Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He rose to stardom for playing the title character in the Western series Cheyenne (1955–1962).
Walker launched his Hollywood career by appearing in Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments (1956). He starred in numerous Western films, including Fort Dobbs (1958), Yellowstone Kelly (1959), Gold of the Seven Saints (1961), The Night of the Grizzly (1966), More Dead Than Alive (1969), Sam Whiskey (1969), and Pancho Villa (1972). He also explored other genres, taking on a comedic role in Send Me No Flowers (1964), and starring in war films such as Frank Sinatra's None but the Brave (1965) and Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967). His final film role was a voice part in Small Soldiers (1998).
In addition to his acting career, Walker ventured into music, first showcasing his singing in a 1957 episode of Cheyenne. He later released an album titled Inspiration in 1959, performed on The Jack Benny Program in 1963, and sang in The Night of the Grizzly (1966).
Clint Walker was born in Hartford, Illinois. His mother, Gladys Henrietta née Schwanda, was born in Uljanik, Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (today Croatia) to a Moravian Evangelical couple from Kuklík and Sebranice. His father, Paul Arnold Walker, worked as a laborer for Shell Oil. He had a fraternal twin sister, Neoma Lucille "Lucy" Westbrook and another half-sister. Their parents separated. Walker left school to work at a factory and on a riverboat, then joined the United States Merchant Marine at the age of 17.
After leaving the Merchant Marine, he did odd jobs in Brownwood, Texas; Long Beach, California; and Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a doorman at the Sands Hotel before reuniting with the Merchant Marine to fight in the Korean War.
Walker became a client of Henry Willson, who renamed him "Jett Norman".
Walker's good looks and imposing physique (he stood 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall with a 48 in (120 cm) chest and a 32 in (81 cm) waist) helped him land an audition where he won the lead role in the TV series Cheyenne.
Billed as "Clint Walker", he was cast as Cheyenne Bodie, a roaming cowboy hero in the post-American Civil War era. His casting was announced in June 1955.
Cheyenne originally appeared as part of Warner Bros. Presents rotating with adaptations of Kings Row and Casablanca. Cheyenne turned out to be the breakout hit.
The series regularly capitalized on Walker's rugged frame with frequent bare-chested scenes, and was popular for seven seasons. Walker's pleasant baritone singing voice was also occasionally utilized on the series and led Warner Brothers to produce an album of Walker performing traditional songs and ballads.
Early in the series run, Warners announced they would star Walker in a feature, The Story of Sam Houston. It was not made.
In April 1956 Walker said "I don't think I'd want any other roles ... Westerns keep me outdoors and active."
Warners cast Walker in the lead of a Western feature film, Fort Dobbs (1958), directed by Gordon Douglas. Howard Thompson described the actor as "the biggest, finest-looking Western hero ever to sag a horse, with a pair of shoulders rivaling King Kong's".
Box office returns were modest. Warners tried him in another Douglas-directed Western, Yellowstone Kelly (1959), co-starring Edd Byrnes from another Warners TV show, 77 Sunset Strip. It was a minor success.
A number of Cheyenne episodes were cut into feature films and released theatrically in some markets, and a brief clip of Walker galloping on horseback as Bodie was featured in an episode of Maverick starring Jack Kelly. He also guest starred on an episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Warners tried Walker in a third Western feature directed by Douglas, Gold of the Seven Saints (1961), this time co-starring Roger Moore, who was also under contract to Warners.
Walker had a role in Kraft Suspense Theatre (episode "Portrait of an Unknown Man", alongside Robert Duvall). He had a supporting role in the Rock Hudson–Doris Day comedy, Send Me No Flowers (1964).
Frank Sinatra cast him in the leading role in the war drama None but the Brave (1965), the only film Sinatra directed. After doing some guest appearances in The Lucy Show he fought a grizzly bear in Paramount's Western, The Night of the Grizzly (1966). He starred in a family adventure movie shot in India, Maya (1966).
Walker had his biggest feature film hit to date when he played the meek convict Samson Posey in the war drama The Dirty Dozen (1967).