Joe Don Baker

Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio, 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). 2Life and career Baker was born in Groesbeck, Texas, the son of Edna (née McDonald) and Doyle Charles Baker. 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 197