Joe Don Baker, who rose to fame after his film "Walking Tall" became an overnight success in 1973, has died at 89.

The actor’s family announced today that Baker passed away on May 7, describing him as a “beacon of kindness and generosity” whose “intellectual curiosity made him a voracious reader, inspiring a great love of nature and animals.

Actor Joe Don Baker, who starred as a crusading Tennessee sheriff in the 1973 film “Walking Tall,” died on May 7, his family announced. He was 89.