Kenneth asked Stanley what future he could expect if he married Moira Robertson. His heart raced as he rushed towards her and pulled her back. At a time when being gay was illegal in Britain, the actor would bring men home with his wifes knowledge. However, Moira was very, very upset. Kenneth Williams was among the first to be told and he couldnt believe his ears. Robertson & Thompson was founded by Fife-born William Alexander Robertson as a wholesale whisky blender and agent in Glasgow in 1855. He probably knew the way I felt about him. Im not entirely sure who I am. There was to be no further co-operation. Not to the Press. Just when it was looking hopeless, I discovered a quote from Don Black, the lyricist of Sunset Boulevard, about keeping himself fit at the RAC Club: I take a Turkish bath at the club every Saturday. The most outrageously funny man on British television 50 years ago was Stanley Baxter. He returned to the BBC but, after a one-off in 1986 in which he played 37 roles (including Mae West, whom he first impersonated aged six), that contract also ended. What Williams didnt know, however, was the pressure Stanley had been under. A PAIR of drug dealing Glasgow grans who were caught with over 24,000 worth of cocaine have been jailed. He felt guilty for the many affairs and the new partners. Glasgow drug dealing grans caught with more than 24k of - The Sun One last piece for the Independent on Sunday, The Invisible Man: Searching for the Reclusive Stanley Baxter. Just a couple of years later he landed a five-picture deal with Rank Films. A year later, on March 5, 1952, the train sped west to Moiras parents home in Dumbarton for the ceremony. But he hadnt been in that afternoon. 'I liked . Stanley Baxter is arguably the funniest man and one of the most fetching women in Britain. Since he was a toddler, Bessie had taken him to vaudeville shows. Stanley Baxter. As spring approached, Stanley saw even more of the woman with the hooded eyes, even taking her along to his parents home at 5 Wilton Mansions in Glasgow's Kelvinside. In January 1962, he visited the public toilets in Madras Place, Holloway, hoping to pick up a man for casual sex. Overwhelmed by the knowledge that he was making a mistake that would ruin both their lives, Baxter sat on the wedding bed and sobbed. 'If you can sing, dance, play a musical instrument or whatever,' the announcement read, 'please apply'. After all, the pair had spent endless hours discussing sexuality, preferences and honesty. But of course I should have been stronger. Managing a portfolio of SME clients across a range of sectors and complexities. Then youve got the orchestra, and dancers. Could he look really old, like the man in the corner with cigarette ash all down his dark suit? Anybody who survived the Fifties is very adept at covering their trail, she said. We hope you've really thought about how important it is., And I said nonchalantly, Oh, not nowadays. This would be NO life for you, married to someone who is essentially and primarily homosexual!, Moira's reaction was surprising, even to those who knew how liberal she was. He never replied. Our story. His father was a branch manager of Commercial Union while his mother would have liked to have been an actress, When the family agreed that acting was respectable his mother took him round halls where he gave renderings of Harry Lauder and . Especially when youre in high heels, do you know what I mean? Grandmother Wright carried out the crime in order to help pay off her son's drug debt. But it worried me: was it right to doorstep a man who had worked so hard all his life to keep the private roped off from the public? I felt vulnerable. Stanley Baxter specials became vanishingly rare: one at Christmas 1976, the next at Easter 1979. Pull out the pin, and its every man for himself. The BBC couldnt help, and neither could London Weekend Television, for whom Baxter had made many of his most successful shows in the Seventies. . 3mo. One night on his way home he was arrested after being entrapped by North London police in a toilet and charged with Importuning. Actor Stanley Baxter, 94, reveals he's gay in new biography Young was cagey, preferring to ring Baxter before he would talk to me. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. for virtual children's programming. Instead, he was arrested. If I wanted a closer look at him it would have to be on my television on 4 January. I thought she would be still be heartbroken. . Anyone would be insane to choose to live such a very difficult life.' Since then, he has been completely absent from stage or television, and rarely even mentioned in print. So, no pantos either then? Anxious, he took a taxi to the house. moira robertson baxterjefferson parish jail mugshots January 19, 2023 . Chic, with hooded eyes, Moira could have been Bette Davis's younger sister. 