Leslie David Baker

Leslie David Baker (born February 19, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Stanley Hudson on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), which earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Baker had recurring roles on the CMT sitcom Still the King (2016) and the Sky One comedy-drama series Living the Dream (2019). He had recurring voice roles on the Disney Junior series Puppy Dog Pals (2017–2022), the Apple TV+ series Doug Unplugs (2020–2022), and the HBO Max adult animated series Fired on Mars (2023). Baker had a starring role in the sports drama film Hard Miles (2023), and a supporting role in The Happytime Murders (2018). He had supporting voice roles in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and Vivo (2021).

Baker was born on February 19, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Mendel Catholic College Preparatory High School in Chicago, Illinois in 1976. He holds a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago and an M.S. in human services administration from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. He taught special education and played an office worker in OfficeMax commercials while working on his MS degree. In Chicago, he worked for the Board of Education, the Department of Public Health, and the Office of Cable and Communications.

Baker moved to Los Angeles, California, in the late 1990s.

I still have the nine-to-five experience without the nine-to-five responsibilities. In the nine-to-five world, you don't have anybody who has your breakfast waiting for you in the morning, or lays out your wardrobe, or styles your hair.

Baker had another audition scheduled on the day he was called back for The Office. On his way to his Office audition, he was caught in traffic, though producers thought he had been in the bathroom and thanked him for his patience. "By then I was kind of sweaty, my clothes were rumpled, and I was cranky," Baker later said. "The character was written the way I was feeling that day, and I just let 'er rip. Two weeks later I got a call: 'You got the pilot.'"

Baker's Office character, Stanley Hudson, is a sales representative for the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper distributor usually portrayed as a defiant, grouchy curmudgeon. It was said that his performance was "a standout" on the show, and with "his monotone voice and calm demeanor, he played well against the off-the-wall nature of many of the other characters." "Did I Stutter?" (season 4, 2008) has a focus on Baker's character; as with many supporting actors on The Office, some of Baker's scenes became memorable to fans. Stanley is rarely, but sometimes, given a "soft side"; in "Stairmageddon" (season 9, 2013), Baker plays a tranquilized, and then giddy, Stanley. At the conclusion of the series, Stanley says he is happy to be living in retirement in Florida.

He was part of the Office cast which won Screen Actors Guild Awards in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series category in 2007 and 2008.