Free Republic

A renewed investigation into the unsolved 1967 murder of the wife of McNairy County, Tenn. sheriff Buford Pusser debunks what has for decades been depicted in movies and implicates the long-dead lawman in his wife’s shooting. The sheriff, who died in a 1974 car crash, long said Pauline Pusser went with him on a call on Aug. 12, 1967 when a car pulled up alongside them and shots were fired, killing her and leaving Buford shot in the face. She was 33. The scene was depicted in the 1973 movie “Walking Tall,” with Buford Pusser depicted by Joe Don Baker....

Hollywood film actor Joe Don Baker died at the age of 89 on May 7, his family confirmed. The star played two different roles in three separate James Bond films as both a good guy and a villain. The actor was in 1987's The Living Daylights, 1995's GoldenEye and 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies. 'As we say goodbye to Joe Don, we hold onto the memories and the love he shared with us,' his family's statement began. 'Though he may no longer be with us in body, his spirit will always remain, a guiding light in the lives he touched. 'Rest...

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is doing a live stream marathon of all the Joe Don Baker movies they riffed on over the years. RIP Joe Don Baker.

WASHINGTON — Actor Joe Don Baker, who starred as the rugged Sheriff Buford Pusser in the box office hit "Walking Tall," has died at the age of 89, his family announced. In an obituary posted online, Baker's family remembered him as "a beacon of kindness and generosity." "Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him," the obituary reads. Baker first became a well-known public figure in 1972, when he starred in Sam Peckinpah's "Junior Bonner," followed by a role the next year as a...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities have exhumed the body of the wife of a famed former Tennessee sheriff more than a half-century after she was fatally shot in a still-unsolved killing. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it oversaw the exhumation of the body of Pauline Pusser on Thursday at Adamsville Cemetery. She was killed by incoming gunfire while in a car driven by her husband, McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser, a figure whose legend was captured in the 1973 film “Walking Tall” starring Joe Don Baker and a 2004 remake starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Various sites in Adamsville...