64, I said. . So he must have felt a shiver when the waspish diaries of his late friend Kenneth Williams were published two years ago. She wandered, like Ophelia through Hamlet, but she would have moved to the ends of the earth for me.. Nigel Dempsters often there, and so are Stanley Baxter and Terry Stamp. Baxter's wife Moira was troubled by mental illness. His performance of Eager Young Husband was the worst he would give in his life. She once flew to Belfast to be "reunited with the spirit of [theatre director] Tyronne Guthrie." As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. A dreadful fantasy played in his head, that he would suffer a heart attack backstage during panto season and be found dead on the floor of the dressing room. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika.. Baxter has also written a number of books based on Glasgow. Facebook gives people the power. I kept getting those sheeps eyes every time she passed me in the theatre and she appeared to be heartbroken. moira robertson baxter. I still don't. We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. Yes! Offer price valid until 06/11/2020. Early on she used to say, That woman's following you around like a wee dug! And she was right. February 27, 2023 . So he decided that rather than cut his cloth down because hes not a stand-up Channel 4 comedian, is he? Retirement, at the relatively early age of 63, was total. 'He just liked the look of me, I guess,' Baxter says, 'which wasn't always the way with Kenny and people. STANLEY BAXTER has come out as gay at the age of 94 in a brave statement in his new biography, The Real Stanley Baxter, as the veteran actor admitted he brought men home with his "understanding" wife's blessing. He had always felt guilty for marrying her. PMC New Covid hospital admissions are now at the fourth-highest rate of the pandemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself. Yes. That counts for a lot in this part of north London, where there are more antique shops than newsagents. Treating spinal conditions affecting teenagers and adults led Moira into the field of Scoliosis where she helps . We are lucky at The Herald. A loved one. I told her my preference and said, Thats why I am breaking off the relationship. This is it, I thought, suddenly breathless. She became disruptive. Face full of character. He rang back the next day, but the news was bad. It had been run over in the street. Nostrils flaring. Drug Dealing Pensioners Jailed After Being Caught With More - LADbible And by the time the then-teenager landed a place in the entertainment corps during his National Service years, Stanley was convinced that acting was his destiny. There are folk who could tell you what kind of Christmas it was by recalling that years panto. As always this "diary" will be. What it did entail was years of loneliness, beginning on their honeymoon night. There was nothing like his dames, who entered in outfits sumptuous enough for Danny LaRue, but who could drop into rough Glaswegian patois at a moments notice. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories. by | Jan 25, 2023 | when do pecan trees lose their leaves | congestion worse after sinus rinse | Jan 25, 2023 | when do pecan trees lose their leaves | congestion worse after sinus rinse Baxter would tell the whole truth, on condition that it remained a secret. Baxter staged full-scale MGM musicals and played every role. Auditions were in Singapore and, after arriving there in December 1946 by flying boat, he was taken under the wing of a stooped, grey-haired man with a dusty moustache and a strident, nasal voice. Drug dealer Scots gran caught with cocaine haul ordered to hand over Yes, said Young. Not at all? Yet there is one celebrity who has bucked the trend. Moira; Spouses . contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Finally, I realised that I would have to let Stanley Baxter rest in peace. Sometimes that provides the extra spurt of energy or imagination needed to unearth a story. Comments have been closed on this article. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) . And, yes, the address I had was the correct one. She punched me and my glasses flew off. Moira Robertson - Relationship Manager - Bank of Scotland - LinkedIn Used Buffer and WordPress to advertise programming. tomo salem nh happy hour madiga caste surnames fraser river pollution damien zachary cord rust oleum home floor coating instructions hurricane middle school football schedule fixed practice advantages and disadvantages etobicoke ircc appointment david braley health sciences centre dermatology lisbon australia population baker botts partner . When hes like this, one could die for him. After a meal with Baxter in October 1969, Williams wrote: At one point when I said to S. I sometimes feel I am so useless I just want to die. In the past, the journalists job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Calls went unreturned, faxes unanswered. And she never knew of the window ledge incident. A stage smile. Fine, I said. Thinking about that took me back to my first major feature for the IOS, commissioned as an act of reckless faith by the editor Ian Jack and Richard Askwith, who ran the Review magazine and remains one of the finest copy editors I have ever come across. He reckoned it would at least a few years before the couple arrived at Wedding Central. The Invisible Man: Searching for the Reclusive Stanley Baxter Stanley Baxter is one of the most successful entertainers of his generation and for many years had his own Bafta-winning TV series. The relationship made a sort of sense, says Stanley. 293 followers. He died aged just 26 and Stanley was heartbroken. Moira Robertson - Managing Director - Alpha Events | LinkedIn Our History | Edrington Hes always quite pernickety about who hell speak to, which is why I dont want to say too much about him at the moment. But a fellow member of the club in Pall Mall, which costs up to 500 a year, confirmed that Baxter was frequently there. Stanley and Moira worked on a range of productions at the Citz together but the spring of 1949 saw the company move down to Ayr for the summer season and Stanley and Moira had lots of fun together. Other members included Kenneth Williams, with whom Baxter formed a close friendship that was troubled but life-long.It was quite a strong thing, said Young. 'I'm too afraid of what people will think of me,' he said. For a nation still mourning the loss of Eric Morecambe, Baxter another survivor of the gentler, pre-television days of variety theatre seemed ready to succeed to the title of Britains Favourite Comedian. If it doesn't work out, you just get divorced and you move on. And my father replied with a very heavy voice, No, it's not as easy as that., The following Monday, the Scottish Daily Express wrote of the 'quiet' wedding. 139 Stanley Baxter Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images I wrote you a letter. Could they get me an interview? The Citz was a heterosexual theatre company. But immediately afterwards she was so sorry.'. Stanley Baxter. but hes never done one. So he wouldnt talk to a newspaper, even over the phone? Just let me ask you one thing. He took his time. It was the future Carry On star Kenneth Williams, also barely out of his teens but playing an old man in a CSE production. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. Can you just tell me, finally, what city he lives in? And he turned it down. 'I got into this business to be loved. Look, do you mind? And although she was a good cook, she wasn't very good at washing. Actor Stanley Baxter comes out as gay in new book lifting the lid on Comic actor Stanley Baxter dressed as a Roman soldier during a comedy sketch, circa 1980. Im a character actor. "Kenny thought I was making a terrible mistake," says Stanley. By that time, I had so many tender feelings for her, he explains. Since our merger with Granada theres nobody higher up who would have been involved either. Baxter resolved to repress his sexuality when he returned to Glasgow two years later to live, as he put it, 'as a straight actor'. Stanley walked through the doors of the Gorbals theatre and into theatre heaven, loving this avant-garde world populated by the likes of Sybil Thorndyke and Duncan Macrae. Is it possible that we can have a chat with him? It said, words to the effect of, 'I'll let you off if you don't want to marry me'. You wont tell me which part of London, will you? Moira asked me what was wrong and I said something about the emotion of it all. paul coronation street nose rheagen smith mother hope wilson greg kerfoot whistler house mary crandall hales the hive server ip and port how to know if a sagittarius man is interested wotlk hit rating calculator semillas de lichi propiedades lamesa, texas obituaries what was the explosion at the end of tomorrow man pescience cake pop protein recipes can you drive to blue lagoon cyprus mission . Ill be calmer tomorrow. I believed that no-one in our family should be anything but a star.. He had also appeared alongside Baxter in many Scottish pantomimes, including the comedians last, and was prepared to talk, up to a point. Although we'd spend lots of time in each other's beds, nothing happened. I don't wish that to stop. However, it was Moira who was determined to take the relationship to the next stage. Scottish perspective on news, sport, business, lifestyle, food and drink and more, from Scotland's national newspaper, The Scotsman. Its such hard, hard work. She then went to their new Glasgow flat to cook spaghetti for his supper.". Biography of Moira Robertson Once stardom had been achieved, he limited his television appearances and won an unusual amount of power over how they were made. 