Discreet by Nicole French
Prologue
May 7, 2014
The New York Times
Fitz Baker, Actor, Missing After Boating Accident off Maine Coast
Fitzwilliam “Fitz” Baker, whose standout performance in last year’s “The Dwelling” earned him an Oscar nomination, disappeared off the coast of Maine last weekend. His catamaran was found wrecked off a particularly treacherous channel, and Mr. Baker’s body has not been recovered after an extensive search. He would have been 25 in June.
After more than a week of looking, the Maine Coast Guard finally called off the search. Emilio Adams, the detective assigned to the case, stated, “At this time we have no reason to suspect foul play. It appears to be a boating trip gone bad. We have no choice but to presume Mr. Baker dead.”
Mr. Baker grew up outside of Stamford, Connecticut, where he was discovered as a young talent in a local mall during an open call for child auditions. His early work in commercials led him to a part in the popular sitcom, “Bailey’s Life,” playing the child prodigy, Nick Bailey. The show was canceled in its fifth season after Mr. Baker’s mother, Tricia Owens-Baker, could not come to an agreement with the network about his contract renewal.
Mr. Baker, however, had already started moving on to consistent film roles and had his first breakout performance in the high school comedy, “Drama Camp,” at the age of 17. From there he began appearing in more serious roles, demonstrating his range in such films as the Boston legal drama, “City on a Hill,” and the Revolutionary War epic, “State of Liberty.”
But it was his last film, directed by legendary director Corbyn Creighton, that earned Mr. Baker his first major critical recognition with Golden Globe and SAG awards for Best Actor in a Drama, as well as a Best Actor Oscar nomination. After Mr. Baker’s performance as a recovering alcoholic and AIDS victim in “The Dwelling,” Creighton called him “this generation’s Brad Pitt” for the combination of humor, wit, and magnetism he brought to the screen. Creighton said yesterday that, “a light in the darkness of the world has been extinguished. Fitz will be dearly missed.”
But it wasn’t all bright lights and awards for the charismatic young actor. Mr. Baker had acknowledged publicly that he suffered from debilitating anxiety attacks, which often prevented him from taking part in major press events unless under the influence of some kind of substance. After suffering a near-fatal attack from an obsessive fan in 2011, Mr. Baker had become quite reclusive, traveling only with a large security entourage and generally keeping to his 25-acre compound in Vermont when not traveling for his job.
In an interview with The New York Times last month, he admitted that he was trying, for the first time in his life, to cope with the effects of his anxiety without medication, drugs, or alcohol. Mr. Baker stated, “I don’t want to live my life in a haze. For better or for worse, I need to face my life with my eyes wide open.”
Exactly four weeks later, his boat was found in pieces on the rocky Maine channel.
“It just makes no sense,” Tricia Owens-Baker, his mother, said in tears after the search was called off yesterday. “He was an expert sailor and swam like Michael Phelps. There is just no way he drowned out there. I don’t believe it.”
“We’ll never stop looking for our son,” added Michael Baker, his father. “Never.”
