Line #9 Creator/JoeDonBaker


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joe_don_baker.jpg]]
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3	Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936 in Groesbeck, Texas) is an American actor.
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5	A tall, broad shouldered character actor with Texan drawl, he first appeared in support in several Western vehicles both on TV and the cinema in the mid 1960s. He got himself noticed playing Creator/{{Steve McQueen\|Actor}}'s younger brother in ''Film/JuniorBonner'' (1972), and then scored the lead role of Buford Pusser (!) in the unexpected hit ''Film/{{Walking Tall\|1973}}'' (1973), an allegedly true tale about a Southern sheriff confronting corruption and gangsters with a large wooden club and a mean attitude. Followed it up by playing a sadistic hit man called Molly, in Don Siegel's bank heist drama ''Film/CharleyVarrick'' (1973). Joe Don Baker's next few films were rather forgettable until he landed the role of police detective Earl Eischied in ''Film/ToKillACop'' (1978), which led him into reprising the same character in the short lived TV series ''Series/{{Eischied}}'' (1979). For the latter, Baker reportedly became the first television star to earn a million dollar salary.
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7	Since then he has proved he is also quite adept at taking on comedy roles, as well as picking up plenty of work playing lawmen, military men, politicians etc. Keep your eye open for him as a nosy police chief in ''Film/{{Fletch}}'' (1985) and as a redneck father in ''Film/MarsAttacks'' (1996). He also had [[YouLookFamiliar two different roles]] in the Film/JamesBond films -- a megalomaniacal ArmsDealer in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' (1987) and a CIA operative in ''Film/GoldenEye'' (1995) and ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' (1997). Baker also had a featured role on the BBC series ''Series/EdgeOfDarkness'', a performance which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. He continued acting until 2012, when he retired after appearing in ''Film/{{Mud}}''.
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9	Despite a long, successful and often acclaimed career, Baker gained unwelcome notoriety when two of his lesser-known films, ''Film/{{Mitchell}}'' (1975) and ''Film/FinalJustice'' (1985) appeared on the movie-mocking show ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. A longstanding UrbanLegend insists that Baker hated ''[=MST3K=]''[='s=] treatment of his films so much that he threatened to kill the crew, but according to Creator/JoelHodgson, Baker's actual reaction was less extreme: he objected to the show aiming its jokes at him rather than the characters he played, but harbored no serious grudge against them.
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11	!!Joe Don Baker on TV Topes:
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13	[[AC:Film]]
14	* ''Film/CoolHandLuke'' (1967) as Fixer (uncredited)
15	* ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 Guns of the Magnificent Seven]]'' (1969) as Slater
16	* ''Film/TheValachiPapers'' (1972) as Irish member of Valachi gang (uncredited)
17	* ''Film/{{Walking Tall\|1973}}'' (1973) as Buford Pusser
18	* ''Film/CharleyVarrick'' (1973) as Molly
19	* ''Film/{{Mitchell}}'' (1975) as Mitchell
20	* ''Film/TheShadowOfChikara'' (1977) as Wishbone Cutter
21	* ''Film/{{Joysticks}}'' (1983) as Joseph Rutter
22	* ''Film/TheNatural'' (1984) as The Whammer
23	* ''Film/FinalJustice'' (1985) as Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III
24	* ''Film/{{Fletch}}'' (1985) as Chief Jerry Karlin
25	* ''Film/JamesBond'':
26	** ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' (1987) as Brad Whitaker
27	** ''Film/GoldenEye'' (1995) as Jack Wade
28	** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' (1997) as Jack Wade
29	* ''Film/LeonardPart6'' (1987) as Nick Snyderburn
30	* ''Film/CapeFear'' (1991) as Claude Kersek
31	* ''Film/TheDistinguishedGentleman'' (1992) as Olaf Andersen
32	* ''Film/RealityBites'' (1994) as Tom Pierce
33	* ''Film/{{Congo}}'' (1995) as R.B. Travis
34	* ''Film/MarsAttacks'' (1996) as Richie's Dad
35	* ''Film/JoeDirt'' (2001) as Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)
36	* ''Film/TheDukesOfHazzard'' (2005) as Governor Jim Applewhite
37	* ''Film/StrangeWilderness'' (2008) as Bill Calhoun
38	* ''Film/{{Mud}}'' (2012) as King
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40	[[AC:Television]]
41	* ''Series/EdgeOfDarkness'' (1985) as Darius Jedburgh
42	* ''Series/InTheHeatOfTheNight'' (1989) as Tom Dugan
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44	[[AC:Video Games]]
45	* ''VideoGame/DisneysAnimatedStorybook: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' (1995) as as Owl (voice)
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Context Creator / JoeDonBaker