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Joe Don Baker, Rugged Star of ‘Walking Tall,’ Dies at 89

Joe Don Baker, the broad-shouldered Texas tough guy who portrayed characters on both sides of the law, most notably Sheriff Buford Pusser in the unexpected box-office hit Walking Tall, died May 7, his family announced. He was 89.

Baker first attracted mainstream attention in 1972 when he starred as the younger, business-minded brother of an aging Arizona rodeo rider (Steve McQueen) in Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner (1972), then portrayed a sadistic mob hitman named Molly in Don Siegel’s Charley Varrick (1973), starring Walter Matthau.


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Charlie Varrick is one of my favorite movies and Baker was terrific as the villain (the way he meets his demise is a classic). He was one of the few actors who played two different roles in the James Bond movies. He was the villain in The Living Daylights and then played what was essentially the Felix Leiter role as Bond's CIA helper in a couple of the Pierce Brosnan films.