Actor Joe Don Baker, best known for his role as Sheriff Buford Pusser in the unexpected 1973 box-office hit Walking Tall, died May 7, his family announced. He was 89.

Actor Joe Don Baker died at age 89 on May 7, per his obituary. The star was perhaps best known for his role as Sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1973 action/thriller “Walking Tall.” Baker first rose to fame in the 1972 western flick “Junior Bonner,” playing Curly, the younger brother of Steve McQueen’s character Junior Bonner, a middle-aged rodeo rider.

Baker, a former Texas football player who served two years in the U.S. Army before making his television debut, died on May 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, according to a family announcement.