Paris News, November 2, 1995
Honey Grove
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove died Tuesday, Oct. 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center.
Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Oakwood Cemetery with the Rev. Sammy Rice officiating. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home will make burial in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923, in Honey Grove, a son of Dan and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander Oct. 24, 1942. She died June 13, 1966.
He was a Presbyterian.
Surviving are his mother who lives in Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, N.Y.; give grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
------------------------------------
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove, died Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center in Paris.
Graveside services for Mr. Baker were held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 1995 at Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove. The Rev. Sam Rice, minister of the Main Street Presbyterian Church in Honey Grove, conducted the service. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home of Honey Grove was in charge of arrangements.
Honorary Pallbearers were D. E. Shelton, Charles Troy, James Dupree, Billy Raiden, and Dr. P. Clift Price.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923 in Honey Grove, a son of Dan Baker and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander on October 24, 1942 and she preceded him in death on June 13, 1966.
He was a member of the Presbyterian faith.
Mr. Baker was an internationally known theater director. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1951 and moved to New York where he quickly established a career as a sought-after director. His best known work was the original off-Broadway production of the musical The Fantasticks, which opened in May of 1960 and is still running at its original venue, the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
His work also included producing and directing an Obie-award-winning 1958 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He also directed and designed "I'm Getting My Act Together" in Chicago (Jefferson Award), Los Angeles (starring Betty Buckley), San Francisco, and London. Television credits include The Grass Harp with Lillian Gish, and Jones and Schmidt's New York Scrapbook. Mr. Baker directed the AT&T Bell Telephone show at the New York World's Fair, 1964-65, won a Ford Foundation grant and taught at Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Auburn University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Cincinnati, Purdue, and HB Studios in New York City.
He was artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, followed by a stint at Adrian Hall's Trinity Square Playhouse in Providence, Rhode Island. Many other accomplishments, too numerous to be named, could be credited to his name. After retiring in 1984, he directed two productions for the Dallas Theater Center, Lady Audley's Secret and the controversial Cloud 9.
He returned to his hometown of Honey Grove in 1986.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Maggie Baker of Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, New York; a son-in-law, Jon Page; two granddaughters, Karie Copeland and Maggie Rowton; three grandsons, Peyton Ker, Charlie Ker, and Philip Rowton; a great-granddaughter, Joanna Dowling, and a great-grandson, Justin Dowling.
------------------------------------
New York Times, November 5, 1995
Word Baker, Who Was Director of "The Fantaskticks,", Dies at 72
Word Baker, the director who in 1960 set "The Fantasticks" spinning into theater history as the world's longest-running musical, died on Tuesday at a nursing home in Paris, Tex. He was 72.
Harvey Schmidt, the composer of the show, which is still running at the Sullivan Street Playhouse after 35 years, said the cause was complications of a series of recent strokes.
Mr. Baker, a native of Honey Grove, Tex., grew up listening to his mother, Maggie, teach piano and play the organ at the local Presbyterian Church.
He met his theater destiny at the University of Texas, where, as a graduate student in drama from 1948 to 1951, he collaborated on a musical revue with two classmates, Mr. Schmidt and the lyricist Tom Jones, who later recruited Mr. Baker to direct "The Fantasticks," first a one-act version and then the historic two-act show.
Mr. Baker, whose original name was Charles, adopted his mother's maiden name as his first name after he came to New York and began a long and varied theatrical career that ranged from directing Lillian Gish in a television production of "The Glass Menagerie" to directing the AT&T Bell Telephone Show at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
For all that, Mr. Baker could hardly have surpassed his work on "The Fantasticks," which opened on May 3, 1960. "Although the story is slight," Brooks Atkinson wrote in his review in The New York Times, "the style is entrancing in Word Baker's staging."
Despite the generally favorable review, the musical parable about a romance between a teen-age girl and the boy next door played to as few as two or three patrons during the first few weeks of its run. But after spending the summer at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, it picked up such enthusiastic support from theater luminaries that when it returned to Sullivan Street in the fall, it took off.
In addition to his mother, who is 96, Mr. Baker is survived by three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, Tex., and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
His wife, Joanna, died in 1966.
Honey Grove
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove died Tuesday, Oct. 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center.
Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Oakwood Cemetery with the Rev. Sammy Rice officiating. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home will make burial in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923, in Honey Grove, a son of Dan and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander Oct. 24, 1942. She died June 13, 1966.
He was a Presbyterian.
Surviving are his mother who lives in Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, N.Y.; give grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
------------------------------------
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove, died Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center in Paris.
Graveside services for Mr. Baker were held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 1995 at Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove. The Rev. Sam Rice, minister of the Main Street Presbyterian Church in Honey Grove, conducted the service. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home of Honey Grove was in charge of arrangements.
Honorary Pallbearers were D. E. Shelton, Charles Troy, James Dupree, Billy Raiden, and Dr. P. Clift Price.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923 in Honey Grove, a son of Dan Baker and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander on October 24, 1942 and she preceded him in death on June 13, 1966.
He was a member of the Presbyterian faith.
Mr. Baker was an internationally known theater director. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1951 and moved to New York where he quickly established a career as a sought-after director. His best known work was the original off-Broadway production of the musical The Fantasticks, which opened in May of 1960 and is still running at its original venue, the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
His work also included producing and directing an Obie-award-winning 1958 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He also directed and designed "I'm Getting My Act Together" in Chicago (Jefferson Award), Los Angeles (starring Betty Buckley), San Francisco, and London. Television credits include The Grass Harp with Lillian Gish, and Jones and Schmidt's New York Scrapbook. Mr. Baker directed the AT&T Bell Telephone show at the New York World's Fair, 1964-65, won a Ford Foundation grant and taught at Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Auburn University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Cincinnati, Purdue, and HB Studios in New York City.
He was artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, followed by a stint at Adrian Hall's Trinity Square Playhouse in Providence, Rhode Island. Many other accomplishments, too numerous to be named, could be credited to his name. After retiring in 1984, he directed two productions for the Dallas Theater Center, Lady Audley's Secret and the controversial Cloud 9.
He returned to his hometown of Honey Grove in 1986.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Maggie Baker of Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, New York; a son-in-law, Jon Page; two granddaughters, Karie Copeland and Maggie Rowton; three grandsons, Peyton Ker, Charlie Ker, and Philip Rowton; a great-granddaughter, Joanna Dowling, and a great-grandson, Justin Dowling.
------------------------------------
New York Times, November 5, 1995
Word Baker, Who Was Director of "The Fantaskticks,", Dies at 72
Word Baker, the director who in 1960 set "The Fantasticks" spinning into theater history as the world's longest-running musical, died on Tuesday at a nursing home in Paris, Tex. He was 72.
Harvey Schmidt, the composer of the show, which is still running at the Sullivan Street Playhouse after 35 years, said the cause was complications of a series of recent strokes.
Mr. Baker, a native of Honey Grove, Tex., grew up listening to his mother, Maggie, teach piano and play the organ at the local Presbyterian Church.
He met his theater destiny at the University of Texas, where, as a graduate student in drama from 1948 to 1951, he collaborated on a musical revue with two classmates, Mr. Schmidt and the lyricist Tom Jones, who later recruited Mr. Baker to direct "The Fantasticks," first a one-act version and then the historic two-act show.
Mr. Baker, whose original name was Charles, adopted his mother's maiden name as his first name after he came to New York and began a long and varied theatrical career that ranged from directing Lillian Gish in a television production of "The Glass Menagerie" to directing the AT&T Bell Telephone Show at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
For all that, Mr. Baker could hardly have surpassed his work on "The Fantasticks," which opened on May 3, 1960. "Although the story is slight," Brooks Atkinson wrote in his review in The New York Times, "the style is entrancing in Word Baker's staging."
Despite the generally favorable review, the musical parable about a romance between a teen-age girl and the boy next door played to as few as two or three patrons during the first few weeks of its run. But after spending the summer at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, it picked up such enthusiastic support from theater luminaries that when it returned to Sullivan Street in the fall, it took off.
In addition to his mother, who is 96, Mr. Baker is survived by three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, Tex., and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
His wife, Joanna, died in 1966.
Paris News, November 2, 1995
Honey Grove
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove died Tuesday, Oct. 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center.
Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Oakwood Cemetery with the Rev. Sammy Rice officiating. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home will make burial in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923, in Honey Grove, a son of Dan and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander Oct. 24, 1942. She died June 13, 1966.
He was a Presbyterian.
Surviving are his mother who lives in Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, N.Y.; give grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
------------------------------------
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove, died Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center in Paris.
Graveside services for Mr. Baker were held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 1995 at Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove. The Rev. Sam Rice, minister of the Main Street Presbyterian Church in Honey Grove, conducted the service. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home of Honey Grove was in charge of arrangements.
Honorary Pallbearers were D. E. Shelton, Charles Troy, James Dupree, Billy Raiden, and Dr. P. Clift Price.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923 in Honey Grove, a son of Dan Baker and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander on October 24, 1942 and she preceded him in death on June 13, 1966.
He was a member of the Presbyterian faith.
Mr. Baker was an internationally known theater director. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1951 and moved to New York where he quickly established a career as a sought-after director. His best known work was the original off-Broadway production of the musical The Fantasticks, which opened in May of 1960 and is still running at its original venue, the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
His work also included producing and directing an Obie-award-winning 1958 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He also directed and designed "I'm Getting My Act Together" in Chicago (Jefferson Award), Los Angeles (starring Betty Buckley), San Francisco, and London. Television credits include The Grass Harp with Lillian Gish, and Jones and Schmidt's New York Scrapbook. Mr. Baker directed the AT&T Bell Telephone show at the New York World's Fair, 1964-65, won a Ford Foundation grant and taught at Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Auburn University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Cincinnati, Purdue, and HB Studios in New York City.
He was artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, followed by a stint at Adrian Hall's Trinity Square Playhouse in Providence, Rhode Island. Many other accomplishments, too numerous to be named, could be credited to his name. After retiring in 1984, he directed two productions for the Dallas Theater Center, Lady Audley's Secret and the controversial Cloud 9.
He returned to his hometown of Honey Grove in 1986.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Maggie Baker of Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, New York; a son-in-law, Jon Page; two granddaughters, Karie Copeland and Maggie Rowton; three grandsons, Peyton Ker, Charlie Ker, and Philip Rowton; a great-granddaughter, Joanna Dowling, and a great-grandson, Justin Dowling.
------------------------------------
New York Times, November 5, 1995
Word Baker, Who Was Director of "The Fantaskticks,", Dies at 72
Word Baker, the director who in 1960 set "The Fantasticks" spinning into theater history as the world's longest-running musical, died on Tuesday at a nursing home in Paris, Tex. He was 72.
Harvey Schmidt, the composer of the show, which is still running at the Sullivan Street Playhouse after 35 years, said the cause was complications of a series of recent strokes.
Mr. Baker, a native of Honey Grove, Tex., grew up listening to his mother, Maggie, teach piano and play the organ at the local Presbyterian Church.
He met his theater destiny at the University of Texas, where, as a graduate student in drama from 1948 to 1951, he collaborated on a musical revue with two classmates, Mr. Schmidt and the lyricist Tom Jones, who later recruited Mr. Baker to direct "The Fantasticks," first a one-act version and then the historic two-act show.
Mr. Baker, whose original name was Charles, adopted his mother's maiden name as his first name after he came to New York and began a long and varied theatrical career that ranged from directing Lillian Gish in a television production of "The Glass Menagerie" to directing the AT&T Bell Telephone Show at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
For all that, Mr. Baker could hardly have surpassed his work on "The Fantasticks," which opened on May 3, 1960. "Although the story is slight," Brooks Atkinson wrote in his review in The New York Times, "the style is entrancing in Word Baker's staging."
Despite the generally favorable review, the musical parable about a romance between a teen-age girl and the boy next door played to as few as two or three patrons during the first few weeks of its run. But after spending the summer at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, it picked up such enthusiastic support from theater luminaries that when it returned to Sullivan Street in the fall, it took off.
In addition to his mother, who is 96, Mr. Baker is survived by three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, Tex., and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
His wife, Joanna, died in 1966.
Honey Grove
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove died Tuesday, Oct. 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center.
Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Oakwood Cemetery with the Rev. Sammy Rice officiating. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home will make burial in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923, in Honey Grove, a son of Dan and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander Oct. 24, 1942. She died June 13, 1966.
