- Born
- Died
- London-born Robert S. Baker served as an artilleryman in the British army during World War II, posted to North Africa (where he met future partner Monty Berman), and later joined the army's film and photography unit, becoming a combat cameraman in Europe. At war's end he and Berman formed Tempean Films to make movies, their first being a Terry-Thomas / Norman Wisdom comedy, Date with a Dream (1948). The company churned out a string of lower-budget "B" pictures, including comedies, mysteries and thrillers, many of them directed by Baker. In 1959 they made a somewhat edgier film than their usual fare, Jack the Ripper (1959), a fictionalized account of the notorious Whitechapel serial killer. The next year they came out with an even grittier crime thriller, The Siege of Sidney Street (1960), about a real-life 1911 shootout between police and a gang of Russian criminals in east London. They next turned out The Hellfire Club (1961), an anemic "adventure" film, which was followed by The Secret of Monte Cristo (1961), one of the lesser entries in the string of pictures based on the classic Alexandre Dumas novel.
Berman and Baker concentrated on television in the 1960s, their main project being as producers of The Saint (1962) series. Baker later joined Gideon C.I.D. (1964) as a producer. When that series ended Baker and "The Saint" star Roger Moore formed Bamore Productions, which produced a feature spin-off of that series, The Fiction-Makers (1968), and then the Moore / Tony Curtis "crimerighting playboys" series The Persuaders! (1971). Baker later produced the series Return of the Saint (1978) and Return to Treasure Island (1986).
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpouseAlma Rubenstein(? - 2003) (her death, 2 children)
- Together with his partner Monty Berman, they were the main competition to Hammer Films up to 1959. They tried to duplicate what Hammer was turning out, including doing a feature adaptation of a television serial and later doing horror films in color. They even used the same writers and many actors that had been used by Hammer.
- As a sergeant in the British army, was one of the first to enter the Reichs Chancellery in Berlin at the end of World War II. He appears in an iconic photograph with his foot on a fallen Nazi stone eagle amidst the ruins.
- Held the rights to "The Saint" from the 1962 series (The Saint (1962)] onwards.
- With Monty Berman he founded production company Tempean Films. He later formed Bamore with Roger Moore.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
