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
Complete Filmography

Mud
2013
as King
Two teenage boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and help him reunite with his lover and escape an avenging family an...

Strange Wilderness
2008
as Bill Calhoun
With the ratings dropping for a wilderness-themed TV show, two animal fans go to the Andes in search of Bigfoot.

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
as Self
Boasting an amazing selection of the most watched, most influential and most highly acclaimed programmes ever made, The 50 Greatest Television Dramas ...

The Dukes of Hazzard
2005
as Governor Jim Applewhite
Cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, with the help of their eye-catching cousin, Daisy and moonshine-running Uncle Jesse, try and save the family farm from bein...

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
as Self (archive footage)
An account of the life and work of American film director Sam Peckinpah (1925-84), a tortured artist whose genius and inner demons changed the Western...

The Commission
2003
as Rep. Hale Boggs
Using transcripts from the Warren Commission Report, this film documents the workings of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination o...
Best Ever Bond
2002
as Jack Wade (archive footage) (uncredited)
Roger Moore presents the ten best sequences ever to have appeared in the James Bond series, and cast members recall their favourite moments.

Joe Dirt
2001
as Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)
Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligere...

Vegas, City of Dreams
2001
as Dylan Garrett
When the body of Gabrielle Garrett is found on Lake Mead on a Christmas day, the coroner rules it as suicide. However, her three sisters begin their o...

Inside The Living Daylights
2000
as Self
The making of the film that introduced Timothy Dalton as James Bond, who gave Bond a darker edge for a new generation.

Inside 'The Living Daylights'
2000
as Self
A behind the scenes look at the James Bond film "The Living Daylights"

Poodle Springs
1998
as P.J. Parker
Private eye Philip Marlowe and his bride move to a desert town, where he uncovers a land scheme.

Tomorrow Never Dies
1997
as Wade
A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil mas...

George Wallace
1997
as Big Jim Folsom
George Wallace is a 1997 television film starring Gary Sinise as George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama. It was directed by John Frankenheimer...

To Dance with Olivia
1997
as Horace
A lawyer trying to cope with his son's accidental death takes on a case where a farmer is charged with booby trapping a watermelon patch with a shotgu...

Mars Attacks!
1996
as Glenn Norris
A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim...

The Grass Harp
1996
as Sheriff Junius Candle
Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in ...

The Siege at Ruby Ridge
1996
as Gerry Spence
A mini-series dramatization of the controversial 1992 attack by federal agents on the Idaho home of Randy Weaver, a white seperatist. The ten-day sieg...

GoldenEye
1995
as Jack Wade
When a powerful satellite system falls into the hands of Alec Trevelyan, AKA Agent 006, a former ally-turned-enemy, only James Bond can save the world...

Congo
1995
as R.B. Travis
Eight people embark on an expedition into the Congo, a mysterious expanse of unexplored Africa where human greed and the laws of nature have gone bers...

Panther
1995
as Brimmer
Panther is a semi-historic film about the origins of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The movie spans about 3 years (1966-68) of the Black Pa...

The Underneath
1995
as Clay Hinkle
A recovering gambling addict attempts to reconcile with his family and friends but finds trouble and temptation when caught between feelings for his e...

Felony
1994
as Donovan
A reality cop show films a police raid on a drug ring that goes awry and results in the massacre of 11 policemen. All of this gets taped by the camera...

Ring of Steel
1994
as Man in Black
A champion fencer accidentally kills an opponent in a match. Disgraced, he is blackballed from the fencing community, until a mysterious stranger save...

Reality Bites
1994
as Tom Pierce
A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As...

Complex of Fear
1993
as Det. Frank Farrel
Condominium residents are terrified when they learn that two of their neighbors have been brutally raped and that the culprit may be living in their m...

The Distinguished Gentleman
1992
as Olaf Andersen
A Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected ...

Citizen Cohn
1992
as Sen. Joseph McCarthy
As lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn lies dying of AIDS in a private hospital room, ghosts from his past visit him as he reflects on his life and loves...

Cape Fear
1991
as Claude Kersek
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14...

The Children
1990
as Cliffe Wheater
Rose Sellars is a middle-aged woman who falls in love with a widower. However, his children believe that their father is too old to start a new relati...

Criminal Law
1989
as Detective Mesel
Ben Chase is an on-the-rise Boston attorney currently defending a wealthy client in a high-profile murder case. Martin Thiel is the wealthy young man ...

Defrosting the Fridge
1989
as Hunter McCall
The Lowesthorpe Trawlers an English, American football team, hire American coach Hunter McCall and persuade local firm Salty Sea Fish Foods to be thei...

Leonard Part 6
1987
as Snyderburn
After separating from his wife, Leonard Parker (Cosby) quit the spy business and became a restaurateur. His wife refuses to speak with him, and his da...

