Keith Baxter (born 29 April 1933) is a Welsh theatre, film and television actor. Baxter never made any bones about being gay:. “Well, I’ve never bothered about it, to tell you the truth. It’s never been something to bother about, really. Maybe that’s the difference between America and London, as the years have gone by. Anybody who knows me knows the focus of my sexuality but it’s not something that one needs to proclaim. I mean, one supports the right issues, of course."
Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, in 1933, the son of a Merchant Navy sea captain, he was christened Keith Stanley Baxter-Wright and lived for a time in Romilly Road, Barry, Glamorgan. He was educated at Newport High School and Barry Grammar School. His early introduction to the stage was from his interest in making model theatres and stage scenery. He studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, during which period he shared a flat with a classmate, Alan Bates. He made his film debut in the 1957 remake of The Barretts of Wimpole Street and appeared uncredited as a detective in the British horror classic Peeping Tom (1960).
In 1960, Orson Welles selected Baxter to portray Prince Hal in his stage production Chimes at Midnight, which combined portions of the Shakespearean plays Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II, Henry V, Richard II, and The Merry Wives of Windsor and brought the comic figure of Falstaff to the forefront of a primarily tragic tale. Baxter repeated his performance in the 1965 film version. Additional film credits include Ash Wednesday (1973; with Elizabeth Taylor), Golden Rendezvous (1977), and Killing Time (1998).
In 1961, Baxter made his Broadway debut as King Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons. Other New York City stage credits include The Affair (1962), Avanti! (1968), Sleuth (1970), Romantic Comedy (1980) and The Woman in Black (2001).
Baxter was signed for the role of Octavian "Augustus" Caesar opposite Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra in the 1963 film of Cleopatra. Taylor's bout of pneumonia, soon after filming began, temporarily shut down filming. By the time she recovered, Baxter had other commitments and Roddy McDowall assumed the role. Baxter co-starred with Taylor in the film Ash Wednesday (1973). He also later played Mark Antony opposite Maggie Smith's Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the Stratford Festival in Canada in 1976.[5]
Baxter's television work includes appearances in Gideon's Way, The Avengers, Hawaii Five-O, Thriller(1976) and the 1998 mini-series Merlin.
Baxter is the author of My Sentiments Exactly, memoirs.[6] He has written several plays including 56 Duncan Terrace, Cavell and Barnaby and the Old Boys. In 1971, he recorded an LP of several of the short stories of Saki for Caedmon Records under the title Reginald on House-Parties, and Other Stories.[7] He is an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,
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