The American actor Joe Don Baker, who starred in multiple James Bond films as different characters, has died at the age of 89.
Baker died on May 7, his family announced. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Known for his roles as “tough guy” characters on both sides of the law, Baker established himself through supporting roles in Westerns Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Wild Rovers (1971), before his breakthrough role as real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the film Walking Tall (1973), which became unexpected box-office hit.
Baker later became arguably the first American Bond villain and one of the few actors to return to the franchise in another role.
Looming over his co-stars at six-foot-three, Baker played the arms dealer Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights (1987), starring Timothy Dalton as 007, then returned as a good guy, CIA agent Jack Wade, opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1995 and 1997 movies GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, respectively.
Born on February 12, 1936, in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker’s early life was marked by the loss of his mother at the age of 12, after which he was raised by his aunt. He attended North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas) where he played linebacker on the football team, graduating in 1958 with a degree in business administration. Following a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, he pursued acting at the Actors Studio in New York City.
He moved to Los Angeles to find work on screen, doing so at first in small TV Western roles before scoring the role of Steve McQueen’s younger brother in Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner (1972).
Baker was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as CIA man Darius Jedburgh in the 1985, six-hour BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness, directed by Martin Campbell. “I could have done that all my life, I think, or at least for years and been happy,” he said of the role.
His later film and TV roles included a private detective in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of Cape Fear and an alcoholic military veteran in The Cleaner (2009) on A&E. He played King in Mud (2012) starring Matthew McConaughey.
Baker retired from acting in 2012, concluding a career that spanned nearly five decades and included over 50 film appearances. He was married to Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres from 1969 until their divorce in 1980 and had no children.
“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,” his obituary reads.
“Joe Don's 11 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.”
