Walter Barnes (actor)

Walter Lee Barnes (January 26, 1918 – January 6, 1998) was an American football guard and actor who played in National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played in the (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and in college at Louisiana State University. Barnes was an actor in both American and European films. He appeared in several films with John Wayne, Lex Barker, and Clint Eastwood.

Sports career

Barnes earned his nickname of "Piggy" from catching a piglet when a boy. Playing football at Parkersburg High School, he was on the unbeaten 1938 team and played in the 1939 North-South Game.

Following military service in the United States Army in World War II as a sergeant, Barnes enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) where he became not only a football player but a college weightlifting champion. Following graduation he joined the Philadelphia Eagles football team as a guard before retiring and becoming a coach of football teams of Columbia University and Arizona State University.

While playing for the Eagles, Barnes made time to help his alma mater, LSU, by spying on the practices of the Oklahoma Sooners team prior to the 1950 Sugar Bowl. After being caught by members of the Oklahoma football staff and Biloxi, Mississippi residents, Barnes fled to hide in the house of a former LSU teammate, Elbert Manuel. Both Barnes and Manuel refused Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson's offer to present themselves for identification to clear their names. The spying incident had little to do with the outcome of the game, as Oklahoma beat LSU easily, 35–0.

Barnes was inducted into the Coaches' Association Hall in June 2010.

Acting career

Barnes entered acting after appearing several times on ''The Eagles Nest'', a local Philadelphia television show. WCAU television placed him on several local shows. His contacts with Walt Silver, a producer for Warner Bros. Television, led him into several appearances on television and films. Some of his more notable appearances included '' Bronco'', ''Gunsmoke'', '' Cheyenne'', ''Bonanza'', '' Have Gun – Will Travel'' and '' Death Valley Days''. John Wayne got him a small role as Charlie the Bartender in ''Rio Bravo''.

Tiring of small roles and seeing opportunities overseas, Barnes was one of the many American actors who moved to Italy in the early 1960s. Kirk Douglas recommended him for a role in his '' The Vikings'' television spinoff ''Tales of the Vikings'' that was filmed for Douglas's production company in Germany. From 1960 to 1969, he was first active in pirate movies, then Karl May film adaptations and Spaghetti Westerns.

Barnes returned to the United States in 1969 and appeared in more films and television series, which included '' The High Chaparral''. His friendship with Clint Eastwood on '' Rawhide'' later led him to several roles in Eastwood's films. He retired from acting in 1987 and became increasingly ill due to his diabetes. Barnes died on January 6, 1998. He was the father of German former actress Lara Wendel, who was born Daniela Barnes.

Other acting appearances

* 1957 ''Oregon Passage'' - film as Sergeant Jed Erschick
* 1957 '' Cheyenne'' - TV series as Chris Barlow
* 1958 '' Revolt in the Big House'' - film as Guard Captain Starkey
* 1958 '' Death Valley Days'' - TV as Blacksmith Gil Calvin
* 1959 '' Bat Masterson'' - TV as Mr. Paulson
* 1959 '' Westbound'' - film as Willis, Stage Depot Cook
* 1959 ''Rio Bravo'' - film as Charlie (uncredited)
* 1960 '' Under Ten Flags'' - film as Unknown
* 1960 ''Il carro armato dell'8 settembre'' - film as Unknown
* 1960 '' Robin Hood and the Pirates'' - film as Guercio / Orbo
* 1961 ''The Secret of the Black Falcon'' - film as Jack 'Calico Jack'
* 1961 ''El secreto de los hombres azules'' - film as Matthias
* 1961 '' Romulus and the Sabines'' - film as Stilicone
* 1961 '' Queen of the Seas'' - film as Captain Poof
* 1961 ''Revenge of the Conquered'' - film as Unknown
* 1962 ''Avenger of the Seven Seas'' - film as Van Artz
* 1963 ''Il segno di Zorro'' - film as Mario
* 1963 '' Captain Sindbad'' - film as Rolf
* 1963 ''Slave Girls of Sheba'' - film as Unknown
* 1963 ''Apache Gold'' as Bill Jones
* 1964 ''Revenge of the Musketeers'' as Porthos
* 1964 ''Among Vultures'' - film as Martin Bauman Sr.
* 1965 ''Challenge of the Gladiator'' - film as Terenzo
* 1965 ''The Oil Prince'' - film as Bill Campbell
* 1965 '' Duel at Sundown'' - film as 'Old' McGow
* 1966 '' Winnetou and the Crossbreed'' - film as Mac Haller
* 1966 '' The Big Gundown'' - film as Brokston
* 1967 '' Clint the Stranger'' - film as Walter Shannon
* 1967 ''Feuer frei auf Frankie'' - film as Colonel O'Connor
* 1967 ''Love Nights in the Taiga'' - film as Jurij
* 1967 '' Halleluja for Django'' - film as Jarret / Clay Thomas
* 1968 ''The Long Day of Inspector Blomfield'' - film as Inspector Fred Lancaster
* 1968 ''Garter Colt'' - film as General
* 1968 ''The Moment to Kill'' - film as 'Bull'
* 1968 ''The Magnificent Tony Carrera'' - film as Barnes
* 1969 ''Colpo di stato'' - film as Unknown
* 1969–1971 ''Bonanza'' - TV as Sheriff Truslow / Weatherby / Emmett J. Whitney / Will Griner
* 1970 '' The Traveling Executioner'' - film as Sheriff
* 1971 '' The Christian Licorice Store'' - film as P.C. Stayne
* 1972 '' Daddy's Deadly Darling'' - film as Doctor
* 1972–1973 '' Mission: Impossible'' - TV as Homer Chill / Al
* 1973 '' High Plains Drifter'' - film as Sheriff Sam Shaw
* 1973 '' Cahill U.S. Marshal'' - film as Sheriff Grady
* 1975 '' Escape to Witch Mountain'' - film as Sheriff Purdy
* 1975 ''Mackintosh and T.J.'' as Jim Webster
* 1977 '' Emergency!'' - TV as Mike Gold
* 1977 '' Day of the Animals'' - film as Ranger Tucker
* 1977 '' Another Man, Another Chance'' - film as Foster
* 1977 ''Pete's Dragon