Simon Baker
Encyclopedia
Simon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 television series The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...

.

Early life

Simon Baker was born to a high-school English teacher, Elizabeth Labberton, and a groundskeeper/mechanic, Barry Baker, on 30 July 1969, in Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

. He was raised Roman Catholic. His parents divorced while he was still young. His mother later married Tom Denny, a butcher. Simon Baker also has a sister, currently a doctor in Australia, and one younger half brother. By 1972, they had moved from Launceston to Ballina, New South Wales
Ballina, New South Wales
Ballina is a town on the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire Local Government Area. It had a population of 16,477 in the 2006 Census.-Location:...

, hoping to secure better paying jobs. In 1986, he graduated from Ballina High School as Simon Baker-Denny, after completing his primary school education at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, also in Ballina.

Acting career

Baker began acting on Australian television during the late 1980s using the name "Simon Baker Denny". He first appeared in music video clips for Melissa Tkautz
Melissa Tkautz
Melissa Natalie Tkautz is an Australian-Maltese actress, singer, songwriter and model of Austrian and Maltese heritage. Tkautz was married on Friday 6 February 2009 to her partner of 5 years, Kwesi Nicholas.- Early career :...

 ("Read My Lips") and Australian dance outfit Euphoria
Euphoria (Australian band)
Euphoria was a popular Australian Pop/Dance music trio from the early 1990s based in Sydney, NSW. The group was founded by producer Andrew Klippel and featured the vocals of Keren Minshull and Holly Garnett...

 ("Love You Right") in 1991 before appearing in the successful series E Street
E Street
E Street is an Australian television soap opera created by Forrest Redlich and produced by the Ten Network from 1989 to 1993.Whereas Neighbours is set in a middle-class suburb, Home and Away in a seaside town, and Richmond Hill a semi-rural ordinary community, E Street was set in a tough inner-city...

, Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

and Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...

. Baker relocated to the United States, where he was briefly known by his stepfather's surname (Simon Baker-Denny or Simon Denny).

He was cast in a small part in L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...

, which led to further opportunities in supporting roles in films. In 1998 he starred in a small, independent film by filmmaker Stephen Grynberg titled "Love from Ground Zero
Love from Ground Zero
Love From Ground Zero follows three strangers across the back roads of America with the ashes of a mutual friend. Using a series of old postcards as a map, the threesome drive from New York to Montana retracing their friend’s journey “out west” years before...

", and in 1999 appeared in Ang Lee
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...

's Ride with the Devil. In 2000 he played Michael Scott in Adam Collis
Adam Collis
Adam Collis is an American filmmaker and actor. He attended the Duke University from 1986 to 1990 and the University of California, Los Angeles from 2007 to 2010. He also studied cinema at the University of Southern California from 1991 to 1997. Collis first work was the assistant director for the...

 Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip (film)
Sunset Strip is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Adam Collis for 20th Century Fox. Randall Jahnson wrote the story, who previously examined the rock scene in his scripts for The Doors and Dudes, and he and Russell DeGrazier adapted the story into a screenplay.This comedy takes place in...

. He also played an astronaut in Red Planet
Red Planet (film)
Red Planet is a 2000 Technicolor science fiction film directed by Antony Hoffman, starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was released on November 10, 2000.-Plot:...

with Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...

, Carrie Anne Moss and Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...

. He played the male lead in the television series The Guardian
The Guardian (TV series)
The Guardian is an American drama series which aired on CBS from September 25, 2001 to May 4, 2004. It is currently showing in re-runs on the Sleuth Channel in the US. The Guardian has also aired in the United Kingdom on the Hallmark Channel, ABC1 and more recently five USA and as of August...

for three seasons beginning in 2001, and also appeared in The Affair of the Necklace
The Affair of the Necklace
The Affair of the Necklace is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populace's disillusionment with the monarchy and, among other...

. He played a distressed husband in 2004's Book of Love. In 2005, he starred as an altruistic hero in George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

's Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...

.

In 2006, he played Brian Kelly in the film Something New
Something New (film)
Something New is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Sanaa Hamri. The screenplay by Kriss Turner focuses on interracial relationships and traditional African American family values and social customs.-Plot:...

