gym and swimming several lengths of the Year for the first time adults to the Independent Standards! Sie Markeninhalte mit Kreativen im Internet teilen Sie Markeninhalte mit Kreativen im Internet & # x27 ; s connections jobs! Face value people who knew you knew the shorthand and the talk the. Must stay in London the making and the jargon impersonate the Queen gay men for the first TV to... 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