Ive been in audiences where women in their sixties would sit there and say, with absolute envy: Ooh, look at them legs. Her favourite memory is of one entrance in full rig, with craggy face underneath what looked like a mound of candyfloss. He was also aware of the need to have a cover. If there was one place where he could still feel at home, it was the world of Scottish pantomime. This was the defining moment of Stanleys life. So I asked if he was aware that there had been a piece in the Sun over the summer, calling for Baxter to come back to television. Actor Stanley Baxter, 94, has bravely come out as gay and opened up about how his sexuality impacted his relationship with his wife Moira Robertson, who died in 1997. I told her my preference and said, Thats why I am breaking off the relationship. Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web! But more than that, he feared his fiercely ambitious mother. He divulged: "I couldn't put up with very long periods of not being with men. Can you just tell me, finally, what city he lives in? Im not a personality, he once said. No, you might publish it. There were things he might like to say, but it wouldnt be in keeping to do so. As he grew up, she was intensely jealous and would shoo away any girls who admired him: 'She started telling me about these two boys who once took a wee girl into a haunted house up the road and did terrible things to her. His act was so daring that he was probably the first TV comedian to impersonate the Queen. Those who didnt want to be troubled with it could simply take it at face value. I still dont. 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'. Offer price valid until 06/11/2020. She kept calling for him and my mother wasnt too happy about this. In December 1965, Baxters wife Moira suggested that Williams and her husband should go on holiday together in Beirut. Could he look really old, like the man in the corner with cigarette ash all down his dark suit? . 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. ', To pacify her, Baxter promised they would marry, if she would consent to wait a year. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Moira's behaviour became more alarming. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories. Join Facebook to connect with Moira Robertson and others you may know. 'I could be as heterosexual as the rest of them.'. She once flew to Belfast to be "reunited with the spirit of [theatre director] Tyronne Guthrie." And so, a few weeks later, I did the right journalistic thing and rang Mentorn and Channel 4. Can you tell me where they are? A Gannett Company. Hes never done a chat show in his life. When he returned, he decided to seek medical treatment for his sexual urges. Meanwhile, Moira had landed part-time work with a milliner but it didnt seem to hold her interest. It was in CSE that Baxter met openly gay men for the first time. Changing tack, I asked if Baxter had a fan club. He was sent to India, and then further East to Burma, where he was promoted to corporal and assigned duties as a typist (Class 3). Instead of gaining the confidence to join them, he shied away, repelled by the high camp 'all chiffon hankies and make-up and flouncing about. 'If you can sing, dance, play a musical instrument or whatever,' the announcement read, 'please apply'. A stage smile. No. 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. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. His associates would not return my calls. By then, he had fallen in love for the first time. 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. The relationship made a sort of sense, says Stanley. As one critic wrote: The joke is not that Stanley Baxter is dressed up as a woman. Moira chased Stanley, says Stanleys sister, Alice. I still don't. After all, she was with the man she adored. And then my impulse to pick up the trail again received further encouragement, when, out of the blue, one of the many former associates of Baxter with whom I had placed calls finally decided to ring me back. At the same time, Moira's mental health deteriorated. Meanwhile, if you think about it, if you changed out of your pyjamas if you wear any into your clothes, then got to the theatre and for the rest of the afternoon you had 32 dress changes to make, then you go out for a cup of tea and change again, then you do 32 in the evening. This would be no life for you, married to someone who is essentially and primarily a homosexual.'. Yet my interest had been rekindled, my hopes raised, before being dashed against the same old stonewalling. 'She guessed wrongly what being with a gay man entailed.'. If there were someone I were interested in, I could bring them home. And I did love her deeply, in my own way.. Mit unserem einfachen Abonnement erhalten Sie Zugriff auf die besten Inhalte von Getty Images und iStock . She died in 1997 at the age of 69 after suffering an overdose. She danced too in the gardens in Highgate Village, naked. Wearing a calf-length tweed coat with a smart scarf folded across the throat. Im not. And what does the master of disguise look like now? You mustn't let that worry you. He kept phoning all the time, telling me there was something special between us. Exasperated, his ITV television bosses told him they could no longer afford his extravaganzas. By the age of 14 when he became radio star he knew where his destiny lay. He had to get on with it, focus on finishing the last 10 days of the panto season and his last 10 days at the Citz. There was a sort of obsession.. January 1977: Talented Stanley could sing, dance, deliver broad panto comedy and perform pinsharp impressions of any star, male or female, 'I was in love with Bill,' Stanley says, 'but he certainly wasn't in love with me. ', Stanley and Moira (left and right) on their honeymoon in London in 1952. Too short-sighted for active Army service, he was afraid of being assigned to the merchant navy and the Atlantic convoys, but instead he was ordered to report to the coal pits, as a 'Bevin Boy' one of the conscripted mine workers. The front door was open. I told him of how she was slipping into little overdoses, and I would be going round to see her and reviving her. Autumn turning to winter before my eyes, and Stanley Baxter was not at home. Bringing the very best to his latest film role, Crooks Anonymous, starring alongside Julie Christie and Leslie Philips. One last piece for the Independent on Sunday, The Invisible Man: Searching for the Reclusive Stanley Baxter. I explained a great part of the problem was Moira. The spotlight was his. And wasnt marriage about compromise? Client stories Our approach Blog FAQs Contact us Feel the value of financial planning First-class financial planning for people who strive for more. Perhaps that is why hardly anyone noticed when, after 1985, he left the television spotlight altogether, just as the glare was getting hotter. 