Sam Baker (

Taylor, Indiana Taylor is a small unincorporated community in Union Township, Tippecanoe County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, the town, sometimes referred to as Taylor Station, was a stop along a railroad li ...

; 7 May 1907– Abilene, Kansas; 8 May 1982), born Samuel D. Baker, was an American actor who usually performed with

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

Ramon Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary '' Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film c ...

and Charlie Chaplin. This Indiana-born actor played the Link in the film '' The Missing Link'' (1927), whose imposing presence made him a natural for early jungle flicks. His most easily recalled role may have been Hugo in Sherman S. Krellberg's notorious serial '' The Lost City'' (1935). His most memorable role was Queequeg in '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). Baker's filmography is brief, as the

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decad ...

saw him move quickly from featured roles as African

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

s to bits as black convicts. His first screen appearance was in a genre project: he was the sworder in

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

' '' The Thief of Bagdad'' (1924). In John Barrymore's '' The Sea Beast'', a silent ''Moby Dick'', he played Queequeg. In the sound remake of ''The Island of Lost Ships'' (1929), he played himself and received the smallest mention. He died in Abilene, Kansas, in early May 1982.

Filmography

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Sam 1907 births 1982 deaths American male silent film actors American male film actors African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people