Sam Baines

**Sam Baines** was the husband of Stella Baines and the father of six children, including their oldest daughter, Lorraine. He is the maternal grandfather of Marty McFly.

## 1955

On November 5, 1955, Sam, while driving to his home, struck George McFly with his automobile. Apparently, it wasn't the first time as Sam mentioned that George was "another damn kid" who had jumped in front of his car. George had fallen from a tree limb while "birdwatching", landing in the middle of the street in front of Sam's car. Lorraine felt sorry for George as a result of the accident, and eventually married him, giving Sam three grandchildren. One of Sam's grandchildren, Marty, would travel back in time to 1955 and alter the events of that day. Sam, however, would be unaware that the "idiot" was one of his descendants. When Marty traveled to 1955, he was present as George fell in the path of Sam's car. Marty pushed George out of the way, and was himself struck by Sam's car.

## Altered History (in 1955)

Thus, on the morning of November 5, 1955, Sam Baines was driving his Chevrolet Bel Air to his home, when two teenagers suddenly appeared in his path. Though it wasn't the first time that kids had run out in front of his vehicle, on this occasion, Sam was unable to stop soon enough. The car knocked down one of the kids. As Sam demanded, "Hey wait, wait a minute! Who are you?", the other teen ran off. The accident victim was unconscious, but did not appear to be injured. Sam called for Stella to help him take the kid in the house, and then went on to other errands that Saturday. Sam, a fan of Jackie Gleason, had made the decision to purchase a television set and a rollaway cabinet to place the set upon. He was assembling the stand that evening as Stella called the family together for dinner, and looked up to see that the kid was awake. "Sam, here's the young man you hit with your car out there," said Stella, "He's all right, thank God." Sam started interrogating their guest, who was oddly dressed and badly in need of a haircut; "What were you doing in the middle of the street, a kid your age?!" Before the kid could answer, Stella interrupted and said, "Don't pay any attention to him, he's in one of his moods," and told Sam to come to dinner.

With the stand assembled, Sam triumphantly rolled the television set over to the head of the table so that the family could watch TV while they ate. He was eating his meat loaf, drinking a beer, and following Jackie Gleason when he heard the young stranger ask where Riverside Drive was. When Sam gave some helpful directions, the kid started arguing with him, making smart aleck remarks that there was a street called "John F. Kennedy Drive". Irritated, Sam fired back, "Who the hell is 'John F. Kennedy?'" Lorraine changed the subject and began suggesting that the visitor should "spend the night", and Stella started to agree. Fortunately, the kid suddenly got up from the table, mumbled a thank you, and left. Stella commented that "He's a very strange young man." Sam had a stronger opinion: "He's an idiot." It wasn't entirely the kid's fault, of course. Sam knew of plenty of idiot parents who didn't care about the upbringing of their children, and he took the moment to remind his oldest child, Lorraine, that if she had children, they had better not "act that way". He also threatened Lorraine with disinheritance if she ever bore any children like that. Not knowing the full story of Marty McFly, Sam did not realize that Marty was of his own bloodline.

Sam was probably not pleased when the Klein kid — whose name was either "Calvin" or "Marty" — took Lorraine on a date to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance the following Saturday; and he probably was not surprised that a teenager like that left it to another boy to bring Lorraine home on time. Luckily, the idiot kid never asked Lorraine for a date again, and Lorraine's new boyfriend, George McFly, was more acceptable, as Sam presumably gave his blessing for George to marry Lorraine in later years. Marty's final onscreen remark to Sam, "I will see you later, much later" suggests that the entire family is still alive in 1985 and Marty was introduced to a younger version of his grandparents and his maternal aunts and uncles.