# Keith Baxter (actor)

Keith Stanley Baxter-Wright (29 April 1933 – 24 September 2023) was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor and director.

## Early years and RADA

Keith Stanley Baxter-Wright was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, on 29 April 1933. He was the son of Stanley Baxter-Wright, a Merchant Navy sea captain, and Emily Baxter (née Howell). They lived for a time in Romilly Road, Barry, Glamorgan. He was educated at Newport High School and Barry Grammar School. His early introduction to the stage was from his interest in making model theatres and stage scenery. He studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, during which period he shared a flat with a classmate, Alan Bates. He made his film debut in the 1957 remake of The Barretts of Wimpole Street and appeared uncredited as a detective in the British horror classic Peeping Tom (1960).

## Films

In 1960, Orson Welles selected Baxter to portray Prince Hal in his stage production Chimes at Midnight, which combined portions of the Shakespearean plays Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II, Henry V, Richard II, and The Merry Wives of Windsor and brought the comic figure of Falstaff to the forefront of a primarily tragic tale. Baxter repeated his performance in the 1965 film version. Additional film credits include Ash Wednesday (1973; with Elizabeth Taylor), Golden Rendezvous (1977), and Killing Time (1998).

## Broadway

In 1961, Baxter made his Broadway debut as King Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons. Other New York City stage credits included The Affair (1962), Avanti! (1968), Sleuth (1970), Romantic Comedy (1980), and The Woman in Black (2001).

## Other selected theatrical appearances

* Macbeth, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham, England, 1972
* Vershinin, Three Sisters, Greenwich Theatre, London, 1973
* Benedick, Much Ado about Nothing, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1973
* Antony, Antony and Cleopatra, Stratford Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario, 1976
* Witwoud, The Way of the World, Stratford Festival Theatre, 1976
* Vershinin, Three Sisters, Stratford Festival Theatre, 1976
* King, The Red Devil Battery Sign, Round House Theatre, then Phoenix Theatre, both London, 1977
* Lord Illingworth, A Woman of No Importance, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1978
* Antony, Antony and Cleopatra, Young Vic Theatre, London, 1982
* Elyot, Private Lives, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1990
* Cassius, Julius Caesar, Hartford Stage Company, 1990-1991
* The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Chichester and The Duchess Theatre, 2013

## Directing

* The Red Devil Battery Sign, Roundhouse and Phoenix Theatre, 1977
* Time and the Conways, 1988–89
* Rope, Chichester Festival Theatre then Wyndham's Theatre, 1994
* Dangerous Corner, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1994, and Whitehall Theatre, 1995
* Gaslight
* After October, 1996–97
* Silhouette
Baxter regularly directed shows at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C., including:
* The Country Wife (2000)
* The Rivals (2003)
* Lady Windermere's Fan (2003)
* The Imaginary Invalid (2008)
* The Rivals (2009)
* Mrs. Warren's Profession (2010)
* An Ideal Husband (2011)
* The Importance of Being Earnest

## Cleopatra

Baxter was signed for the role of Octavian "Augustus" Caesar opposite Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra in the 1963 film of Cleopatra. Taylor's bout of pneumonia, soon after filming began, temporarily shut down filming. By the time she recovered, Baxter had other commitments and Roddy McDowall assumed the role. Baxter co-starred with Taylor in the film Ash Wednesday (1973). He also later played Mark Antony opposite Maggie Smith's Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the Stratford Festival in Canada in 1976.

## Television work

Baxter's television work included appearances in Gideon's Way, The Avengers, Hawaii Five-O, Thriller (1976) and the 1998 mini-series Merlin.

