Walt Barnes

Walter Lee Barnes (January 26, 1918 – January 6, 1998)[1] was an American football player and actor. He played professional football as a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and college football 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.

Walt Barnes
Barnes on a 1950 Bowman football card
Born:(1918-01-26)January 26, 1918
Parkersburg, West Virginia
Died:January 6, 1998(1998-01-06) (aged 79)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Career information
Position(s)Guard
CollegeLouisiana State
Career history
As player
1948–1951Philadelphia Eagles
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowls1
Career stats

Sports career

Barnes 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.

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 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.

Acting career

Barnes entered acting through after appearing several times on The Eagles Nest, a local Philadelphia television show. WCAU television placed him on several local shows.[5] 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. His popularity in Germany would lead him to receive top billing when his films played there.[6]

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
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References
  1. "Walt Barnes". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  2. http://www.lex-barker.com/index.php?med=scr&lang=eng&menu=barnes
  3. pp.13-14 Didinger, Ray & Lyons, Robert S. The Eagles Encyclopedia Temple University Press
  4. http://newsok.com/oklahoma-football-spy-scandal-before-1950-sugar-bowl-angered-the-usually-mild-mannered-bud-wilkinson/article/3918553/?page=1
  5. http://www.lex-barker.com/index.php?med=scr&lang=eng&menu=barnes
  6. p.69 Frayling, Christopher Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone I. B. Tauris Press
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