'One wounded bird helping to look after another,' Stanley said. It was real weakness on my part.. Like his previous TV specials, it was a delirious collection of sketches and set-pieces featuring Baxter in character (his meticulously observed parodies of women like Shirley Bassey and Marlene Dietrich were a trademark), complete with spectacular sets and breathtaking changes of costume and make-up. Alec Guinness and John Gielgud had both been charged with Importuning. Moiras role, however, was reduced from Actress to Wife. His divas and dames were so good they were beyond description. Something was happening between us but I didn't wish to acknowledge the fact. . Stanley would indeed come to regret it for the rest of his life. I dont deserve it, I know, but if anyone can help me at this dreadful period, it is him, Williams wrote before leaving home. But rejection and the stress of his double life had chewed away his confidence. It was all very selfish of me and a bit macho. Did Bessie Baxter have any idea of Stanleys true sexuality? It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse. Baxter had married Moira Robertson, an actress at the Citizens Theatre, in the early Fifties. But where? View more posts, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), It was 20 years ago todayish. Perhaps uniquely, Stanley Baxter has succeeded in making himself invisible. Obituaries | The Scotsman He saw Moira frequently, but the fractured marriage was always difficult. ', Stanley was terrified. One of them might be him, I thought. But there was no chance of a reconciliation. He is an intelligent guy, and he likes to know who hes talking to. Readers comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. As one critic wrote: The joke is not that Stanley Baxter is dressed up as a woman. 'I liked her,' Baxter says. He found immense laughs as Formby and Liberace. 'She probably felt if she praised me I'd try less hard. There was no biography, and no memoir; just a few intriguing references to be found in the published diaries of his close friend Kenneth Williams. Baxter appeared alongside Jimmy Logan and Rikki Fulton in extravagantly-produced shows with Ziegfeld-scale sets and dancing girls, but also made his first BBC television appearance in 1951. It truly means nothing if our council is having to make decisions which . Gay men up and down the UK lived in constant fear of having their careers and lives wrecked. "And that he was losing a friend." Baxter began to turn work down not playing Captain Hook in a production of Peter Pan opposite Lulu, not appearing with Cannon and Ball at the Palladium. I couldve hugged him. Other entries in the diary recall Baxter speaking of a desperate clinging to privacy and the rejection of a potentially hostile world. For decades he has hated to venture out: 'I didn't want to be seen as someone who was once Stanley Baxter,' he says. And as the years progressed, the medicated Moira and Stanley became close again. Actor Stanley Baxter has come out at the age of 94 revealing his late wife Moira gave her blessing for him to bring men home. She called him her Sonny Boy and, as his precocious talent emerged, had him perform at every family gathering. Again. Wearing a calf-length tweed coat with a smart scarf folded across the throat. But had Moira truly leapt at the idea of leaving Glasgow and friends and family behind? Moira was dead on her bed from an overdose. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles. Stanley Baxter was a star of the Glasgow stage aged six, in 1932. Im not a personality, he once said. In 1949, it was illegal to be gay and entrapment of homosexual men by covert police officers was common. Or just give her the only thing she had ever asked for to be with him. Stanley Baxter, 94, comes out as gay and says he brought men home with I dont know if you got it? Scots who never visit a theatre for the rest of the year still find their way to the panto, where the scenarios and jokes have the familiarity of ritual. Stanley knew he was gay. But she ignored the signs. As a last shot I rang David White, who said I had been very naughty. But Ill tell you the basic outline. Men just look nelly, however hard they try. And he had been sighted on a visit to Scotland in July 1994, to unveil a tribute to his late friend and fellow comic Duncan Macrae, during which he had confirmed that it had been his intention to drop out of public life completely: Most comics work till they drop, but Im happier now than ever. What had happened to Stanley Baxter? He took her passport, to prevent her from trying to follow him. 