The Killing Time
1987
as Carl Cunningham
After a psychopath murders a man who was on his way to a job as a deputy sheriff in a small California town, he assumes the deputy's identity and arri...

The Living Daylights
1987
as Brad Whitaker
After a defecting Russian general reveals a plot to assassinate foreign spies, James Bond is assigned a secret mission to dispatch the new head of the...

Abduction
1987
as Sheriff Onstad
Based on the shocking true story of Olympic medalist Kari Swenson who was abducted by two "Mountain Men" while jogging in the foothills of the Rockies...

Getting Even
1986
as King R. Kenderson
A soldier-of-fortune steals some Russian nerve gas from Afghanistan, and brings it to the U.S. to be analyzed. A greedy millionaire rancher finds out ...

Fletch
1985
as Chief Jerry Karlin
When investigative reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher goes undercover to write a piece on the drug trade at a local beach, he's approached by wealthy bu...

Final Justice
1984
as Geronimo
Due to his violent past, Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III has been transferred to a rural outpost. When two thugs kill the sheriff, Geroni...

The Natural
1984
as The Whammer
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the lea...

Joysticks
1983
as Joseph Rutter
A successful businessman attempts to shut down a video arcade he believes is harmful to the mental health of children.

Wacko
1982
as Dick Harbinger
Thirteen years after the "Lawnmower Killer" killed her sister, high school student Mary Graves and obsessed detective Dick Harbinger are on the lookou...

Power
1980
as Tommy Vanda
Loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa, this traces the rise of Tommy Vanda (Joe Don Baker) from a Chicago dock worker to an influential labor leade...

To Kill a Cop
1978
as Chief Earl M. Eischied
Earl Eischied is a man with his hands full. As the Chief of Detectives in New York City he is trying to break up a group of black militants that are o...

The Pack
1977
as Jerry
The residents of vacation spot Seal Island find themselves terrorized by a pack of dogs -- the remnants of discarded pets by visiting vacationers.

Speedtrap
1977
as Pete Novick
After a wave of unsolved car thefts, an insurance company calls in a private investigator to solve the case. While the chief of police isn't thrilled ...

The Shadow of Chikara
1977
as Wishbone Cutter
Two former Confederate captains try to remove diamonds hidden in the Arkansas mountains, but a native spirit guards the sacred site against intruders.

Checkered Flag or Crash
1977
as Walkaway Madden
Hard-charging race car driver "Walkaway" Madden, nicknamed so for his history of walking away from car crashes, just wants to win the big Manilla 1000...

Mitchell
1975
as Mitchell
A tough-guy cop pursues two drug runners across the city to bust a large syndicate. Very much an anti-hero, Mitchell often ignores the orders of his ...

Framed
1975
as Ron Lewis
Joe Don Baker plays a gambler who is framed for a crime he did not commit. A corrupt legal system leads him into a plea bargain and four years behind ...

Golden Needles
1974
as Dan Mason
An ancient Asian statue with the power to grant health and long life via secret acupuncture points is being pursued by a wealthy criminal, but his pla...

The Outfit
1973
as Cody
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsucc...

Charley Varrick
1973
as Molly
Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large ...

Walking Tall
1973
as Buford Pusser
Ex-wrestler and Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser walks tall and carries a big stick as he tussles with county-wide corruption and moonshining thugs.

That Certain Summer
1972
as Phil Bonner
The first US teleplay to deal sympathetically with homosexuality. Divorced San Francisco contractor Doug Salter is looking forward to a summer visit ...

Junior Bonner
1972
as Curly Bonner
With his bronco-busting career on its last legs, Junior Bonner heads to his hometown to try his luck in the annual rodeo. But his fond childhood memor...

The Valachi Papers
1972
as Irish member of Valachi gang (uncredited)
When Joe Valachi has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese, he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful at...

Welcome Home, Soldier Boys
1971
as Danny
Danny, Shooter, Fatback, and the Kid. They learned a trade in the army. Killing.

Mongo's Back in Town
1971
as Mongo Nash
Professional killer is hired by his brother, a gang boss, to wipe out a rival gangster.

Wild Rovers
1971
as Paul Buckman
Ross Bodine and Frank Post are cowhands on Walt Buckman's R-Bar-R ranch. Bodine is older and broods a bit about how he will get along when he's too ol...

Adam at Six A.M.
1970
as Harvey Gavin
A disenchanted young Professor of Semantics at a California college learns of a distant relative's death in Missouri. He journeys cross-country to the...

Guns of the Magnificent Seven
1969
as Slater
When Quintero, a Mexican revolutionary leader, is left to rot in jail by the forces of President Diaz, it's up to his subordinate, Max, to bust him ou...

Cool Hand Luke
1967
as Fixer
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the...