Youthful inspiration?

[Philip]

Hello dear Tom,

May I ask, who were the actors you admired as a boy?

I came to know Chaplin's films only about 5 years ago and since then I've sometimes fancied I saw hints of Charlie Chaplin (and Burt Lancaster) in your performance as the Doctor. If the Tramp has his doubts about someone, Chaplin will give the most wonderfully unlikely but communicative 'smile'. It entails showing, almost baring his top teeth whilst giving a look of awkward queasiness (he commonly leans backward, away from offending person, as if they might not smell quite right).

Which screen actors did you admire when you were growing up?

With thanks and good wishes, Phil.

[Tom Baker]

Phil,

As a child I was mostly taken up with the amazing tales of FAITH. I come from a very religious family. Also there was a war on at the time, and the films were not as dramatic as fires and bombs and pieces of shrapnel to be collected. There were crowds of American soldiers everywhere and also groups of prisoners of war. I used to go to see God two or three times a day and then mock German prisoners on the way home. We did not mock Italians because the Pope was an Italian and therefore a Catholic. But I enjoyed western films especially Johnny McBrown. I never liked Chaplin but loved Abbot and Costello and The Three Stooges, stuff like that.

Tom