Joe Don Baker leaves behind him a lasting legacy of screen roles on the big and small screen, including the cult film 'Walking Tall' and three James Bond films in the 1980s and 90s - the first of which earned him the honorary distinction of being the first American Bond villain.
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Celebrated American actor Joe Don Baker has died at the age of 89.
A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Best known for his role as the justice-seeking sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1973 vigilante film Walking Tall, Joe Don Baker leaves behind him a lasting legacy of screen roles.
The late actor’s obituary reads: “Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity. His intellectual curiosity made him a voracious reader, inspiring a great love of nature and animals, particularly cats. Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him.”
Born on 12 February 1936 in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker played football for North Texas State College and, upon graduating in 1959, served a two-year stint in the Army before moving to New York City to study acting at the Actor’s Studio.
He would remain a lifelong member of the famed organization.
During his long career, until his retirement in 2012, he performed in 57 movies, starring in Walking Tall, Mitchell and his last film role in Jeff Nichols’ acclaimed coming-of-age drama, also starring Matthew McConaughey, Mud – for which he won the Robert Altman Award.
He also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear, Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! and performed in numerous television productions, including a starring role in the popular series Eischied, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, and in the acclaimed British television production of Edge of Darkness, which earned him a Best Actor nomination from the British Academy of Television.
Many film fans will remember Joe Don Baker for appearing in not one but three James Bond films of the 1980s and 90s.
He played the villainous Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights (1987) opposite Timothy Dalton as James Bond – earning the distinction of being the first American Bond villain. He then switched sides by playing 007’s CIA ally Jack Wade in both GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), opposite Pierce Brosnan as Bond.
Joe Don Baker was married to Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres from 1969 until their 1980 divorce. They did not have children and he is survived by relatives in Groesbeck.