# Leslie David Baker

Leslie David Baker (born February 19, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Stanley Hudson on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), which earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Baker had recurring roles on the CMT sitcom Still the King (2016) and the Sky One comedy-drama series Living the Dream (2019). He had recurring voice roles on the Disney Junior series Puppy Dog Pals (2017–2022), the Apple TV+ series Doug Unplugs (2020–2022), and the HBO Max adult animated series Fired on Mars (2023). Baker had a starring role in the sports drama film Hard Miles (2023), and a supporting role in The Happytime Murders (2018). He had supporting voice roles in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and Vivo (2021).

## Early life

Baker was born on February 19, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Mendel Catholic College Preparatory High School in Chicago, Illinois in 1976. He holds a B.S. in psychology from Loyola University Chicago and an M.S. in human services administration from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. He taught special education and played an office worker in OfficeMax commercials while working on his MS degree. In Chicago, he worked for the Board of Education, the Department of Public Health, and the Office of Cable and Communications.

## Acting career

Baker moved to Los Angeles, California, in the late 1990s.

### The Office

   I still have the nine-to-five experience without the nine-to-five responsibilities. In the nine-to-five world, you don't have anybody who has your breakfast waiting for you in the morning, or lays out your wardrobe, or styles your hair.
Baker had another audition scheduled on the day he was called back for The Office. On his way to his Office audition, he was caught in traffic though producers thought he had been in the bathroom and thanked him for his patience. "By then I was kind of sweaty, my clothes were rumpled, and I was cranky," Baker later said. "The character was written the way I was feeling that day, and I just let 'er rip. Two weeks later I got a call: 'You got the pilot.'"
Baker's Office character, Stanley Hudson, is a sales representative for the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper distributor usually portrayed as a defiant, grouchy curmudgeon. It was said that his performance was "a standout" on the show, and with "his monotone voice and calm demeanor, he played well against the off-the-wall nature of many of the other characters." "Did I Stutter?" (season 4, 2008) has a focus on Baker's character; as with many supporting actors on The Office, some of Baker's scenes became memorable to fans. Stanley is rarely, but sometimes, given a "soft side"; in "Stairmageddon" (season 9, 2013), Baker plays a tranquilized, and then giddy, Stanley. At the conclusion of the series, Stanley says he is happy to be living in retirement in Florida.
He was part of the Office cast which won Screen Actors Guild Awards in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series category in 2007 and 2008.
In December 2017, after several former Office actors expressed interest in a revival of the series, The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg said of Baker, "Why wouldn't he return?!" After The Office ended in 2013, The Hollywood Reporter said that Baker has had few roles; Bustle said that he was "plenty busy with his other creative pursuits". In July 2020, Baker launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of a pilot for Uncle Stan, a proposed spin-off series of The Office focusing on Stanley as he moves to Los Angeles, California, to help his widowed nephew Lucky run his failing motorcycle repair/flower shop. The campaign raised $336,450 from 1,640 donors. In August 2023, he released a statement saying the money will be refunded as the project remained stalled indefinitely following COVID delays and the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood.

