Raymond Baxter | |
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Baxter with a Jaguar aircraft in 1976
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Born |
Raymond Frederic Baxter 25 January 1922 Ilford, Essex |
Died | 15 September 2006 | (aged 84)
Nationality | British |
Occupation | television presenter and writer |
Known for | Tomorrow's World |
Raymond Frederic Baxter OBE (25 January 1922 – 15 September 2006) was an English television presenter and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of Tomorrow's World, continuing for 12 years, from 1965 to 1977. He also gave radio commentary at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the funerals of King George VI, Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten of Burma, and the first flight of Concorde.
Baxter was born in Ilford in Essex. His father was a science teacher. He was educated at Ilford County High School, a grammar school for boys, from which he was expelled after being caught smoking. He did not go on to a college or university.
Baxter worked for a brief period at the Metropolitan Water Board. In August 1940, during the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force and trained as a fighter pilot in Canada. He first flew Supermarine Spitfires with No. 65 Squadron RAF in Britain, based in Scotland. He joined No. 93 Squadron RAF, flying over Sicily in 1943, where he was mentioned in despatches. He returned to England in 1944 as an instructor and was later a flight commander, returning to active service with No. 602 Squadron RAF in September 1944.