Actor, Groesbeck native Joe Don Baker dies at 89
GROESBECK, Texas (FOX 44) – Actor and Groesbeck native Joe Don Baker has passed away at age 89.
Baker passed away on May 7, according to his obituary. He was born on February 12, 1936, and spent his early years in Groesbeck. He attended Groesbeck High School, excelling in both football and basketball. His athletic skills led him to secure a scholarship at North Texas State College, where he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. He received the Distinguished Alumni award from his college in 1994, now renamed University of North Texas.
Baker served in the U.S. Army for a two-year period before moving to New York City, where he studied at the Actor's Studio and became a life member. During this time, he gained acting experience performing in the lively New York theater scene.
The obituary says Baker eventually moved to Los Angeles, where his acting career gradually took off. He started with small television parts and eventually progressed to major acting roles as leading man and later in life as a character actor.
During Baker's long career until his retirement in 2012, he performed in 57 movies – starring in 'Walking Tall', 'Mitchell' and more. He also landed co-starring roles and supporting parts in other mayor projects, including 'Charlie Varrick' and three James Bond films.
According to the obituary, Baker's film acting accolades include winning the Robert Altman Award for his role on 'Mud' and nominations for the for the miniseries 'George Wallace'. He performed in numerous television productions, including a starring role in the popular series 'Eischied', and an outstanding performance on the acclaimed British television production of 'Edge of Darkness', which earned him a Best Actor nomination from the British Academy of Television.
Baker's eleven-year marriage produced no offspring. He is survived by relations in his native Groesbeck, who will forever cherish his memory. He is mourned by a small but very close circle of friends who will miss him eternally.
The obituary says a funeral service to honor Baker's life will be held on Tuesday, May 20, at Utter McKinley Mortuary in Mission Hills, California at 10 a.m. Friends and family are invited to gather and share memories, celebrating the extraordinary life he led.
If you would like to plant trees Baker's memory, you can go here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Unique view: A top sight to see when visiting Holmes County, Ohio, on a summer road trip
This is part of a new USA TODAY network project showcasing breathtaking − and perhaps, underappreciated − views throughout the United States. These are some of the most beautiful landmarks, scenic vistas and hidden gems you can truly treasure in your area. Artist Rusty Baker died unexpectedly on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the age of 64. But the legacy of his art lives on at the Legends of Music barn he began painting 20 years ago at his home in rural Holmes County, Ohio. His long-time partner Claudia Rozuk, with whom he traveled the globe from Peru to Kathmandu, still lives in the home they shared at 1665 County Road 150, Millersburg, about a mile west of state Route 83, at the north end of the village of Clark. Baker enjoyed traveling around the world and painting murals in towns along the Ohio River. He collected guitars and other musical instruments and enjoyed playing them all. Of the many murals Baker did, his personal favorite was the one he did on a 60-foot by 60-foot canvas, the barn at his Holmes County home in the heart of Ohio's Amish Country. The Legends of Music barn features the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, Joe Walsh, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger (since replaced by windows in the barn), David Bowie, Elton John, Jimmy Page, Leon Russell and Neil Young. There's even a tip of the hat to classical music with a portrait of Beethovewn, as well as blues legends BB King, John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon. He began working on the barn in June 2005, projecting an outline of the images and filling them in using an 8-inchby-10-inch photograph. He and Rozuk even got creative painting a propane tank as a Yellow Submarine next to the quartet of the lads from Liverpool, and planting a strawberry field outside of the barn. He added more musicians over the years. Baker was a music lover, and inside the barn he had a collection of guitars he played. He hosted music jam sessions and other soirees over the years. The music coming from the barn may have been silenced with his passing, but the legacy lives on through his portraits of the many legendary artists. 'I'll remember him as a very engaging and humble artist, muralist, painter, musician, world traveler, history lover, collector and modern-day Renaissance man; but mostly as my friend,' Daniel Soha wrote on the memorial page of Baker's obituary in 2023. 'Rusty was blessed with a God given gift to be able to create visualizations on his chosen canvas, whether it be a barn or stone wall,' another friend, Steven Parsons, reflected. 'I'm guessing he never met a stranger and I'm pretty sure he's up in heaven already doing some amazing painting for God,' added Tim Leedy. Lifelong friend and musical collaborator Cole Wengerd worked with Baker from the days when they were moved out of the house and into the barn to carry on their jam sessions. From around 2012 to 2020 they played a lot of music in the barn, just about four hours every Friday and Saturday. Wengerd has helped maintain the barn since Baker's passing, He remembers hosting unannounced visitors to the barn while while Rusty and Claudia were off on a whirlwind trip. "I remember leading a tour of a woman's Harley-Davidson Club from Michigan that stopped by once," he said. "This tour bus just pulled up on the country road and the people poured out and were looking at the barn, so I showed them around." He said many great memories live on in the Legends of Music barn. This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Holmes County Ohio best-scenic-view-usatoday-most-treasured-views-2025
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Vermont Fairs and Field Days happening all across the state
