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American actor Joe Don Baker, who appeared in multiple James Bond films, has passed away at 89. The actor's family announced the unfortunate news in an obituary shared on Legacy.com, adding he died on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
At the time of writing this article, further details about his passing, including cause of death, have not been released. Noting that the actor would be "dearly missed but never forgotten," the obituary added:
"We hold onto the memories and the love he shared with us. Though he may no longer be with us in body, his spirit will always remain, a guiding light in the lives he touched."
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Baker gained a name in the early '70s playing "tough guy" supporting characters in Western movies like Guns of the Magnificent Seven. His breakthrough performance came from the 1973 box-office hit Walking Tall, as per The Hollywood Reporter. Joe Don played real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser, who cleaned up crime in his small town.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Baker's fortune is roughly estimated at $3 million.
Joe Don Baker served in the U.S. Army for two years before moving to New York to pursue acting
Joe Don Baker was born in February 1936 in Groesbeck, Texas. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his mother, Edna, died when he was just twelve, and thus, his aunt raised the young boy.
As per his obituary, Baker was a "voracious reader," known for his love for nature and animals, especially cats. He attended the Groesbeck High School and excelled in football and basketball. His athletic skills earned him a scholarship at North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas).
Joe Don graduated with a degree in business administration in 1958. Notably, Baker joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity during his university years. Per Legacy.com, his alma mater honored him with the Distinguished Alumni award in 1994.
After graduation, Joe Don Baker served in the U.S. Army for two years before moving to New York to pursue acting. He studied at the Actors Studio, becoming a life member and frequently performing in the theater plays to gain experience. In the early 1960s, Baker appeared in productions like Marathon ’33 and Blues for Mister Charlie.
Soon after, the Texas-born actor moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at acting on the silver screen. Some of his acting credits include Junior Bonner, Cape Fear, and Charley Varrick.
Joe Don Baker went on to star in several James Bond films. Starting with 1987's The Living Daylights, which featured Timothy Dalton as the eponymous British spy. Baker played the villain (the first American Bond villain), Brad Whitaker, an arms dealer. He returned to the franchise as the good guy in 1995 and 1997 as CIA agent Jack Wade, opposite Pierce Brosnan's 007 in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
According to the Independent, Joe Don Baker eventually retired in 2012, with a career spanning five decades. He boasts several award nominations, including a Best Actor BAFTA in 1986 for work on the BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness. In a 1974 interview with The New York Times, Walking Tall director Phil Karlson credited Baker's acting as a "big, powerful" man who "people can look up to" for the movie's success despite being known for its ultra-violent scenes.
Citing a mid-1990s interview, The Hollywood Reporter relayed the Texan actor's opinion about his Walking Tall character, Sheriff Buford Pusser.
"In the early ’70s, I think a lot of people wanted to take a stick to Nixon and all those Watergate guys. [It] touched a vigilante nerve in everybody who would like to do in the bad guys but don’t have the power and would get in trouble if [they] did. But Buford was able to pull it off," he stated.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Joe Don Baker married Maria Dolores Rivero-Torres in 1969, and they divorced in 1980. The actor is survived by his relatives.
The funeral service will be held in Mission Hills, California, on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
