Joe Don Baker, Walking Tall star and James Bond actor, dies at 89

Joe Don Baker, who led one of the greatest vigilante movies ever, Walking Tall, has passed away. Baker was 89.

Joe Don Baker began his career in the 1960s, turning up in roles in Cool Hand Luke, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and Junior Bonner. But it was playing wrestler-turned-vigilante Buford Pusser – a real-life sheriff in Tennessee – that put him on the map. (He would later be replaced by Bo Svenson for the sequels.)

Much of the focus of Joe Don Baker in his post-Walking Tall ‘70s lineup was on crime movies, landing spots in Charley Varrick, The Outfit and Framed. Action was a forte of Baker’s as well, turning up in a number throughout the first leg of his career.

Joe Don Baker would later have a distinction of playing two different characters in the James Bond franchise. First came 1987’s The Living Daylights, where he played black market arms dealer Brad Whitaker who meets his fate courtesy of 007 (and the Duke of Wellington). He would also turn up for Pierce Brosnan’s first go as Bond in 1995’s GoldenEye, this time playing CIA op Jack Wade, who sides with 007 in his mission. He would reprise that character for 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.

Joe Don Baker would continue his steady career through the decades, appearing in everything from The Natural (Babe Ruth surrogate The Whammer) to Fletch (a corrupt police chief) to Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear (a PI). His last feature was Jeff Nichols’ Mud. TV credits early on put him in popular westerns such as Gunsmoke and Lancer. In 1997, Joe Don Baker would earn some of the highest praise of his career playing Alabama governor Jim Folsom in TNT miniseries George Wallace.

Despite all of his onscreen credits, Joe Don Baker will always best be remembered for Walking Tall. And he was aware of that, saying he gets most recognized for that role. “It’s amazing to me…It astounds me that people still remember – I can understand it because Buford was such a wonderful person, he was a hell of a character in real life. He was like Hercules or Zeus or something…I was very happy to be chosen to play him and I’m very happy to be remembered for playing Buford…It touched a nerve in everybody who would like to do in the bad guys but don’t have the power and we’d get in trouble…But Buford was able to pull it off.” Pusser passed away in 1974, just one year after the release of Walking Tall.

RIP to one of the toughest dudes to ever hit the big screen in the 1970s, Joe Don Baker.

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