American actor, who almost single-handedly started the western craze on TV in the 1950s as Cheyenne Bodie in Cheyenne (1955-1963).

Walker worked as a Mississippi River boatman, carnival roustabout, golf caddy, sailor and private detective before becoming a security officer at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. It was there that he met quite a few Hollywood people who told him that his size, physique and good looks would serve him well in Hollywood and that he should go to Los Angeles and give it a try. He met actor Henry Wilcoxon, who introduced him to director Cecil B. DeMille, and Walker found himself playing the part of a Captain of the Guard in The Ten Commandments (1956). Warner Bros. saw the film, found out that Walker was under contract to producer Hal B. Wallis, bought up Walker's contract and gave him the lead in Cheyenne. The series was a huge hit and spawned countless other western series, from Warners and other studios.

When the show ended Walker began to get supporting parts in features, his biggest and most successful one being The Dirty Dozen (1967). He starred in The Night of the Grizzly (1966) and None But the Brave (1965), a WW2 film that was Frank Sinatra's one and only stab at directing. His voice was last heard in the animated film Small Soldiers (1998).