Norman Eugene “Clint” Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor and singer. He became well known for his starring role as cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the western series Cheyenne from 1955 to 1963. His movie career included The Ten Commandments, The Dirty Dozen, Send Me No Flowers and Yellowstone Kelly. Speaking of his Yellowstone Kelly…..that was the first movie my mom and dad saw together as a couple. Rest in Peace Mr. Clint Walker.
Clint Walker Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Clint Walker movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Clint Walker movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Clint Walker movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Clint Walker movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Clint Walker movie received.
- Sort Clint Walker movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
As the write-up above indicates rather than for anything he did on the big screen Clint was famous for being part of the big TV cowboy craze that for us in Northern Ireland became a great part of our lives in the 1950s when we were able to afford television sets. Though ultimately Eastwood [Rowdy Yates in TV’s Rawhide] and the wonderful Jim Garner [television’s Bret Maverick] were arguably the most successful of the early television cowboys who converted to the big screen, Walker as Cheyenne Bodie and Jim Arness as Matt Dillon were possibly the most successful on TV at the time and Walker’s name seemed to be on everyone’s lips back then.
Clint Walker’s other main early competitors in the TV western series were the likes of Will Hutchins as Tenderfoot, Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne and Robert Horton as scout Flint McCullough in Wagon Train co-starring Ward Bond [though the latter series later became so bogged down in plots involving love interest, mothers and babies that my chauvinistic father abandoned it in disgust nicknaming it “Woman’s Train”!] Most of the TV cowboy heroes had their own stirring theme song ***
***“Next to a four-square Texas twister you’d call a cyclone meek and mild.
You’ve never seen a twister mister till someone gets him riled.
Bronco! Tearing across the Texas plain.
Bronco! Bronco Layne! “
For me Clint Walker along with James Arness in Gunsmoke were TV’s greatest heirs to the big screen’s John Wayne. Indeed as has been previously mentioned on this site it was The Duke who apparently got Arness the part of Matt Dillon, [though Big John disowned Clint Eastwood as a “Son of The Duke” – maybe Wayne didn’t like the swearing anti-hero slant that Clint brought to the cowboy role.] Anyway my dad, like myself a great Wayne fan, sat glued to the TV for every one of Cheyenne’s 108 episodes that aired on Sunday nights in the period from 1955 until 1963.
I welcome this new page as I think that film buffs should also honour stars who have made a big impact on TV in their heyday although their big screen success might have been limited. Certainly for us in the “Classes of the 50s” Walker will always be a nostalgic figure in our happy memories so I echo RIP Big Clint.
***Move along Cheyenne, the next pasture’s always so green.
Drifting on Cheyenne, don’t forget the things you have seen.
And when you settle down where will it be, Cheyenne?
Cheyenne
Hey Bob….thanks for sharing your thoughts on Mr. Clint Walker. Our tribute page to him was sadly done after his passing. I like your thinking about Walker and Arness being the “next” Wayne. The glory of the Duke…is that he outlasted both of them…when it comes to movie career. I just recently rewatched Hondo….and Arness has a very small part in that one…..seeing Wayne and Arness fighting was pretty cool. Sounds like good memories of watching all of those 108 episodes with your dad. My dad loved Wanted Dead or Alive back then. Glad this page brought back some of those memories…and special thanks for sharing them here.
HI BRUCE
Thanks for your feedback on my Walker and DeVito posts. I wonder if Steve will forgive you for giving Clint a credit for Chuck’s massive 10 CMTS gross !!!
Seriously though your Walker page actually got me thinking nostalgically about the old TV cowboys and even the early singing cowboys of the big screen so I decided to read up a bit more about them.
You probably already know the answer to the following but it did surprise ME to learn that the performer with the most stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is – no not Myrna Loy ! – but singing cowboy Gene Autry. Apparently Gene owes that distinction to his multi-. medium success in 5 fields – movies, television, radio, live entertaining and music.
When my dad and I watched all those TV cowboys we took them very seriously for the most part. However we could have a laugh too at for example Clint Walker astride a horse. He was so massive that he even the biggest of horses seemed ready to buckle under him and one critic quipped that when Clint rode up a canyon the mountains on the two sides seemed to have shrunken!
I saw 4. no favorites. 2 of my top 500 the ten commandments, dirty dozen. the dirty dozen was an incredible cast with solid to great performances by lee marvin, ernest borgnine, Robert ryan, telly savalas, George kennedy, donald southerland , john Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, clint walker, Richard jaeckel, ralph meeker. a rare movie where every cast member added something, even jim brown the greatest nfl running back of all time (for the Cleveland browns) and trini lopez .
Hey bob cox…..4 is almost 33% of the movies shown here. Seems that his role in The Ten Commandments was mainly an extra part…..but he is not listed as “uncredited”….so I included the movie. It will make watching the movie very interesting…as I keep my eye out for him. Good thoughts on The Dirty Dozen…..seems it is about time to rewatch that classic.
Always enjoyed Clint Walker. He was kind of stiff, but had a certain charm and credibility in every role.
on another board, commenting on him, a female poster mentioned that she laughed when she first saw a picture of Walker, as she didn’t think any man could actually look like that and the photo had to be faked.
It probably wasn’t.
Clint had a 48 inch chest and a 32 inch waist, which is exactly the opposite of mine.
Hey John….thanks for sharing your thoughts on Clint Walker. I like the comment from the other board….very funny…..as well as your comment…..I know how you feel…..lol. His movie career was pretty small quantity wise….but….The Dirty Dozen alone….leaves a nice cinema legacy for him. Good feedback.
Thank you for doing a page in tribute to Clint Walker. I enjoyed him in all of the movies I saw him in.
My favourite movie is The Dirty Dozen.
I have also enjoyed him in:
Send Me No Flowers – great in comedy as well as drama
None But the Brave – anti-war drama that ends with the words “No one ever wins”
The Great Bank Robbery – fun film
I have seen The Ten Commandments but I do not remember him.
Another commentator mentioned the B western Gold of the Seven Saints. I have also seen that movie.
I will have to look up his other films. Fascinating that your parents’ first date was one of his movies.
Oh, I just noticed that Gold of the Seven Saints is listed in the table anyway. So I have seen 6 Clint Walker movies.
Hey Flora…a 3 way tie between the HubPage alumni……thanks for the tally count.
Hey Flora….I figured he deserved a page versus a post….a UMR page has a much better and longer shelf life. Good to see your favorite Walker movie is my favorite Walker…love The Dirty Dozen too. I like, you and Steve have seen 6 of his movies. As for The Ten Commandments….nobody besides IMDb seems to remember his role in that classic movie.
As for Yellowstone Kelly…..I like that trivia too…..actually it is a question I ask married couples…sometimes I get a great answer….other times they have no idea……but I still enjoy asking. Good thoughts on Mr. Walker. RIP.
I have just become aware that Clint Walker has passed on. The media apparently did not give it much coverage. Thank you Clint, for providing years of wonderful entertainment, especially with your long-running Cheyenne television series. He was excellent in the underappreciated western comedy Sam Whiskey, as the Native American GI in The Dirty Dozen, and in the war drama directed by Frank Sinatra, None But the Brave.
He was a true gentlemen and respectable of others. May you rest in peace Mr. Walker!
Hey Frank….yep sad news. He passed away on Monday….with the news hitting on Tuesday. I saw it many times on the internet…..which is where I get almost all of my news these days…not sure how the tv networks covered it. I liked Sam Whiskey too…..a western comedy before Blazing Saddles. None But The Brave was a unique war movie….too bad Sinatra did not direct more movies. Thanks for sharing your Clint Walker thoughts on our Walker tribute page.