Stanley Baker rose to become one of Britain's leading male film stars in the late 1950s, known for playing tough anti-heroes and working-class characters quite unlike the typical leading men of the era. He appeared in significant productions including The Guns of Navarone (1961), but his most memorable performance was as Lieutenant John Chard in Zulu (1964), a film he also produced and fought hard to get made. He moved into film production more broadly as his acting career continued, and was knighted in 1976, though he died of lung cancer shortly before his investiture could take place.