Simon Baker Opts Out of Mentalist

Online, February 18, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Actor Simon Baker has requested to be let out of his seven-year contract to star on the CBS TV program The Mentalist, asking that the current season be his last.

He is citing future projects.

The Mentalist was originally planned to run for five seasons. Mr. Baker's contract was extended in 2011 to seven seasons with producing credits.

CBS has not commented.

Simon Baker was born to a high-school English teacher, Elizabeth Labberton, and a groundskeeper/mechanic, Barry Baker, on 30 July 1969, in Launceston, Tasmania. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. His parents divorced while he was still young. His mother later married Tom Denny, a butcher. Simon Baker also has a sister, currently a doctor in Australia, and three younger half brothers. By 1972, they had moved from Launceston to Ballina, New South Wales, hoping to secure better paying jobs. In 1986, he graduated from Ballina High School as Simon Baker-Denny, after completing his primary school education at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, also in Ballina. In 1998, Baker married Australian actress Rebecca Rigg after five years of living together. They have three children: Stella Breeze (born 8 August 1993), Claude Blue (born 1999), and Harry Friday (born 19 September 2001). Fellow Australian, actress Nicole Kidman, is godmother to Harry while actress Naomi Watts is godmother to Claude. Baker and his family resided in Malibu, California, before moving back to Sydney, and then returned to Los Angeles to appear on Smith, and later on The Mentalist. He also owns property in Australia, near Byron Bay.