| “ | Unhand her, foul wretch! | „ |
| ~ Whittaker Baltimore's most famous line during his Dashing White Cowboy melodrama. |
Whittaker Baltimore, also known by his stage name The Dashing White Cowboy, is the titular main antagonist of the Lucky Luke comic, The Dashing White Cowboy.
He is a famous Wild West play director and actor who created the Whittaker Theater Troupe in order to perform plays across the Wild West, with his most famous being The Dashing White Cowboy. All seemingly goes well for him until banks are mysteriously robbed, which causes Lucky Luke to be framed for it several times and nearly hanged.
Eventually, Gladys Whimple, a former member of the troupe, reveals that it was none other than Baltimore himself who robbed the banks during the play, using the audience's booing against Barnaby Float as a diversion. Thanks to this, Luke managed to put an end to Baltimore's robbery spree and he is sent to prison, where he is booed by the prisoners.
Biography[]
Whittaker Baltimore is first seen doing a rehearsal of his most successful play, the Dashing White Cowboy, with his employees, before Lucky Luke interrupted it as he thought that someone was in danger, while in fact the woman that Luke thought that she was in danger was simply an actress named Gladys Whimple, who plays Linda, the damsel-in-distress of the play.
Baltimore then introduces the members of his troupe to Luke, including Barnaby Float, who plays the main villain of the play, Francis Lusty and Gladys Whimple, who's "baby" was just a prop used for the play. He then explains to Luke that he and his troupe were going on a tour in Texas and that they did rehearsals so they would not spoil their entrance.
As Luke declined to stay with them as he was expected in Nothing Gulch, Baltimore tells him that his melodrama will be performed in that same town, giving a ticket to him so he could watch their perfomance. They all then leave to Nothing Gulch. There, the play plays out as normal, with Mortimer threatening to snatch the baby from Linda, only to be saved by the Dashing White Cowboy. However, it is at this point where everything starts going downhill, as an old man alerts that the bank has been robbed, with everyone thinking that it was simply part of the play at first, but it wasn't, causing a small fight between Hank Wallace and Lucky Luke.
Meanwhile, Baltimore and his troupe strike the set and puts away the props used in the play, as they all go on to drink some whisky, with Barnaby Float being oddly denied, as the barman refuses to serve baby snatchers. The next day, Baltimore asks Hank and Luke if they both managed to catch the criminals who robbed the bank, but they were not able to find them. Luke then asks where Baltimore would be going to perform at, which is shown to be Miner's Pass. Hank then asks him how his play ends as he paid a huge price for his seat, revealing to be just a similar outcome as Luke has: Singing the "Poor Lonesome Cowboy" song.
He and his troupe then arrive in Miner's Pass, where they perform their play as usual, but another robbery happens, leading to it being interrupted again as the audience starts going after the supposed criminals. Without an audience, they are forced to put the props away again, but much to their surprise, Baltimore notices that the man covered in coal is none other than Lucky Luke, who was following them. Baltimore denies having any involvement in the robbery and tells Luke to search them, prompting him to have the miners search around for them. The next morning, one of the bandits' horses was found, who is none other than Jolly Jumper, Luke's trademark horse, much to his shock. Baltimore deems it as a coincidence, as he says that Luke was at Miner's Pass when the robbery happened. As he and his troupe leave the town, Luke is framed for the robberies and nearly hanged, before escaping at the last moment, thanks to Jolly Jumper.
In the town of Indian Flats, where Baltimore plans to do his show next, Lucky Luke goes to the bar where he and his troupe are drinking, only for him to be punched in the face by Lucky Luke for nearly having him hanged. However, because of this, he is no longer able to perform, as the punch resulted in him getting a black eye. The troupe then decide to have Luke replace him so he can also keep an eye on anyone. The play doesn't really go too perfectly this time, as Luke is stressful of his role and even does a poor job at it, as he protects Barnaby Float instead, which would make the audience confused. The Indian Bureau is then robbed and Luke is again framed, as there are people from Miner's Pass in the audience who quickly recognized him. This time, however, Luke escapes as Baltimore's troupe flee so they wouldn't be considered suspects as well.
Later at night, Baltimore and his troupe are sharing a supper, only for Luke to toss his costume back to him. This annoys Baltimore as because of his unlawful acts, his show was closed, as the people in Indian Flats also suspected them due to Luke being seemingly a member of their company. Luke then searches inside the wagon to see if there were anything suspicious in there, but all he could find was fake props, with Baltimore saying that it's all illusion. Baltimore then tells Luke that they will both be parting ways, as he doesn't have enough money to pay him, though Luke warns them to not sneak away, as his horse would quickly catch them if they cause trouble, but as they are waited at Tumbleweed Springs, they have plenty of time.
However, in Tumbleweed Springs, Lucky Luke's suspicions reach a point where Baltimore gets furious, telling him to prove all of it first. During the play, Luke keeps an eye on him so he could see him do anything suspicious. Then, another robbery happens, but this one was nothing but another diversion set up by Baltimore, as he took the opportunity of the audience's absence to rob the saloon's gambling money, framing Luke once again as he is put behind bars, where he is forced to reveal the location of the stolen money, with the threat of stringing him up like the people of Miner's Pass did.
Little does he know is that one of his former members, Gladys Whimple, had quit the troupe during the robbery and became what she actually wanted to be, a dance performer for Fifi Le Bon Bon. This is where Lucky Luke quickly recognizes her, making her panic as she rushes out to her cabin. There, Baltimore's true intentions are revealed as he is actually the one who caused all the robberies as Luke already suspected. His true intentions also led to Gladys leaving the troupe as Baltimore flimflammed her. She then draws a map where Baltimore is hiding in, a cabin somewhere in the woods.
There, Lucky Luke manages to catch him and Barnaby Float, as the baby is cracked open, revealing the stolen money inside it. Baltimore finally admits he used Francis Lusty's help to make more profit out of dramatic acts. He and Barnaby Float are then sent to prison, where the Dancing White Cowboy is played again, but this time with the audience booing him instead as rocks are thrown at him.
Trivia[]
- Whittaker Baltimore's must notorious play, The Dancing White Cowboy, is a parody of the melodrama genre.
- Whittaker Baltimore's appearance is a caricature of American actor John Barrymore.
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 Villains
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