Parley Baer

Parley Baer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 5, 1914, where he began his career in radio at station, KSL in the same city. He was also a student of drama at the University of Utah. Before beginning his radio career, Baer was a circus ringmaster for Circus Varga and Barnum & Bailey, where he met and married Ernestine Clarke, a circus aerialist and bareback rider, in 1946.

During World War II, Baer served in the Pacific Theater as a member of the Army Air Corps, where he rose to the rank of Captain. He earned seven Battle Stars and a Presidential Citation.

Parley Baer was one of the most sought-after radio performers between 1940 and 1950. His ease in mimicking a westerner’s style of speaking, coupled with a high-pitched voice made him a shoo-in for many westerns. In fact, Baer was best known in radio for his character, Chester Wesley Proudfoot, Marshal Matt Dillon’s deputy on Gunsmoke.

However, Parley Baer's presence could be heard all over the radio as he made several appearances on Escape, Dragnet,Suspense, Fort Laramie, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Let George Do It, Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator, Richard Diamond, NBC University Theater, Granby's Green Acres, CBS Radio Workshop, Family Theater, The Shadow, This Is Your FBI, Lux Radio Theater and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar among many others. During Baer’s career on the radio, he worked on producer, Norman MacDonnell’s shows, including the comedy, Honest Harold, where he took on the character of Pete, the Marshal and he played Doc Clemens on Rogers of the Gazette, based on the life of Will Rogers.

One famous quote from Baer that captured the hearts of radio lovers was, “Radio is the most nearly perfect medium for an actor. If you have an audience of five million people listening to you, you’re giving five million performances.”

Parley appeared in over 150 television shows, one of which was the character of Mayor Stoner in The Andy Griffith Show. He also played Darby, a neighbor on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and made several guest appearances on The Addams Family, playing the part of Arthur J. Henson, an insurance agent. Another well-known part of Baer’s was his role as the voice of Ernie Keebler in the cookie commercial for Keebler products.

Baer and his wife Ernestine had two daughters, Kim and Dale. Ernestine passed away on August 5, 2000. Parley, suffered a stroke in 1997 which affected his speech and movement abilities. Baer did manage to recover enough to appear in several old-time radio conventions, but died of complications from the stroke on November 22, 2002 at 88 years of age. Parley Edward Baer is buried at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

Happy listening my friends,