{"id":7696,"date":"2025-05-15T14:03:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=7696"},"modified":"2025-05-15T18:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T18:27:33","slug":"james-bond-actor-joe-don-baker-dies-aged-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/james-bond-actor-joe-don-baker-dies-aged-89\/","title":{"rendered":"James Bond actor Joe Don Baker dies aged 89"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Joe\t<\/div>
Jon Don Baker’s illustrious career started in the late 60s (Picture: L. Cohen\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-time James Bond<\/a> actor Joe Don Baker has died aged 89, his family have announced.<\/p>\n

Baker played the franchise’s first American villain as smarmy arms trader Brad Whitaker in the 1987 film The Living Daylights with Timothy Dalton<\/a> as 007.<\/p>\n

He also played good guy CIA Agent Jack Wade in Pierce Brosnan<\/a>’s first two outings as James Bond in GoldenEye in 1995 and Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997.<\/p>\n

Baker died on May 7, his family stated in an obituary.<\/a> No further details, including the cause of death, were given.<\/p>\n

Rising to fame in the late 60s, Baker established himself as an action star with supporting roles in Westerns Guns of the Magnificent Seven and Wild Rovers.<\/p>\n

His breakthrough role was real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1973 movie Walking Tall. It told the story of Pusser becoming a lawman in McNairy County after a career as a professional wrestler.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Joe\t<\/div>
Baker starred in three Bond films as both a villain and a good guy (Picture: Rex)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"Joe\t<\/div>
He performed opposite both Dalton and Brosnan as 007 (Picture: Rex)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That same year, Baker also starred as a mafia hitman in neo-noir crime film Charley Varrick, which helped cement his reputation as a Hollywood star and ‘tough guy’ character actor.<\/p>\n

He followed Charley Varrick with a role in films including Mitchell, The Outfit, Golden Needles, Framed and Checkered Flag or Crashed, in which he starred opposite Susan Sarandon.<\/p>\n

In 1984, Baker starred in the Oscar-nominated sports film The Natural alongside stars including Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger and Robert Duvall.<\/p>\n

The following year, he played a police chief in the Chevy Chase comedy Fletch.<\/p>\n

\n
\n