{"id":14312,"date":"2025-05-17T01:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T01:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312"},"modified":"2025-05-17T01:30:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T01:30:06","slug":"veteran-actor-and-rugged-star-of-walking-tall-and-bond-series-dies-at-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312","title":{"rendered":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Don Baker, best known for\u00a0<em>Walking Tall<\/em>\u00a0and his rare dual role in the James Bond franchise, has died at 89 from lung cancer. He passed on May 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, with news confirmed days later.<\/p><div class=\"hsjmq69f5a9c912137\" ><div style=\"width:100%; max-width:1200px; margin:0 auto;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/bolt-casino.com?r=0BFDBF1283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <img \n      src=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f8693ebb-2018-480f-a2f7-0096810c07f0.jpg\" \n      alt=\"200% Deposit Bonus + 10% Cashback\" \n      style=\"width:100%; height:auto; display:block; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\"\n    \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.hsjmq69f5a9c912137 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.hsjmq69f5a9c912137 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.hsjmq69f5a9c912137 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.hsjmq69f5a9c912137 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.hsjmq69f5a9c912137 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1767898\" data-uid=\"04607\">\n<div id=\"mgw1767898_04607\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"mgbox card-media\" data-template-type=\"container\">\n<div class=\"mgheader\">\n<p>Born in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker served in the Army before turning to acting, studying at the Actors Studio. His breakout came in 1973 as sheriff Buford Pusser in\u00a0<em>Walking Tall<\/em>, a hit that turned him into a folk hero.<\/p>\n<p>Baker played tough, textured characters across 50+ films, including\u00a0<em>Charley Varrick<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Cape Fear<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>Mars Attacks!<\/em>. He uniquely portrayed both a Bond villain (<em>The Living Daylights<\/em>) and ally (<em>GoldenEye<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Tomorrow Never Dies<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Beyond film, he earned a BAFTA nomination for\u00a0<em>Edge of Darkness<\/em>. Known privately for his love of nature and books, Baker remained grounded despite his tough-guy image.<\/p>\n<p>He left behind a legacy of grit, grace, and unforgettable performances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Don Baker, best known for\u00a0Walking Tall\u00a0and his rare dual role in the James Bond franchise, has died at 89 from lung cancer. He passed on May 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, with news confirmed days later. Born in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker served in the Army before turning to acting, studying at the Actors Studio&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joe Don Baker, best known for\u00a0Walking Tall\u00a0and his rare dual role in the James Bond franchise, has died at 89 from lung cancer. He passed on May 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, with news confirmed days later. Born in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker served in the Army before turning to acting, studying at the Actors Studio....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vmfavorite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vmfavorite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vmfavorite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad\"},\"headline\":\"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\"},\"wordCount\":156,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\",\"name\":\"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/\",\"name\":\"VM News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad\",\"name\":\"vmfavorite\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25ae7ad0af0818c5b3c7c52f4610bfa26e9985055e4db731befcf55c2fdcfd9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25ae7ad0af0818c5b3c7c52f4610bfa26e9985055e4db731befcf55c2fdcfd9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"vmfavorite\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News","og_description":"Joe Don Baker, best known for\u00a0Walking Tall\u00a0and his rare dual role in the James Bond franchise, has died at 89 from lung cancer. He passed on May 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, with news confirmed days later. Born in Groesbeck, Texas, Baker served in the Army before turning to acting, studying at the Actors Studio....","og_url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312","og_site_name":"VM News","article_published_time":"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"vmfavorite","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"vmfavorite","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312"},"author":{"name":"vmfavorite","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad"},"headline":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89","datePublished":"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312"},"wordCount":156,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312","url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312","name":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89 - VM News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-17T01:30:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/497924659_1024586796477947_5490367749479826014_n.jpg","width":512,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=14312#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veteran actor and rugged star of \u2018Walking Tall\u201d and Bond series, dies at 89"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/","name":"VM News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a2e30a4c480fba08110aa92dceebedad","name":"vmfavorite","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25ae7ad0af0818c5b3c7c52f4610bfa26e9985055e4db731befcf55c2fdcfd9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25ae7ad0af0818c5b3c7c52f4610bfa26e9985055e4db731befcf55c2fdcfd9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"vmfavorite"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/news-vm.com"],"url":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14314,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14312\/revisions\/14314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}