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

Mars Attacks!

GoldenEye

Mud

Tomorrow Never Dies

Cool Hand Luke

Cape Fear

The Living Daylights

Congo

The Dukes of Hazzard

Reality Bites

Joe Dirt

Fletch

Career Timeline

Department

2013
Mud
King • Acting
2008
Strange Wilderness
Bill Calhoun • Acting
2007
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self • Acting
2005
The Dukes of Hazzard
Governor Jim Applewhite • Acting
2004
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Self (archive footage) • Acting
2003
The Commission
Rep. Hale Boggs • Acting
2001
Joe Dirt
Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited) • Acting
2001
Vegas, City of Dreams
Dylan Garrett • Acting