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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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.
Euronews
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
'Walking Tall' and three-time James Bond star dies aged 89
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.
