Clint Walker | |
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Walker in 1957
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Born |
Norman Eugene Walker May 30, 1927 Hartford, Illinois, United States |
Residence | Grass Valley, California, United States |
Other names | Jett Norman |
Occupation | Actor, singer |
Years active | 1954–1998 |
Spouse(s) |
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Children | 1 |
Website | clintwalker |
Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (born May 30, 1927) is a retired American actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his role as cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Cheyenne.
Walker was born in Hartford, Illinois, the son of Gladys Huldah (née Schwanda) and Paul Arnold Walker. His mother was Czech. He had a twin sister named Lucy (1927–2000).
Walker left school to work at a factory and on a river boat, then joined the United States Merchant Marine at the age of 17 in the last months of World War II. After leaving the Merchant Marine, he worked doing odd jobs in Brownwood, Texas, Long Beach, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a doorman at the Sands Hotel. Walker was also employed as a sheet metal worker and a nightclub bouncer.
Walker became a client of Henry Willson, who renamed him "Jett Norman" and cast him to appear in a Bowery Boys film (Jungle Gents) as a Tarzan-type character. In Los Angeles, he was hired by Cecil B. DeMille to appear in The Ten Commandments. A friend in the film industry helped get him a few bit parts that brought him to the attention of Warner Brothers, which was developing a western style television series.