'It was real weakness on my part,' he says now. 11:52 EST 31 Oct 2020. Despite his success, he had, in fact, always had a certain invisibility. He directed shows himself, calling extra rehearsals if things were getting even a little sloppy mid-run, and coming down hard on anyone who attempted to ad lib. Ill let you know through my agent, OK? You. Yes, there would be a show. She recovered in hospital and wrote to her husband, insisting, 'I'll never do something so foolish again.' STANLEY Baxter has come out as gay, revealing for the first time that his marriage was a faade. I called his office, who promised to ring back with a comment, but didnt. Hanover Public Library. It was so long ago, the production team was disbanded straight after the last show, and theres nobody left here who worked on it. But more than that, he feared his fiercely ambitious mother. View the profiles of people named Moira Robertson. I sloped away to look around some of them, then went for some Fishermans Bake and a pint at the local pub, feeling pretty miserable. THE LEAVES on the pavement were being sucked upwards by the cold wind, or turned to mush by rain. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. I have been writing for the Independent on Sunday for more than 20 years, but the edition that appears on Sunday will be the last. Bill had girlfriends, but he spent almost all his spare time at the Baxter house, sitting in Stanley's bedroom and talking till the small hours about art and philosophy, 'until we fell asleep, exhausted'. Having made it big south of the border, he regularly returned to direct and star in big-budget productions. He had indeed dreamed of being a professional actor since appearing on stage as a seven-year-old at local talent contests. It's that time of year again, when I choose to bore the bi-weekly pants off you all by relating my erstwhile greenhouse adventures and, more often than not, misadventures. She had thought about becoming an actress herself and was very supportive of her childrens aspirations for the stage: Baxter put aside thoughts of teaching to go into the theatre, while his sister went off to work as an actress in Australia, under the name of Alice Dale.Baxter had already begun broadcasting on the wireless at the age of 14, and continued doing so even after he was called up at 17 to help the war effort by going down the mines. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. You can make a complaint by using the report this post link . But what the Daily Express didnt know was that when Stanley arrived home, with the sound of Saturday evening theatre applause still ringing in his ears, he broke down in tears. No. Robertson Baxter | LinkedIn I guess I had come to really like Moira. but not to publish it. That never happened: once television began to damage theatre audiences, many serious Scottish actors were forced into variety. The changing weather had given me a cold, so the stout went straight to my head, and the meal was tasteless. He said lots of theatrical things about how marvellous it had been to work with Baxter, with whom he still corresponded from time to time. Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' Even though Moira was dead from an overdose by this time, he was sickened at the thought that his sexuality might become common knowledge. Stanley was up for the challenge. Feeling she was too ill to travel, Baxter told her she must stay in London. Robert Robertson Obituary (1933 - 2023) - Legacy Remembers Nobody would tell me. Well see what happens. It was the one and only time she had ever reacted in this way. No, for the reason I just gave. He plays in Scotland to capacity every time, but thats not the point. . Mildly discouraged, I tried another approach: Melvyn Bragg, who had been head of arts at LWT when Baxter was at his peak. That was that. ', Beset with doubts, he confessed to Moira that all his previous affairs had been with men. British actress Moira Robertson and her husband, British comedian and actor Stanley Baxter, at Clerkenwell Magistrates Court in London, England, 5th. Stanley asked the same question of himself but pushed the answer aside. He adds, his voice dark: 'The truth is, I don't really want to be me.'. 'And suddenly Kenny cut in, 'Yes! Glasgow granny and her pal caught with huge cocaine stash
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