Joe Don Baker

Joe Don Baker
Born	(1936-02-12) February 12, 1936 (age 82) Groesbeck, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–2012
Spouse(s)	Marlo Baker (1969–1980)

Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio.^[1] He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969), and as a deputy sheriff in the western Wild Rovers (1971), before receiving worldwide fame for his iconic roles as a mafia hitman in Charley Varrick (1973), real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the classic action film Walking Tall (1973), brute force detective Mitchell in Mitchell (1975), deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice (1985), and as chief Jerry Karlin in the action-comedy Fletch (1985).

Contents

• 
  1 Life and career
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 James Bond series
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Filmography
  


• 
  3 References
  


• 
  4 External links
  

Life and career

Baker was born in Groesbeck, Texas, the son of Edna (née McDonald) and Doyle Charles Baker.^[2] He attended the University of North Texas, and graduated with a business degree in 1958. Baker served a tour of duty in the United States Army. In 1964 he appeared on stage in Marathon '33 at the ANTA Theatre in New York City. His career had its roots in television, though he did appear in several movies, including a part in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. He appeared in many television series, graduating to featured guest roles in such series as The Big Valley (in which he played a Harvard-educated Native American with a penchant for fighting) and Mod Squad (where he appeared as an illiterate vending machine robber). He was the title character in the 1971 TV movie Mongo's Back in Town, starring Telly Savalas.

Physically impressive at nearly 6'3" tall (189 cm), he was a natural for Westerns, both on the big and little screens. While working regularly on television on top shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke, he appeared in supporting roles in such films Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Blake Edwards' Wild Rovers, but his film career didn't start to quicken until he scored the role of Steve McQueen's younger brother in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner, a film about a contemporary rodeo cowboy, which was released in late 1972.

His breakthrough came with the 1973 film Walking Tall, directed by Phil Karlson.^[3] (He would also star in the filmmaker's final work, Framed, two years later.) Released in February as a regional exploitation picture, Walking Tall clicked with audiences and became an unexpected hit, picked up for national distribution with a new TV ad campaign using the slogan, "When was the last time you stood up and applauded a movie?" The film eventually earned $23 million at the box office^[4]. Baker's performance was praised by influential film critic Pauline Kael, but he turned down the sequel.

Later that year, his work in Charley Varrick helped solidify Baker's reputation. He was praised for a courageous and offbeat portrait of the sadistic hitman Molly. He also co-starred with Robert Duvall in the 1973 crime film The Outfit and starred in the 1974 adventure film Golden Needles.

Baker has given many performances in a career spanning four decades. In 1980, he became the first actor^{[citation needed]} to receive $1 million to star in a television series, the short-lived Eischeid (known as "Chief Of Detectives" in the UK).

He was "The Whammer," a baseball player modeled after Babe Ruth, in the 1984 baseball drama The Natural that starred Robert Redford. In a scene, the Whammer takes three swings at pitches from the young Roy Hobbs to try to impress a mysterious woman they have met on a train.

In 1985, he portrayed the corrupt Chief Jerry Karlin in Fletch. In the UK, he played CIA agent Darius Jedburgh in the BBC Television drama serial Edge of Darkness. He was nominated for "Best Actor" by the British Academy Television Awards, losing to his co-star Bob Peck.

Martin Scorsese directed him as a private detective in 1991's Cape Fear, hired by a man (Nick Nolte) whose family is being threatened by a psychopathic ex-convict (Robert De Niro).

Baker received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Texas in 1994.

While actor Carroll O'Connor was undergoing heart bypass surgery, Baker took his place on the television series In the Heat of the Night. Baker appeared as Captain Tom Dugan, a retired police captain who filled in while O'Connor's character was away at a police convention.

More recently, he has had appearances in Joe Dirt, The Dukes of Hazzard and Strange Wilderness.

In 2009, Baker delivered another performance in The Cleaner on A&E, playing an alcoholic military veteran attempting to help a friend cope with the loss of his son. He hires William Banks (played by Benjamin Bratt) to help him start back down the road to sobriety.

Baker played "King" in 2012's Mud with Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Sam Shepard.

James Bond series

In 1987, Baker played the villainous arms dealer Brad Whitaker in the Bond film The Living Daylights, starring Timothy Dalton as 007. In 1995 and 1997, Baker returned to the series, this time playing a different character, CIA agent Jack Wade, in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, with Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Baker is one of four actors to appear as both a Bond ally and a villain, the others being Charles Gray, who appeared as Henderson in You Only Live Twice and Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever; Walter Gotell, who appeared as Morzeny, the SPECTRE Island trainer, in From Russia with Love and as General Gogol, the head of the KGB, in six films between 1977 and 1987; and Richard Kiel as Jaws, in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, assisting 007 in the latter film.