He was a Presbyterian.
Surviving are his mother who lives in Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, N.Y.; give grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
------------------------------------
Charles "Word" William Baker, 72, of Honey Grove, died Tuesday, October 31, 1995, at Paris Health Center in Paris.
Graveside services for Mr. Baker were held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 1995 at Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove. The Rev. Sam Rice, minister of the Main Street Presbyterian Church in Honey Grove, conducted the service. Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home of Honey Grove was in charge of arrangements.
Honorary Pallbearers were D. E. Shelton, Charles Troy, James Dupree, Billy Raiden, and Dr. P. Clift Price.
Mr. Baker was born March 21, 1923 in Honey Grove, a son of Dan Baker and Maggie Word Baker.
He married Joanna Alexander on October 24, 1942 and she preceded him in death on June 13, 1966.
He was a member of the Presbyterian faith.
Mr. Baker was an internationally known theater director. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1951 and moved to New York where he quickly established a career as a sought-after director. His best known work was the original off-Broadway production of the musical The Fantasticks, which opened in May of 1960 and is still running at its original venue, the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
His work also included producing and directing an Obie-award-winning 1958 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He also directed and designed "I'm Getting My Act Together" in Chicago (Jefferson Award), Los Angeles (starring Betty Buckley), San Francisco, and London. Television credits include The Grass Harp with Lillian Gish, and Jones and Schmidt's New York Scrapbook. Mr. Baker directed the AT&T Bell Telephone show at the New York World's Fair, 1964-65, won a Ford Foundation grant and taught at Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Auburn University, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Cincinnati, Purdue, and HB Studios in New York City.
He was artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, followed by a stint at Adrian Hall's Trinity Square Playhouse in Providence, Rhode Island. Many other accomplishments, too numerous to be named, could be credited to his name. After retiring in 1984, he directed two productions for the Dallas Theater Center, Lady Audley's Secret and the controversial Cloud 9.
He returned to his hometown of Honey Grove in 1986.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Maggie Baker of Honey Grove; three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn, New York; a son-in-law, Jon Page; two granddaughters, Karie Copeland and Maggie Rowton; three grandsons, Peyton Ker, Charlie Ker, and Philip Rowton; a great-granddaughter, Joanna Dowling, and a great-grandson, Justin Dowling.
------------------------------------
New York Times, November 5, 1995
Word Baker, Who Was Director of "The Fantaskticks,", Dies at 72
Word Baker, the director who in 1960 set "The Fantasticks" spinning into theater history as the world's longest-running musical, died on Tuesday at a nursing home in Paris, Tex. He was 72.
Harvey Schmidt, the composer of the show, which is still running at the Sullivan Street Playhouse after 35 years, said the cause was complications of a series of recent strokes.
Mr. Baker, a native of Honey Grove, Tex., grew up listening to his mother, Maggie, teach piano and play the organ at the local Presbyterian Church.
He met his theater destiny at the University of Texas, where, as a graduate student in drama from 1948 to 1951, he collaborated on a musical revue with two classmates, Mr. Schmidt and the lyricist Tom Jones, who later recruited Mr. Baker to direct "The Fantasticks," first a one-act version and then the historic two-act show.
Mr. Baker, whose original name was Charles, adopted his mother's maiden name as his first name after he came to New York and began a long and varied theatrical career that ranged from directing Lillian Gish in a television production of "The Glass Menagerie" to directing the AT&T Bell Telephone Show at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
For all that, Mr. Baker could hardly have surpassed his work on "The Fantasticks," which opened on May 3, 1960. "Although the story is slight," Brooks Atkinson wrote in his review in The New York Times, "the style is entrancing in Word Baker's staging."
Despite the generally favorable review, the musical parable about a romance between a teen-age girl and the boy next door played to as few as two or three patrons during the first few weeks of its run. But after spending the summer at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, it picked up such enthusiastic support from theater luminaries that when it returned to Sullivan Street in the fall, it took off.
In addition to his mother, who is 96, Mr. Baker is survived by three daughters, Barbara Page of Dallas, Betsy Ker of Richardson, Tex., and Lucy Baker of Brooklyn; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
His wife, Joanna, died in 1966.
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