Clint Walker died at the age of 90. Another of my childhood heroes gone.
I never met the man but I loved Cheyenne, which aired from 1955-63. He was a drifter, (a Jack Reacher type for Lee Child fans). Tall in the saddle at 6′ 6″, he could outdraw, outmuscle and outthink any Western villain. He was not given to revenge or senseless violence, he always tried a peaceful approach first. Handsome as all get out, ladies loved him, but he never let himself get tied down, always moving on.
Lee Child once told me that Cheyenne was one of the many models he used for Reacher. He followed the Code of the West, a set of homespun values that we learned to honor as kids.
Walker was in The Dirty Dozen and a bunch of films, directed once by Sinatra in None But the Brave. He seemed to be like Cheyenne Bodie, quiet, reserved but strong. I always wondered why he wasn’t a bigger star, given all he had going for him, but he got typecast as the strong silent type and perhaps didn’t have the greatest range.
My favorite Bodieism (which my brother and I still use today) is: when he was asked how he’d like his steak done, he replied, stone faced, “Nicely.”
Those old Warner Brothers Westerns, like Cheyenne, Bronco, Maverick and Sugarfoot were must-see viewing back in the day. Their heroes were all different, some quirky, but always wound up doing the right thing. We learned a lot from them.
Nobody lives forever but I’m sad that Clint Walker’s not around anymore. Let’s hope the next place he drifts to treats him well.
