Joe Don Baker

Biography

Joe Don Baker (February 12, 1936 - May 7, 2025) was an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, James Bond villain Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, and CIA agent Jack Wade in the James Bond films GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Known For

Bonanza

Ironside

Mission: Impossible

The F.B.I.

The Big Valley

Screen Two

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

All Movies (61)

• Mud2013 · as King
• Strange Wilderness2008 · as Bill Calhoun
• The 50 Greatest Television Dramas2007 · as Self
• The Dukes of Hazzard2005 · as Governor Jim Applewhite
• Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade2004 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Commission2003 · as Rep. Hale Boggs
• Joe Dirt2001 · as Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)
• Vegas, City of Dreams2001 · as Dylan Garrett
• Inside The Living Daylights2000 · as Self
• Inside 'The Living Daylights'2000 · as Self
• Poodle Springs1998 · as P.J. Parker
• Tomorrow Never Dies1997 · as Wade
• George Wallace1997 · as Big Jim Folsom
• To Dance with Olivia1997 · as Horace
• Mars Attacks!1996 · as Glenn Norris
• The Grass Harp1996 · as Sheriff Junius Candle
• The Siege at Ruby Ridge1996 · as Gerry Spence
• Felony1996 · as Donovan
• GoldenEye1995 · as Jack Wade
• Congo1995 · as R.B. Travis
• Panther1995 · as Brimmer
• The Underneath1995 · as Clay Hinkle
• Ring of Steel1994 · as Man in Black
• Reality Bites1994 · as Tom Pierce
• Complex of Fear1993 · as Det. Frank Farrel
• The Distinguished Gentleman1992 · as Olaf Andersen
• Citizen Cohn1992 · as Sen. Joseph McCarthy
• Cape Fear1991 · as Claude Kersek
• The Children1990 · as Cliffe Wheater
• Criminal Law1989 · as Detective Mesel
• Defrosting the Fridge1989 · as Hunter McCall
• Leonard Part 61987 · as Snyderburn
• The Killing Time1987 · as Carl Cunningham
• The Living Daylights1987 · as Brad Whitaker
• The Abduction of Kari Swenson1987 · as Sheriff Onstad
• Getting Even1986 · as King R. Kenderson
• Fletch1985 · as Chief Jerry Karlin
• Final Justice1984 · as Geronimo
• The Natural1984 · as The Whammer
• Joysticks1983 · as Joseph Rutter
• Wacko1982 · as Dick Harbinger
• To Kill a Cop1978 · as Chief Earl M. Eischied
• The Pack1977 · as Jerry
• Speedtrap1977 · as Pete Novick
• The Shadow of Chikara1977 · as Wishbone Cutter
• Checkered Flag or Crash1977 · as Walkaway Madden
• Mitchell1975 · as Mitchell
• Framed1975 · as Ron Lewis
• Golden Needles1974 · as Dan Mason
• The Outfit1973 · as Jack Cody
• Charley Varrick1973 · as Molly
• Walking Tall1973 · as Buford Pusser
• That Certain Summer1972 · as Phil Bonner
• Junior Bonner1972 · as Curly Bonner
• The Valachi Papers1972 · as Irish member of Valachi gang (uncredited)
• Welcome Home, Soldier Boys1971 · as Danny
• Mongo's Back in Town1971 · as Mongo Nash
• Wild Rovers1971 · as Paul Buckman
• Adam at Six A.M.1970 · as Harvey Gavin
• Guns of the Magnificent Seven1969 · as Slater
• Cool Hand Luke1967 · as Fixer

All TV Shows (23)

• Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke1999 · as Buck Duke
• George Wallace1997 · as Big Jim Folsom
• The Siege at Ruby Ridge1996 · as Gerry Spence
• Edge of Darkness1985 · as Darius Jedburgh
• Screen Two1985 · as Hunter McCall
• Power1980 · as Tommy Vanda
• Eischied1979 · as Earl Eischied
• To Kill a Cop1978 · as Chief Earl Eischied
• Doc Elliot1973 · as Aaron Hickey
• The Mod Squad1968
• Lancer1968
• The Outsider1968 · as Billy Joe Corey
• The High Chaparral1967 · as Yuma
• Judd, for the Defense1967
• Ironside1967
• Mission: Impossible1966 · as Frank Kearney
• Felony Squad1966
• The F.B.I.1965 · as Alex Drake
• Honey West1965 · as Rocky Hansen
• The Big Valley1965 · as Tom Lightfoot
• Bonanza1959 · as Luke Harper
• Gunsmoke1955 · as Woody Stoner
• Gunsmoke1955 · as Tom Butler