Clint Walker, the towering, rugged-looking leading man who specialized in playing gentle giants, has passed away at age 90. Walker had a diverse career including serving as a deputy sheriff providing security to the Sands casino in Las Vegas prior to entering show business. His first big break came during the craze for western TV series in the 1950s when he was cast in the title role of "Cheyenne", the first network series produced by Warner Brothers. The show proved to be a major hit, with Walker playing a solitary loner who came to the rescue of those being menaced by various villains. The show ran from 1955 to 1962. Walker had less success on the big screen, though he did land top billing in modest productions such as "Gold of the Seven Saints" which teamed him with Roger Moore, the India-based "Maya" and "Night of the Grizzly", a 1966 western adventure. Walker also co-starred with Frank Sinatra in "None But the Brave", a 1965 WWII film that Sinatra also directed. Walker teamed with Burt Reynolds for the 1969 western comedy crime caper "Sam Whiskey".
One of his best remembered roles was as a member of "The Dirty Dozen" in the blockbuster 1967 film in which he played one of a group of convicted military murderers who are recruited to volunteer for a dangerous mission behind enemy lines in Germany. (Walker would reunite with some of his co-stars to provide voice-over work in director Joe Dante's clever 1998 animated tribute to that film, "Small Soldiers".) Although Walker retired after working on Dante's film, he remained popular with his fans and would occasionally attend western-themed movie events. Click here for more.