Dylan Baker
Dylan Baker is an
American actor best known for playing supporting roles in both major studio movies and
independent films.
Born on
October 7,
1959 in
Syracuse, New York, Baker was raised in
Maryland, where he began his acting career as a teenager in regional
theater productions. He graduated from the
Georgetown Preparatory School in 1976 and Southern Methodist in 1980. He then received a Masters in Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama. In 1986, he performed in an
off-Broadway production of
Not About Heroes, co-starring
Edward Herrmann and directed by
Diane Wiestand -- winning an Obie Award for his performance. After graduating from the
Yale School of Drama, he scored on
Broadway in such diverse roles as a yuppie (opposite fellow "
Murder One" cast mate
Patricia Clarkson) in
Richard Greenberg's
Eastern Standard (1989) — for which he won a Theater World Award — and as the Prince in the modern verse play "La Bete" (1991).
He made his film debut in the 1987
John Candy-
Steve Martin comedy,
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. By 1995, he was a regular on the television dramas
Feds and
Murder One.
Baker first became well-known beyond New York City in 1998 when he appeared in
Todd Solondz's ensemble
black comedy Happiness, taking on the extremely controversial role of a
closeted
pedophile who
rapes two of his young son's friends. Baker was critically lauded for playing such an unsympathetic role as a three-dimensional human being rather than as a one-sided monster. The film was also criticized for the way in which the role was written.
In addition to roles in films such as
Thirteen Days,
The Cell, and
Kinsey, Baker has also appeared extensively on the Broadway stage and on television, in shows such as
Law & Order and the short-lived
sitcom The Pitts. He has also appeared in major studio movies such as
Spider-Man 2, in which he played Dr. Curt Conners (also known as
The Lizard.)
Baker played the role of Satan in Seeing Ear Theatre's production of
The History of the Devil. He also played a priest in "Altar Boys", an episode of
CSI.
In 1990, he married actress Becky Gelke, now known professionally as
Becky Ann Baker. They have one child (born 1993) and reside in
New York City.
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Dylan Baker Biography and Filmography