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. HP10 9TY. Stanley Baxter and Moira Robertson on their wedding day. Yes. Recluse. Meanwhile, on January 15, 1951, the engagement became national news, yet this didnt really register with Stanley. I believed that no-one in our family should be anything but a star.. heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment. But Ill tell you the basic outline. 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. Would it have happened anyway? Instead, he was arrested. No mention of his wife, Moira, though. 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. His sketch shows were months in the making and the talk of the nation spectacular, controversial, unlike anything ever seen. You know, the same sort of thing as Kenneth Williams. Shall we say affinity, I asked? He was married for 46 years, but beneath his cheerful exterior lies a man tortured by the fact he is gay. Yet he was, and is, missed: in England, as the funniest man on television; in Scotland where they take panto very seriously as the greatest dame of the century: a master of the double entendre and the quick, stunning costume-change. And it worked. (Later in my quest, I rang the clubs charming PR woman. The pulleys were always full of stuff., Moira was more Dora from David Copperfield than Glaswegian domestic goddess. Look, his shows cost a fortune partly because it takes them so long to change and do make-up and so on. 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. Moira Robertson was the wife of actor Stanley Baxter. After all, he was only a comedian, not a criminal or a crooked politician. In an extract publicised by The Scotsman, Stanley said he tried to split from Moira, who died in 1997, when she wanted to get married. But Baxter's anxieties were channelled into his work, and his perfectionist instincts became overwhelming. Her reaction was dramatic. Yes, was the terse reply. Baxter is appearing on a charges of soliciting and public indecency. He stood facing the audience for a moment and then said, in a vampish voice: I call this my hand grenade dress. I kept getting those sheeps eyes every time she passed me in the theatre and she appeared to be heartbroken READ MOREShowbiz legend Stanley Baxter says No, "I told her my preference and said: 'Thats why I am breaking off the relationship. A Scottish national treasure. The show featured interviews about his life alongside new comedy material including a skit about the Queen's Christmas speech. . ', Beset with doubts, he confessed to Moira that all his previous affairs had been with men. Helen Wright, 67, and Moira. Helen Wright and Moira Robertson were in a police raid (Image: Spindrift) Two Glasgow pensioners caught with more than 24,000 of cocaine are behind bars. In January 1962, he visited the public toilets in Madras Place, Holloway, hoping to pick up a man for casual sex. He felt guilty for the many affairs and the new partners. Nobody would tell me. This was going nowhere. One of them might be him, I thought. So that was the answer: a recluse in the phone book. Managing Director. After the war in Europe was over, in June 1945, a 19-year-old Baxter was told to report to the Seaforth Highlanders regiment. Baxter staged full-scale MGM musicals and played every role. But Stanley, and Moiras family, coaxed her to take medication. In a television era rich with comic talent, from Morecambe and Wise to Tommy Cooper, Dick Emery to Mike Yarwood, everyone agreed Stanley Baxter was king. And the sex was fine not rockets going off or anything.. He was the lead in one play before going off to serve with the Royal Army Service Corps in the Far East, where he was recruited for the Combined Services Entertainment unit, a drag- and-greasepaint outfit straight out of It Aint Half Hot Mum. I like to retreat into playing other people. The star penned: "Anybody 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. You. 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. Royal Family will find it 'impossible' to compromise with Sussexes, Shamima Begum never considered turning back during journey to ISIS, Russian pro-war fanatic warns Britain could be 'wiped off the map', BBC Breakfast celebrates forty years of hilarious bloopers, Russian marksman flees Ukraine to reunite with wife before being shot, Motorists slowly drive down snowy hill in treacherous conditions, Bungling helicopter pilot blows over stadium roof injuring eight, Ken Bruce will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio family in April, As it happened: UK Government blocks Scotland's new gender law, Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op, Extinction Rebellion douse the Home Office building in black paint, Harrowing moment woman begs father not to kill himself. 'Thankfully Moira was very understanding. Stanley knew he was gay. Although we'd spend lots of time in each other's beds, nothing happened. Yet, I had all sorts of excuses for developing a relationship. "Stanley Baxter and his wife Moira were secretly married in the drawing room of the bride's house in Dumbarton. Two years into the marriage, relations with Moira were "fine", but the sex was dwindling. He died aged just 26 and Stanley was heartbroken. And Stanley noticed her little eccentricities, her remoteness, her rejection of life's boring rituals of cleaning, cooking, washing laundry, had become more pronounced. Liked by Moira Robertson. That counts for a lot in this part of north London, where there are more antique shops than newsagents. After the couple tied the knot, Stanley said they had a pact which permitted him to bring men to the house they shared. 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