Brian Edward Baker (born July 16, 1967) is an American actor best known for his recurring role as a trenchcoated spokesman in Sprint's

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

Biography

Early career

Baker began his acting career at the age of 11 as a member of a now-defunct community film enthusiast club known as ''Cinekyd'', based in

Willow Grove, Pennsylvania Willow Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Upper Dublin Township, Abington To ...

, where youngsters acted in, directed, edited, and produced amateur movies under adult supervision. In

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, following college, he studied at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

troupe, while also working as a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and in the Seanachai Theatre Company. To make ends meet he waited tables at John's Place in Chicago's

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

neighborhood.

Sprint

Baker moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1999, and within six weeks, had landed the role that would be his big break—The Sprint Guy. Although originally contracted to appear in only five ads, the overwhelming popularity of the commercials led to Baker's appearance in 155 spots over six years. In 2001, ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' named him in their "50 Most Beautiful People" list, dubbing him "Sexiest Pitchman". Soon Baker's image appeared all over Sprint's in-store signage, printed material, and even the company's website, providing a human face for an otherwise faceless telecommunications behemoth. The 2005 merger of Sprint and rival

Nextel Nextel Communications, Inc. was an American wireless service operator that merged with and ceased to exist as a subsidiary of Sprint Corporation, which would later be bought by T-Mobile, T-Mobile US and folded into that company. Nextel in Brazil, ...

spelled the end of the commercials when the company implemented a "new look" campaign, and marketing for the new company was handed over to Nextel's ad agency.

Television work

In addition to his work in commercials, Baker appeared on the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

'' M.Y.O.B.''. He appears as Representative John Tandy on the television series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' and guest-starred on episodes of ''

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

'', ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized ...

'', and '' V.I.P.''

Personal life

Baker lives in Hershey,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He was married to actress Terry Farrell of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' and ''

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

''. The couple divorced in 2015. They have one child. Baker is a 1985 graduate of

William Tennent High School William Tennent High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12, located in Warminster, Pennsylvania, US. The school is the only public high school serving Warminster and Upper Southampton townships and Ivyland borough in the Cen ...

Warminster, Pennsylvania Warminster Township (also referred to as Warminster) is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formally established in 1711. The township is 13.7 miles north of Philadelphia and had a population of 32,682 according to the 201 ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

from

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

in 1990. While at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, Baker became a member of

Phi Kappa Theta Phi Kappa Theta (), commonly known as Phi Kap, is a national social fraternity that has over 35 active chapters and colonies at universities across 21 U.S. states. The fraternity was founded on April 29, 1959, at Ohio State University in Columbu ...

. He is currently in a long-term relationship with the violinist-composer

Susan Voelz Susan Voelz (born Susana Maria Voelz) is an American musician. A Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, violinist, and composer. She is a member of the alternative rock band, Poi Dog Pondering. She has also worked with a long list of famous musician ...

References

External links

*
"Sprint's Trench Coat Guy Loses His Connection, but He's Waiting for a Redial"
''The Washington Post'', October 3, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Brian American male stage actors American male television actors Sprint Corporation people Smeal College of Business alumni Male actors from Philadelphia People from Hershey, Pennsylvania 1967 births Living people People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Spokespersons