### Other work

In 2001, Baker guest-starred in That '70s Show in season 3's "Backstage Pass" as a janitor at the Ted Nugent concert. In November 2011, Baker released the song "2 Be Simple" with an accompanying music video which features Baker (credited as "Black Hugh Hefner") in a bath robe dancing with scantily clad women. "For reasons that remain unclear," wrote Jan Chaney of The Washington Post, "Baker has released ... a track destined to be the party anthem at all your yuletide throwdowns." Cameron Matthews called the song's hook "infectious" with lyrics that "totally [capture] the daydreams of a middle-aged man in crisis."
Baker appeared in Raven's Home as Principal Wentworth; previously, he had small parts in Scorpion and Life in Pieces. He appeared on the CMT series Still the King and in the films Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), in a voice role, and The Happytime Murders (2018). In another voice role, and workplace dark comedy, he appeared in Fired on Mars as Hubert Danielson.
He also appeared in a January 2018 advertisement for FileMaker Inc., a subsidiary of Apple Inc., as a farmer alongside former Office actors Paul Lieberstein and Kate Flannery. In 2020, Baker starred in a series of commercials for Honey Nut Cheerios.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Maggie | Frank | Episode: "Cats" |
| 1999 | Action | Guard | Episode: "Love Sucks" |
| 2000 | Judging Amy | Uncle Vin Arlen | Episode: "Waterworld" |
| 2000 | Malcolm in the Middle | Cop | Episode: "Halloween Approximately" |
| 2001 | That '70s Show | Janitor | Episode: "Backstage Pass" |
| 2001–2003 | The Guardian | Teddy Desica | 3 episodes |
| 2002 | Just Shoot Me! | Man | Episode: "The Burning House" |
| 2003 | Malcolm in the Middle | Customer | Episode: "Stereo Store" |
| 2003 | Scrubs | Surgery Patient | Episode: "My Interpretation" |
| 2004 | Line of Fire | Large Man | Episode: "The Best-Laid Plans" |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | Stanley Hudson | 188 episodes |
| 2006 | The Office: The Accountants | Stanley Hudson | Webisode: "Stanley" |
| 2008 | Kevin's Loan | Stanley Hudson | Webisode: "Taste the Ice Cream" |
| 2012 | The Life & Times of Tim | Al Sharpton's College Roommate | Voice role; episode: "The Smug Chiropractor/Corporate Disaster" |
| 2013 | Key & Peele | Benjamin Button Man | Episode: “Meagan’s Fight” |
| 2014 | Marry Me | Jake's Boss | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2015 | The Exes | Officer Wilson | Episode: "Requiem for a Dream" |
| 2015 | Austin & Ally | Mr. Schxlumbraugh | Episode: "Duos & Deception" |
| 2016 | Scorpion | Judge Tanniston | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Still the King | Curtis | 9 episodes |
| 2017 | Life in Pieces | Gavin | Episode: "Chef Rescue Negotiator Necklace" |
| 2017 | Raven's Home | Principal Wentworth | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Captain Jackson #4 | Episode: "Trafficking and the Traffic King" |
| 2017–2022 | Puppy Dog Pals | Rufus / Frank | Voice role; 81 episodes |
| 2019 | Fam | Mr. Kersey | Episode: "It's Been A While" |
| 2019 | Living the Dream | Marvin Pepper | 6 episodes |
| 2020–2022 | Doug Unplugs | Uncle Forknick | Voice role; 20 episodes |
| 2021 | Tom and Jerry in New York | Mr. Piper | Episode: "Telepathic Tabby/Shoe-in/It's a Gift/Stormin' the doorman" |
| 2022 | Roar | Johnny Spoons | Episode: "The Girl Who Loved Horses" |
| 2023 | Fired On Mars | Hubert Danielson | Voice role; 5 episodes |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Road to Redemption | Tow Truck Driver | |
| 2005 | Elizabethtown | Airport Security #2 | Uncredited |
| 2014 | Wish I Was Here | Audition Actor #1 | |
| 2015 | When Duty Calls | Clyde Pierce | Television film |
| 2017 | Fallen Stars | Ron | |
| 2017 | Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie | Officer McPiggly | Voice role |
| 2018 | The Happytime Murders | Lt. Banning | |
| 2021 | Vivo | Florida bus driver | Voice role |
| 2023 | Hard Miles | Skip Bowman | |
| 2024 | The Lost Holliday | Dr. Blevins | |
| 2024 | Jackpot | Earl the Fameland Guard | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2007 | TV Guide Awards | Favorite Ensemble | The Office | Won |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Won |
| 2008 | TV Land Awards | Future Classic Award | The Office | Won |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Won |
| 2009 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Nominated |
| 2010 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Nominated |
| 2011 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Nominated |
| 2012 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Nominated |
| 2013 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | The Office | Nominated |