Posted on 05/26/2018 12:06:49 AM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
Clint Walker, the hulking star of TV’s Cheyenne who also appeared in such classic films as The Ten Commandment and The Dirty Dozen, died Monday. He was 90. Walker’s daughter Valerie told TMZ that the family believes he died from a heart problem.
Walker was best known for playing Cheyenne Bodie, the strapping, brooding, mean title drifter in the 1955-63 ABC Western Cheyenne. Roaming from town to town and job to job in the post-Civil War West. The series did a slow build, breaking into the year-end Primetime Top 25 at No. 12 in its third season, where it peaked amid the crush of Western fare.
Around then, a contract beef with producer Warner Bros led Walker to quit the show. The studio replaced him with an unknown actor — Ty Hardin, who would go on to star in Bronco — but Walker returned in early 1959 and finished out the series’ seven-season run.
“I think they had all the leading men available in Hollywood to test for Cheyenne two days in a row, and they had me test with them,” Walked said in a 2012 sit-down for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television. “The first day I was very, very nervous. I could see all these people that I’d seen in pictures over the years, and I thought, ‘I don’t stand a chance.’ The second day I thought, ‘I’m not going to get the job anyway, so why don’t I just relax and enjoy it.’ Which I did. Then the next thing I heard about four days later was Jack Warner reviewed all the stuff, pointed to me and said, ‘That is Cheyenne.'”
Born on May 30, 1927, in Hartford, IL, Walker did stints in the Merchant Marines and in Texas oil fields before moving to Long Beach, CA, and then to Las Vegas, working as a sheriff’s deputy at the Sands Hotel. According to the bio on his website, many celebrities the 6-foot-6 Walker met told him to try his luck in Hollywood. He did.
Soon after arriving in L.A., he was introduced to Cecil B. DeMille, who cast him in the 1956 blockbuster The Ten Commandments. That led to Walker’s casting in Cheyenne, and he would go on to make several films during the series’ 108-episode run. In the mid-1960s, he appeared in such features as the World War II drama None but the Brave — the only film Frank Sinatra directed — Maya and The Night of the Grizzly.
He will be missed. Hope I live so long.
Fond memories, RIP.
Friend of Mark Levin.
Killdozer!
From imdb’s bio:
“In 1971, he was involved in a freak accident at Mammoth Mountain, CA, when the tip of a ski pole pierced his heart. He made an amazing recovery and was back at work filming in Spain two months later.”
Amazing indeed!
Was no mistaking his voice. RIP Sir
wow tough hombre- we still watch his old TV series from time to time- He’s going to be missed by many who grew up watching him for sure-
I heard that! And he survived!
Ski poles are blunt, the trauma seems unimaginable.
This saddens me greatly. I met Norman (his real name) only once, when he paid my maternal grandmother (his aunt) a visit in the early 60s. I remember this huge man filling the frame of her front door as he entered her Bellflower, California, condo. He bent down to hug her and she all but disappeared in his massive frame. I must have been seven or eight and don’t remember much from that short visit.
Recently, my brother, who is 14 years my senior, explained how Norman had provided him with some extra work. I presume this was during the run of “Cheyenne”. I had no idea of his budding “film career”, I kidded him. Norman took care of his family.
I was college at UC Santa Barbara in the early 70s when he had his accident at Mammoth. My family — brother, cousins, aunts, and uncles — journeyed north to provide blood.
When I read recently about Norman’s bout with illness (pnumonia) I called my brother to find out if he knew where he lived. I am sorry I never got the chance to talk about that visit with my grandmother Hester Carner Knight.
I hope to meet him in glory.
Turned his horse around and returned to shake my hand. Fort Smith Rodeo May 29 - June 3, 1961.
Thanks Liz. Great pic :)
Needed a little beefcake.......
It’s been written that Clint felt awkward being so tall....but his Mom told him someday his height would be a great asset......and she was right.
Have any links that could provide more details?
My girlfriend adored him since his Cheyenne days. She thought he was so Manly. One year for her birthday, I bought her an autographed picture of Him. He would still talk to fans on the phone back then, believe it, or not. She used to joke that she kept his picture under her pillow. RIP Clint.
A bit unusual....
Clint gets the 20 year itch rather than the 7 year itch. He was married 3 times, each one for twenty years.
Spouse: Susan Cavallari (m. 1997), Giselle Hennessy (m. 1974–1994), Verna Garver (m. 1948–1968)
Yellowstone Kelly. Great movie. Will miss this man.
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