VERMONT (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermont's county fairs and festivals are just getting started. Each year, the events attract legions of locals as well as plenty of visitors from afar looking for unique food, crafts, and entertainment. The state's Department of Agriculture calls the events perfect for those looking for 'fun and authentic experience[s] in Vermont'. Combined, they draw over 300,000 people each year. The Vermont Maple Festival already concluded in April, and the Vermont Dairy Festival and the Bradford Fair are happening this weekend. The dairy festival, in Enosburg, is happening right after the state received federal recognition for its dairy industry. 'Bag Balm' included among 15 new roadside historic site markers The Vermont Dairy Festival includes a milking contest, cattle art, a dairy baking contest, and many more events, which will be happening all day Saturday and well into Sunday afternoon. The Bradford Fair will continue into Saturday and Sunday and include horse, pig, and goat races, as well as fairground attractions. The Fair writes, 'You've never seen hooves move this fast.' Future events include: Lamoille County Field Days (July 18-20) Addison County Fair & Field Days (July 29-August 2) Vermont State Fair (August 12-16) Caledonia County Fair (August 20-24) Bondville Fair (August 22-24) Champlain Valley Exposition (August 22-31) Guilford Fair (August 31-September 1) Orleans County Fair (September 4-7) The Tunbridge World's Fair (September 11-14) Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
High school grad goes viral for working at his Burger King job … still wearing his graduation outfit
Proudly wearing his high school graduation medals, Mykale Baker stopped by the Burger King in Dacula, Georgia, to mark the milestone with his coworkers. He had no way of knowing that a simple visit would lead to a life-changing viral moment. Baker wasn't scheduled to work the night he received his diploma, but when he saw the crew struggling to keep up with a surge of customers, he stepped in without hesitation. It was a natural instinct for the 18-year-old who had been named manager of a Wendy's at just 17. At that moment, Maria Mendoza happened to be waiting at the Burger King drive-through window for her order. She, like Baker, was coming from commencement, which had ended at 10 p.m. Although her daughter, Daizie Chavez, had graduated from Mill Creek High School the same year as him, the two had never met, which wasn't surprising in a class of more than 700 students. From the passenger seat, Mendoza, 45, craned her neck, curious about what was happening behind the counter. Who was preparing her Whopper? 'I'm kind of nosey sometimes!' Mendoza admits in an interview with 'And that's when I saw Mykale.' Around his neck hung medals honoring his achievements in marching band — as a percussionist, he was voted 'Most Selfless Person' — and in track and field, where he competed in hurdles. 'My whole world froze,' Mendoza recalls. 'My first thought was, he's working. He's not out celebrating like the rest of the kids. My child gets to be with me after the ceremony, and he's here.' And yet Baker was smiling, his face glowing with a wide beaming expression full of warmth and pure joy. "I was so happy I graduated," Baker tells "I couldn't take my eyes off of him," Mendoza says. She says something came over her, a sudden urge she couldn't ignore. She felt compelled to start recording, quietly capturing the scene without her husband or Baker noticing. Later that night, she posted the footage on TikTok, explaining that Baker had gone straight to Burger King after his graduation ceremony and that he looked 'so proud to carry his medals.' 'This young man deserves a scholarship!!!!' Mendoza wrote. The 43-second clip touched hearts across social media, and in just four days, a GoFundMe campaign for Baker — which Mendoza created and originally aimed to raise $5,000 — brought in more than $198,000 for his education. In the fall, Baker, a car fanatic, will attend Gwinnett Technical College to study automotive mechanics. With nine siblings, he says, there's never much to spare. 'Some of the money is going to go into fixing my car and the rest is going into a trust fund for school purposes only,' Baker, who was raised by a single mom, says. Soft-spoken and humble during the interview, Baker shies away from questions that focus on him but lights up when asked about Mendoza. 'It's brought our families together,' he says. 'She's a part of my family, and I'm a part of hers now.' He adds that he and Mendoza's daughter, Daizie, are now friends. Mendoza, for her part, is more than happy to brag about Baker if he won't do it himself. She shares that Mendoza's goal was to attend college and that he had been saving for it, holding jobs in the fast food industry since he was 16. If he didn't have enough, his plan was to join the Army, which would cover the cost of his education, a testament to his determination and resolve. 'He's incredible,' Mendoza says. "A lot of kids don't think that way." After hearing about the story, Burger King and the Burger King Foundation surprised Baker at work with a $10,000 scholarship. In recognition of Mendez's act of kindness, the foundation also awarded Daizie a $10,000 scholarship to support her studies in neuroscience at Georgia State University. Baker is training to become a manager at Burger King and will be working this summer, but he's most looking forward to an upcoming trip to Disney World with a friend. Demisha Scott, Baker's mother, describes him as 'the quietest' of her children, as well as 'very loving' and dependable. 'He doesn't think, he just automatically jumps in to help,' Scott tells TODAY. 'He's a very hard worker.' Scott says one of the band directors wrote a letter praising her son for always being the first to arrive and the last to leave practice. 'He'd load the van, break down the instruments and fix things if they broke,' she says. "That is who he is." Donations continue to pour in on Baker's GoFundMe, accompanied by messages filled with praise and admiration for his work ethic "Congratulations and God Bless You, Mykale! You are an inspiration and deserve to have the brightest future, and then some. You are already a leader and a role model at your precious, young age, and this world is made so much better by your presence," one person wrote. Added another, "Your story truly inspired me & touched my heart. It takes determination & humility to work after graduation. I pray that God continue to BLESS you beyond measure. As a PHD educated Black woman, I am truly moved by your GRIT. The future is yours! Go get it." This article was originally published on
