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Walt Barnes

American football player and actor (1918–1998) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walt Barnes
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For other people named Walter Barnes, see Walter Barnes (disambiguation).

Walter Lee Barnes (January 26, 1918 – January 6, 1998),[1] nicknamed Piggy, was an American professional football guard and actor who played in National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played in college at Louisiana State University, and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a two-time NFL Champion (1948, 1949).

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After retiring in 1951, he became a film and television actor, mainly in Westerns. During the 1960's, he worked extensively in West German and Italian cinema.

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Early life

Barnes was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He earned his nickname of "Piggy" from catching a piglet when a boy.[2] Playing football at Parkersburg High School, he was on the unbeaten 1938 team and played in the 1939 North-South Game.

Sports career

Following military service in the United States Army in World War II as a sergeant, Barnes enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU)[3] where he became not only a football player, but also 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.[4]

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

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Acting career

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Walter Barnes with Virginia Lee in Death Valley Days (1952)

Barnes entered acting after appearing several times on The Eagles Nest, a local Philadelphia television show. WCAU television placed him on several local shows.[2] 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-as Mason Enfield 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 spin-off 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.[5]

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, including Bronco Billy.

Personal life

Barnes married German actress Britta Wendel in 1961. They had two children together, actress Lara Wendel (b. 1965) and child actor Michel Barnes. The couple divorced in 1968, shortly before Barnes returned to the United States.

Health issues and death

He retired from acting in 1987 and became increasingly ill due to his diabetes. He spent his final years in the Motion Picture & Television Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He died on January 6, 1998.

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Partial filmography

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References

External links

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