by Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier
In the wilderness years of the James Bond films, as the franchise was consolidating its multi-million-dollar formula, the producers were in the habit of recycling actors across different films. Henchmen would often bleed over into various movies, and sometimes, former allies would reappear in successive entries as villains.
It was a charming quirk of the Bond films of the 1960s and ’70s, and later, with the multi-role appearance of actor Joe Don Baker, who has died at the age of 89.
News broke that the Texas-born actor passed away Wednesday 7 May in Southern California, where he had spent the last years of his life. With a career in film beginning with 1967’s Cool Hand Luke, in an uncredited role, his final film appearance came in 2012’s Matthew McConaughey starrer Mud, written and directed by Jeff Nichols.
In between, Baker became known as a booming, charismatic presence on both the small and silver screens. Standing at an imposing 6’2”, Baker possessed a distinctive Southern drawl that could present equally as charming and menacing.
After a stint on television starting in 1965, Baker’s foray into the mainstream came off the back of his performance in 1973’s Walking Tall, a low budget vigilante flick that proved a surprise hit. Two sequels quickly followed, in 1975 and 1977, and a remake hit cinemas in 2004, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. None starred Baker in a returning role, which the actor claimed was for reasons of loyalty.
For many, Baker will be remembered as the ill-fated private detective alongside Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of Cape Fear.
Cast in the 1987 Timothy Dalton-starring Bond entry The Living Daylights, where he played arms dealer Brad Whitaker, Baker made back-to-back appearances in the Pierce Brosnan era as CIA aide Jack Wade, in 1995’s GoldenEye and 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.
The role is distinctive for its turncoat nature, Baker forming a small group of Bond actors who switched sides in various entries. Only Charles Gray, as an ally in You Only Live Twice, and villain of Diamonds Are Forever; and Walter Gotell – a baddie in From Russia with Love, and long-running ally as General Gogol in multiple Bond entries – are the other actors to share this unique onscreen accolade.
Manchester-based writer, podcaster, and active Bond community contributor Sam Rogers highlights the staying power of Baker’s role in the franchise for its span across two very different eras of mainstream cinema, the 1980s and 1990s. It is this attribute which places him so warmly in the esteem of Bond fans, he says.
“Whilst Whitaker from The Living Daylights isn’t the most recognisable villain, Baker’s performance gives the character an added sense of cockiness and pride, making the character’s demise much more satisfying.”
Baker also formed one of the many starring names in Tim Burton’s zany sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! in 1996, where he appeared alongside fellow Bond alum Pierce Brosnan, though the two shared no scenes together.
Sam Rogers underlines Baker’s shining role within the Bond franchise as the gung-ho chatterbox Wade, who we first meet as an on-the-ground CIA contact in St. Petersburg. An amusing character trait is his apparent fascination with gardening, sporting a red rose tattoo on his bottom.
“A departure from long-standing Bond ally Felix Leiter’s cool, collected character,” Sam Rogers highlights, “Wade is much more brash, straightforward and light-hearted. This instantly lit up the scenes that he featured in. Baker has a wonderful rapport with Pierce Brosnan, with his exclamation Yo, Jimbo! being one of Wade’s most memorable lines when greeting Bond. Wade feels like the fun uncle at a party, and although the character doesn’t take part in much action, he does add humour and context.”
Baker’s successive appearance in Tomorrow Never Dies is relegated to little more than a cameo, occupying just a few minutes of screentime, but it upholds the long-standing tradition of actors being recycled by the original Bond producers across multiple films.
Despite his brief return in Tomorrow Never Dies, Sam underlines how, “once again, he leaves audiences with smiles on their faces. As Bond leaps out of an aeroplane, Wade makes one final humorous quip which feels very appropriate as a final goodbye to Joe Don Baker: He didn’t even say goodbye!”
Joe Don Baker
1936-2025
