Known For: American actor (born 1936)
Category: Actors
Occupation: actor, television actor, film actor
Country: United States of America
City: Groesbeck
Date of Birth: Wednesday, 12 February 1936
Language English
Joe Don Baker is an American retired actor, known for playing "tough guy" characters on both sides of the law. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles the Westerns in Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Wild Rovers (1971), before his breakthrough role as real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the film Walking Tall (1973).
| BirthPlace | Groesbeck |
| Education | Q860527, Q216458 |
| Wikipedia | Joe_Don_Baker |
Baker was born in Groesbeck, Texas, the son of Edna (née McDonald) and Doyle Charles Baker. He was raised by his aunt Anna Thompson after the death of his mother at age 12. He played basketball and football (as linebacker and co-captain) at Groesbeck High School, and attended North Texas State College in Denton on a sports scholarship, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1958. After serving in the United States Army for two years, Baker moved to New York City to study at the Actors Studio, of which he is a life member. He cited Robert Mitchum (whom he'd work with in Cape Fear) and Spencer Tracy as his inspirations.