Filmography

• 
  Honey West (TV show, Episode 15 "Rockabye the Hard Way", Dec. 24, 1965) as truckdriver Rocky Hansen


• 
  Cool Hand Luke (1967) as Fixer (uncredited)


• "The Big Valley (TV show, Episode "Lightfoot") as Tom Lightfoot


• 
  Gunsmoke (TV show, Episode "The Reprisal", 1969) as Tom Butler^[5]
  


• 
  Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) as Slater


• 
  Adam at 6 A.M. (1970) as Harvey Gavin


• 
  Wild Rovers (1971) as Paul Buckman


• 
  Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1971) as Danny


• 
  Junior Bonner (1972) as Curly Bonner


• 
  That Certain Summer (1972) as Phil Bonner


• 
  The Streets of San Francisco (TV show, Episode "Beyond Vengeance",aired Mar. 8, 1973) as criminal Leonard Collier Cord


• 
  Walking Tall (1973) as Buford Pusser


• 
  Charley Varrick (1973) as Molly


• 
  The Outfit (1973) as Jack Cody


• 
  Golden Needles (1974) as Dan


• 
  Framed (1975) as Ron Lewis


• 
  Mitchell (1975) (also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) as Mitchell


• 
  Checkered Flag or Crash (1977) as Walkaway Madden


• 
  The Shadow of Chikara (1977) as Wishbone Cutter


• 
  Speedtrap (1977) as Pete Novick


• 
  The Pack (1977) as Jerry


• 
  Eischied (1979) as Chief of Detectives Earl Eischied


• 
  Wacko (1982) as Dick Harbinger


• 
  Joysticks (1983) as Joseph Rutter


• 
  The Natural (1984) as The Whammer


• 
  Edge of Darkness (1985) as Darius Jedburgh


• 
  Final Justice (1985) (also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) as Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III


• 
  Fletch (1985) as Chief Jerry Karlin


• 
  Getting Even (1986) as King R. Kenderson


• 
  The Living Daylights (1987) as Brad Whitaker
  


• 
  The Killing Time (1987) as Carl Cunningham


• 
  Leonard Part 6 (1987) as Nick Snyderburn


• 
  Criminal Law (1988) as Det. Mesel


• 
  Defrosting The Fridge (1989) as Hunter McCall


• 
  The Children (1990) as Cliffe Wheater


• 
  Cape Fear (1991) as Claude Kersek


• 
  Citizen Cohn (1992) (HBO) as Sen. Joseph McCarthy


• 
  The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) as Olaf Andersen


• 
  Reality Bites (1994) as Tom Pierce


• 
  Ring of Steel (1994) as Man in Black


• 
  Underneath (1995) as Donovan


• 
  Panther (1995) as Brimmer


• 
  Congo (1995) as R.B. Travis


• 
  The Grass Harp (1995) as Sheriff Junius Candle


• 
  GoldenEye (1995) as Jack Wade


• 
  Mars Attacks! (1996) as Richie's Dad


• 
  George Wallace (1997) (TNT) as Big Jim Folsom


• 
  Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) as Jack Wade


• 
  Poodle Springs (1998) (HBO) as P.J. Parker


• 
  Vegas, City of Dreams (2001) as Dylan Garrett


• 
  Joe Dirt (2001) as Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)


• 
  The Commission (2003) as Rep. Hale Boggs


• 
  The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) as Gov. Jim Applewhite


• 
  Strange Wilderness (2008) as Bill Calhoun


• 
  The Cleaner (2009, "Last American Casualty") as Major Larry Duren


• 
  Mud (2012) as King

References

1. 
   ^ David Garfield (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of the Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of the Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 277. ISBN 0-02-542650-8..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ Joe Don Baker Biography (1936-)
   


3. 
   ^ Kehr, Dave (May 18, 2012). "Idealistic Lawmen Taking Crime Very Personally". The New York Times.
   


4. 
   ^ "Walking Tall: Box Office & Business". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
   


5. 
   ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0594507/fullcredits
   

External links

• 
  Joe Don Baker on IMDb


• 
  Joe Don Baker at AllMovie
  


• 
  Joe Don Baker at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
  

Authority control	WorldCat Identities BNE: XX1279437 BNF: cb13891074m (data) GND: 132014246 ISNI: 0000 0001 1932 6519 LCCN: no97056747 SNAC: w6sp457k SUDOC: 154816116 VIAF: 17406725

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