, writer Christian Thompson in The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada (film)
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, a recent college graduate who goes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine...

, and had a leading role as Jeff in the short-lived television series Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...

. That following year, he was cast as Roderick Blank in Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101 is a 2007 dark comedy science fiction film written and directed by Daniel Waters released in the United States on April 4, 2008...

.

In 2008, Baker received the lead role in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 television series The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...

, in which he portrays Patrick Jane
Patrick Jane
Patrick Jane is the protagonist on the CBS crime drama The Mentalist, portrayed by Simon Baker. Jane is a consultant for a fictionalized version of the California Bureau of Investigation and helps by giving advice and insight from his many years as a fake psychic medium...

, a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation. In 2009, Baker was nominated for an Emmy for his work in The Mentalist. In late 2009, Baker was also nominated for his second Golden Globe award (first for The Mentalist) and first SAG Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...

 for his work. Baker portrayed Howard Hendricks in the American thriller film The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)
The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation of the 1952 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward...

.

Other activities

On 6 June 2010, he played in a charity football match for The Rest of The World team versus England on ITV's Soccer Aid 2010
Soccer Aid
-Event schedule:*22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out*23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends...

, coming on as a substitute in the second half. The match went to a penalty shootout; Baker took a penalty which was saved by England celebrity goalkeeper, Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston is an English television and radio presenter, producer and actor.-Education:...

. The Rest of the World went on to win the shoot out and the match for the first time since the tournament started.

Personal life

In 1998, Baker married Australian actress Rebecca Rigg
Rebecca Rigg
Rebecca Rigg is an Australian actress. She was once best known by Australian audiences as the bratty but troubled teenager, Gabrielle "Gabe" Baker, in the 1980s drama series A Country Practice.- Early life and career :...

. They have three children: Stella Breeze (born 8 August 1993), Claude Blue (born 1998), and Harry Friday (born 19 September 2001). Fellow Australian, actress Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...

, is godmother to Harry while actress Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...

 is godmother to Claude. Baker and his family resided in Malibu, California, before moving back to Sydney, and then returned to Los Angeles to appear on Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...

, and later on The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...

.

In January 2009, Baker told Parade Magazine that he and his wife were interested in becoming American citizens. That February, Baker appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...

and said that he was applying to become an American citizen. As of August 2010 Simon Baker is officially a US citizen; however he still retains his Australian citizenship.
On the Late Show with David Letterman on 23 September 2009, Baker spoke of his mother's job as a store security guard before she became a drama teacher after he got into acting.

He and his sons are fans of the Parramatta Eels
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...

 in the Australian NRL.

His name first appeared in Who's Who in Australia
Who's Who in Australia
The Who's Who in Australia is an Australian biographical reference first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as Johns's Notable Australians. It has been used by academics as a resource that identifies Australia's leading individuals, and has been analysed when studying the social backgrounds –...

in the 2011 edition.

Filmography

List of film credits
Year Title Role Notes
1997 L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...

Matt Reynolds credited as Simon Baker Denny
1997 Most Wanted Stephen Barnes
1998 Restaurant
Restaurant (film)
Restaurant is a 1998 independent film starring Adrien Brody, Elise Neal, David Moscow and Simon Baker. Written by Tom Cudworth and directed by Eric Bross, Restaurant was the follow-up to this writing–directing duo's first film, TenBenny, which also starred Adrien Brody...

Kenny
1998 Judas Kiss Junior Armstrong
1998 Love from Ground Zero
Love from Ground Zero
Love From Ground Zero follows three strangers across the back roads of America with the ashes of a mutual friend. Using a series of old postcards as a map, the threesome drive from New York to Montana retracing their friend’s journey “out west” years before...

Eric
1999 Ride with the Devil George Clyde
2000 Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip (film)
Sunset Strip is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Adam Collis for 20th Century Fox. Randall Jahnson wrote the story, who previously examined the rock scene in his scripts for The Doors and Dudes, and he and Russell DeGrazier adapted the story into a screenplay.This comedy takes place in...

Michael Scott
2000 Red Planet
Red Planet (film)
Red Planet is a 2000 Technicolor science fiction film directed by Antony Hoffman, starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was released on November 10, 2000.-Plot:...

