Born in Bulgaria, George Baker nonetheless achieved prominence as a British actor, making his joint film and stage debuts in 1952. At home in avuncular roles, Baker made an impressive Reverend Charles Dodson in the 1965 British TV movie Alice. He was equally adept at authoritative characterizations, appearing in this capacity in two of the James Bond epics and as Emperor Tiberius in I Claudius (1957). In the late '80s, George Baker starred in a series of elaborate, 60-minute TV murder mysteries as the unflappable Chief Inspector Wexford.