Joby Baker Dies: ‘Good Morning World’ Star Was 92

Michelle Stein July 6, 2026, 9:54 am

GOOD MORNING WORLD, Joby Baker — Everett Collection

What To Know

Joby Baker, known for starring in the 1960s sitcom Good Morning World, died at age 92.
Baker’s career included notable film roles alongside stars like Elvis Presley, Sandra Dee, and Connie Francis.
He played radio DJ David Lewis on Good Morning World and was initially considered for a show named after him.

Joby Baker, the actor who starred in the ’60s sitcom Good Morning World, is dead at 92.

In a July 4 article from The Hollywood Reporter, his granddaughter Sofia Silverman confirmed that Baker died on June 22 at a hospital in Yonkers, New York.

Baker — a painter and nightclub entertainer — snagged acting credits early in his career in The Last Angry Man (1959) with Paul Muni and The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960) with Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson. He went on to appear in Gidget (1959) with Sandra Dee, Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) with Deborah Walley, and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) with Cindy Carol. Baker’s film credits also included Hootenanny Hoot (1963), in addition to working with Connie Francis in Looking for Love (1964) and When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965).

In the 1965 film Girl Happy, Baker played a drummer, Wilbur, in a band with Elvis Presley, who played a character named Rusty Wells. The movie also featured Gary Crosby and Jimmy Hawkins.

Baker went on to star as a fictional radio DJ, David Lewis, in Good Morning World, which aired for just one season from 1967 to 1968.

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“When [The] Van Dyke [Show] went off the air, they needed to find another replacement for [Dick] Van Dyke, and they decided it was me,” he explained, of Good Morning World, during a 2020 interview.

He continued, “They were going to call it The Joby Baker Show. And I went to these guys, and I begged them, ‘Please, please, don’t call it The Joby Baker Show.’ And I convinced them not to. It’s too much responsibility for a painter who might be in a terrible TV show. I was shy and nervous about stardom.”

In addition to Baker, Good Morning World starred Ronnie Schell as his radio show co-host, Larry Clarke, as well as Julie Parrish, Billy De Wolfe, Goldie Hawn, and Burt Taylor.