Bob Baker on AllMovie

According to Hollywood lore, Bob Baker's mother mailed her handsome son's picture and a biography to Universal, who was actively searching for a new face to star in a series of B-Westerns. Born Stanley Leland Weed and nicknamed "Tumbleweed," Baker hailed from Iowa and had enjoyed some success performing on the popular National Barn Dance, broadcast nationwide from radio station WLS in Chicago. Universal liked what they saw and heard, and Baker beat such applicants as Roy Rogers for the coveted spot. Beginning with the fine Courage of the West (1937), Baker would make a total of 12 starring Westerns for the North Hollywood studio before someone came up with the idea of inaugurating a "triad hero" series to compete with Republic Pictures' vastly popular Three Mesqueteers Westerns. Partnered with veteran star Johnny Mack Brown and comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight, Baker was decidedly the third member of the trio, however, and his not inconsiderable ego vastly deflated as a result. The trio disbanded after six humdrum entries and Baker found his career slipping even further, finally calling it quits in 1944. Relocating to Prescott, AZ, Baker joined the local police force and later owned a leather goods company. His death was attributed to a long bout with cancer.