Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Heading back in time...In 1967, Joe Don Baker had a role in Cool Hand Luke. George Kennedy won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; Joe Don, even though he had a line or two as one of the prison inmates, wsn't even credited. You have to start sometime.
Also in 1967, Joe Don had a guest role in the television drama Judd, For the Defense. Joe Don was Merle Varney, a man best described as a royal asshole. Merle shoots a man during a robbery, then convinces his not-too-bright girlfriend to take the rap for him.
That is despicable enough; when he finds out his girlfriend had his son while in prison he refuses to help her out. Turns out he was wanted for murder elsewhere, was captured, tried and convicted, and is now on Death Row.
Joe Don has actually played relatively few bad guy roles in his career (at least, in the appearances I've seen). This guy is bad by any definition, and he's just a total bastard...until the end, when he does change his mind and decides to do the right thing where the mother of his child is concerned.
MST3K, in Episode 512, made a joke: "Joe Don Baker, face number four." When Joe Don, as Merle, makes the decision to do the right thing, he runs a gamut of emotions in about four seconds, and you feel exactly what he's going through--you want him off Death Row! In this role, as a man who finally decides a new life is more important than his own, he shines, and it's my favorite performance by Joe Don Baker.
Posted by Victor at Febrero 11, 2005 05:30 AM