Chip Pettengill
2001 Rétaux de Villette
Rétaux de Villette
Rétaux de Villette was born in France in the late 18th century. The scion of a poor family, he was forced to become a gigolo to survive, but Villette also had a talent for forgery...

2004 Book of Love David Walker
2005 Max Rourke
2005 Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...

Riley
2006 Something New
Something New (film)
Something New is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Sanaa Hamri. The screenplay by Kriss Turner focuses on interracial relationships and traditional African American family values and social customs.-Plot:...

Brian Kelly
2006 Christian Thompson
2007 Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101 is a 2007 dark comedy science fiction film written and directed by Daniel Waters released in the United States on April 4, 2008...

Roderick Blank
2007 Roger Thornberry Short film
2009 Malcolm Slaight
2009 Not Forgotten
Not Forgotten (film)
Not Forgotten is a 2009 independent thriller written and directed by Dror Soref starring Simon Baker and Paz Vega. The film takes place on the Texas-Mexico border and tells the story of a kidnapping plot involving the ritualistic cult Santa Muerte...

Jack Bishop
2009 Women in Trouble
Women in Trouble
Women in Trouble is a 2009 American comedy film, written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, and starring a cast consisting of Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, Marley Shelton, Connie Britton and Emmanuelle Chriqui.-Plot:...

Travis McPherson
2010 Howard Hendricks
2011 Margin Call
Margin Call
Margin Call is a 2011 American independent drama film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley...

Jared Cohen

List of television credits
Year Title Role Notes
1987 Shades of Love: Midnight Magic CHCH-TV
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...

 Television film
1989 Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...

Uncredited extra Episode: "Only Skin Deep"
1992–93 E Street
E Street
E Street is an Australian television soap opera created by Forrest Redlich and produced by the Ten Network from 1989 to 1993.Whereas Neighbours is set in a middle-class suburb, Home and Away in a seaside town, and Richmond Hill a semi-rural ordinary community, E Street was set in a tough inner-city...

Constable Sam Farrell Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...

 for Most Popular New Talent
1994 Which Way to the War
Which Way To The War
Which Way to the War was an intended British television sitcom written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, which was discontinued after a one-off broadcast pilot on 19 August 1994...

Pvt Stan Hawke Episode: "Pilot"
1994 Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

James Healy
1995 Naked
1995–96 Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...

Mr. Thomas 'Tom' Saunders Season 3: Episodes 80–89
1996 Naked: Stories of Men Gabriel Episode: "Blind-Side Breakaway"
1996 Sweat
Sweat (TV series)
Sweat was an Australian drama series created by John Rapsey and produced by Barron Entertainment in Perth. The show aired on Network Ten in 1996 and centred around students at an Australian school for the athletically gifted.Sweat was Heath Ledger's first regular role on a television show...

Paul Steadman Season 1: Episode 3
1999 Secret Men's Business Andy Greville
2001–04 Nick Fallin
2006–07 Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...

Jeff Breen Seven episodes
2008–present Patrick Jane
Patrick Jane
Patrick Jane is the protagonist on the CBS crime drama The Mentalist, portrayed by Simon Baker. Jane is a consultant for a fictionalized version of the California Bureau of Investigation and helps by giving advice and insight from his many years as a fake psychic medium...

Season 4: Episodes 1–on going

Awards and nominations

Australian Film Institute Awards
Australian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...

  • 2000: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Telefeature or Mini-Series" – Secret Men's Business


People's Choice Award
  • 2009: won with complete cast "Best new series" – The Mentalist season 1


Emmy Awards
  • 2009: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" – The Mentalist season 1


Family Television Awards
  • 2002: Won, "Best Actor" – The Guardian


Golden Globe Awards
  • 2002: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Television Series" – The Guardian
  • 2009: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Television Series" – The Mentalist season 2


Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...

  • 2010: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series" – The Mentalist season 2


Logie Awards
  • 1993: Won, "Most Popular New Talent" – E Street
  • 2004: Nominated, "Most Popular Overseas Star"


Prism Awards
  • 2005: Nominated, "Best Performance in a Drama Series Storyline" – The Guardian

External links

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