Editing Tom Baker (section)

=== Early work ===
Baker was in his thirties when his professional acting career began and he worked in provincial [[repertory theatre]]. He had his first break whilst performing in a late-night pub revue for the 1968 York Festival. His performance was seen by someone with the [[Royal National Theatre]] who encouraged him to audition for the company, which was headed at the time by [[Laurence Olivier]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |author=Shattuck, Kathryn |date=28 April 2013 |title=What's on Sunday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/arts/television/whats-on-sunday.html?_r=0&gwh=F8E52D6768623CB7D93EFF51A9A7FDFD |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Baker did so and was offered a contract. From 1968 to 1971, he was given small parts and understudied; one of his bigger roles was the horse Rocinante in ''Don Quixote''.<ref name=BFI/>

Baker's stage work led to work on television, where he gained small parts in series such as ''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'', ''[[Z-Cars]]'', ''[[Market in Honey Lane]]'' and ''[[Softly, Softly (TV series)|Softly, Softly]]''.<ref name=BFI/> In 1972 he played the Egyptian doctor in the BBC’s ''[[Play of the Month]]'' production of [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]]'s play ''[[The Millionairess (play)|The Millionairess]]'', directed by Bill Slater and starring [[Maggie Smith]], with whom Baker shared several scenes.  

Baker's first major film role was as [[Grigori Rasputin]] in the film ''[[Nicholas and Alexandra]]'' (1971); he was cast after Olivier had recommended him for the part.<ref name="Canby">{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 December 1971|first=Vincent|last=Canby|author-link=Vincent Canby|title=Nicholas and Alexandra|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CEFD71038EF34BC4C52DFB467838A669EDE}}</ref> He was nominated for two [[Golden Globes|Golden Globe Awards]] for his performance, one for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and another for Best Newcomer. Baker appeared as Moore, an artist whose paintings are imbued with voodoo power, in ''[[The Vault of Horror (film)|The Vault of Horror]]'' (1973), and as Koura, the villainous sorcerer, in Ray Harryhausen's ''[[The Golden Voyage of Sinbad]]'' (1973).

Baker also appeared in [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]]'s [[I Racconti di Canterbury|1972 film version]] of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales (film)|The Canterbury Tales]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/30040/doctor-who-the-film-careers-of-patrick-troughton-tom-baker|title=Doctor Who: the film careers of Patrick Troughton & Tom Baker|work=denofgeek.com|date=9 April 2014|access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref> as the younger husband of [[The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale|the Wife of Bath]].