## Other work

Baxter was the author of a memoir, My Sentiments Exactly and of several plays, including 56 Duncan Terrace, Cavell and Barnaby and the Old Boys.
In 1971 he recorded an LP of several short stories by Saki for Caedmon Records under the title Reginald on House-Parties, and Other Stories.
Baxter was an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

## Personal life and death

During the 1960s Baxter had a brief affair with the dancer Rudolf Nureyev. In 1979 he met Brian Holden and formed a lasting relationship; they married in 2016 and moved from London to West Sussex.
Keith Baxter died from a heart attack while swimming on holiday in Corsica, on 24 September 2023. He was 90, and was survived by his husband.

## Theatre awards

* 1962 Theatre World Award for A Man for All Seasons
* 1971 Drama Desk Award for Sleuth

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | She Stoops to Conquer | Thomas | TV film |
| 1957 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Charles Barrett | |
| 1958 | Incident at Echo Six | Duty officer | TV film |
| 1960 | Peeping Tom | Detective Baxter | Uncredited |
| 1963 | Where Angels Fear to Tread | Gino Carella | TV film |
| 1965 | Hold My Hand, Soldier | The Private | TV film |
| 1965 | Chimes at Midnight | Prince Hal | |
| 1970 | With Love in Mind | Tony Preston | |
| 1973 | Ash Wednesday | David | |
| 1974 | The Regent's Wife | Don Fermín de Pas | |
| 1977 | Golden Rendezvous | Preston | |
| 1988 | Berlín Blues | Professor Huessler | |
| 1998 | Killing Time | Reilly Bodyguard #3 | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | ITV Television Playhouse | Vivian Brent | Episode: "Six Stayed the Night" |
| 1958 | ITV Play of the Week | Ben Kent | Episode: "The Troublemakers" |
| 1958 | ITV Play of the Week | Desmond O'Malley | Episode: "The Young May Moon" |
| 1958 | ITV Play of the Week | Hector Malone | Episode: "Man and Superman" |
| 1959 | ITV Play of the Week | Stacey Crispin | Episode: "A Dead Secret" |
| 1959 | ITV Play of the Week | Broadcaster | Episode: "Sweet Poison" |
| 1959 | ITV Television Playhouse | Police Constable Peterson | Episode: "The Extra Grave" |
| 1960 | ITV Television Playhouse | Tom Belton | Episode: "After the Party" |
| 1960 | ITV Play of the Week | Adrian | Episode: "Square Dance" |
| 1963 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Viazemsky | Episode: "The Reward of Silence" |
| 1963 | BBC Sunday-Night Play | Nicholas | Episode: "For Tea on Sunday" |
| 1963 | The Sentimental Agent | Yanni | Episode: "Not Quite Fully Covered" |
| 1964 | The Hidden Truth | Yanni | Episode: "One for the Road" |
| 1964 | Gideon's Way | Geoffrey Miles | Episode: "The 'V' Men" |
| 1965 | Armchair Theatre | Harry | Episode: "I've Got a System" |
| 1965 | Public Eye | Paul Garston | Episode: "Nobody Kills Santa Claus" |
| 1965 | ITV Sunday Night Drama | Drango | Episode: "Suspense Hour: Curtains for Sheila" |
| 1968 | Love Story | David | Episode: "The Vast Horizons of the Mind" |
| 1968 | BBC Play of the Month | Dunois | Episode: "St. Joan" |
| 1969 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Jim Garden | Episode: "Stake Money" |
| 1969 | The Avengers | Dunbar | Episode: "Homicide and Old Lace" |
| 1973 | Orson Welles Great Mysteries | Philip Faulkner | Episode: "Farewell to the Faulkners" |
| 1974 | Dial M for Murder | Paul Duras | Episode: "The Vineyard" |
| 1976 | Thriller | Tony Risanti | Episode: "Nightmare for a Nightingale" |
| 1978 | Will Shakespeare | Earl of Essex | Episode: "Rebellion's Masterpiece" |
| 1978 | Hawaii Five-O | Reverend Andy | Episode: "The Miracle Man" |
| 1992 | Performance | Actor | Episode: "Six Characters in Search of an Author" |
| 1998 | Merlin | Sir Hector | Miniseries |