Clint Walker was once one of the most popular sheriffs on television while he was on the Western series, Cheyenne.
Walker was known for being extremely close to many of his family members, including his twin sister Lucy Walker.
Unlike her brother who could be seen on the silver screen, Clint Walker’s twin sister lived a much quieter life that remained mostly out of the public eye.
What Happened To Clint Walker’s Twin Sister?
Clint Walker’s twin sister, Neoma Lucille “Lucy” Walker Westbrook, passed away at her home in 2000 when she was 73 years old.
Clint Walker and his sister were born on May 30th of 1927, with each twin going on to live vastly different lifestyles.
While Clint Walker was appearing on television screens as one of the toughest cowboys of the wild west, Lucy Walker Westbrook was busy making art, raising her three children, and teaching the local children.
She even went on to have her own set of twins, Paul Westbrook Jr. and Paulette Westbrook, which was a complete surprise when they were born.
Lucy Walker Westbrook married her high school sweetheart Paul Westbrook on August 27th of 1949.
It wouldn’t be long after their wedding that she would catch her doctor by surprise when she gave birth to a set of twins, which not even the doctor saw coming.
Seven years later, the Westbrooks welcomed their youngest child, Kenton Westbrook.
After Paul Westbrook returned from his time in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, he and Lucy Walker Westbrook decided to open a health food store called Paul’s Natural Foods in 1959.
Their health food store was only the second food store to focus on health food in the entire state of Illinois.
During the early days of the store, the couple would offer free samples of healthy snacks like sunflower seeds to help people understand that healthy food doesn’t have to be seen as “bird food.”
The Westbrooks ran Paul’s Natural Foods for nearly 50 years before they decided to retire and close the store.
Paul Westbrook would survive for 17 years before passing away in 2017 and finally reuniting with his beloved wife.
When Did Clint Walker Pass Away?
Clint Walker passed away on May 21st of 2018 when he was 90 years old, dying of congestive heart failure.
Congestive heart failure happens when the heart isn’t able to pump blood through the body properly, leading to blood backing up and fluid building up in the lungs, which causes shortness of breath.
Walker may have been from Illinois, but he had made California his home as a young adult and eventually retired in Grass Valley, which is about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento.
This actor was incredibly lucky to live until 2018, especially when considering his near-death experience in 1973 while on vacation.
Clint Walker had gone on a ski trip with friends and tripped, causing one of his ski poles to pierce his heart.
After taking a year to recover from his injury, Walker was right back to acting when he began appearing in Kodiak.
Although Cheyenne had been a hit, Kodiak never received the same amount of praise.
One of the writers for The Times claimed that Walker’s newest show was “about as exciting as watching a large block of polluted ice.”
Clint Walker may have been best known as one of the tallest Western stars in Hollywood, but he was also known for being kind and helpful much like his best-known character, Cheyenne Bodie.
It was actually his helpfulness that landed him the role.
While on his way to the audition for Cheyenne, Walker saw a woman on the side of the road with a flat tire.
He stopped and repaired her tire before going on to audition.
Walker was nervous before even stepping inside the building because he knew he was late, but it turned out the woman he had helped was a secretary for the show.
Why Did Clint Walker Leave Cheyenne?
The reason Clint Walker left his hit show Cheyenne was a contract dispute between the actor and Warner Bros. Studio.
In the early years of Hollywood, actors were often under incredibly strict contractual agreements that limited the actor’s work even outside of their acting careers.
The contract that Warner Bros. had Clint Walker under forced Walker to give Warner Bros. 50% of his personal appearance fees and forced him to record his music under the Warner Bros. music label or give up his dream of being a singer.
Walker was sick of having to make all the public appearances required by Warner Bros. and only getting half of the payment, despite not getting any support from Warner Bros.
He also wanted the freedom to record with whatever music label he saw fit.
The Western actor refused to appear on Cheyenne until his needs were met.
At first, Warner Bros. refused to give in to Walker’s reasonable demands and decided to continue the show without their main star.
However, Warner Bros. Studio quickly realized that fans of Cheyenne watched the show for Clint Walker’s portrayal of Cheyenne Bodie.
Without the lead star, fans were confused and nearly completely lost interest in what Warner Bros. had to offer.
Warner Bros. eventually agreed to drop the personal appearance fee cut and the music recording restrictions to get Clint Walker back on the show.
Cheyenne played a crucial role in the early success of Warner Bros. as a production company, with it being the first original show that the studio ever produced.
Cheyenne was also the first hour-long Western show in the United States and became the studio’s longest-running Western show out of the family of Western shows Warner Bros. was producing at the time.
This show would earn Walker millions of dollars over his lifetime.
To Whom Was Clint Walker Married?
Clint Walker has been married to three different women: Verna Garver, Giselle Hennessy, and Susan Cavallari. Walker was known for being a lady’s man thanks to his striking physique and tall frame, standing at 6’6”.
Verna Garver and Clint Walker were only 21 years old when they first got married, which was seven years before Walker appeared on Cheyenne.
The couple had a daughter and were married for 20 years before they decided to get a divorce in 1968.
The reason for their divorce has never been publicly explained.
If it had not been for Verna Garver’s support, Walker may not have ever gone on to become an actor.
It was Garver who convinced him to follow the advice that multiple Hollywood veterans had given him.
She agreed that his size and good looks would be more than enough to make a splash in Hollywood.
At the time, Walker had been serving as a security guard for the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although it took Clint Walker a bit of time to be acknowledged by casting directors, Garver pressed him to keep trying.
Eventually, Walker met Henry Wilcoxon.
Wilcoxon went on to introduce the young actor to Cecil B. DeMille, who cast Walker in the biblical epic film, The Ten Commandments, which was released in 1956.
Clint Walker and Giselle Hennessy were married on May 26th of 1974 and spent 20 years together as a happily married couple.
However, disaster struck in 1994 when Giselle Hennessy passed away after battling cancer.
After three years of grieving, the Western star was ready to look for love again and went on to marry Susan Cavallari.
Like Walker’s previous wives, Cavallari has preferred to keep herself and her personal life out of the public eye.
What Movies Does Clint Walker Star In?
Clint Walker has starred in many movies, which is how his acting career originally started.
The first film Walker was ever cast for was Jungle Gents in 1954, in which he played the uncredited role of Anatta’s Boyfriend.
Walker’s first credited role was a Sardinian Captain in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments in 1956.
This was the role that allowed Walker to be noticed and considered for the lead role in Cheyenne.
Clint Walker would reprise his role of Cheyenne Bodie for the 1956 films The Outlanders and Border Showdown and the 1991 movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
He would also bring the character back for the television shows Maverick in 1960 and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues in 1995.
In 1958, Walker took on the role of cowboy Gar Davis from Fort Dobbs.
He starred alongside Virginia Mayo, Brian Keith, and Russ Conway.
Only a year later, Walker starred in another Western film called Yellowstone Kelly, in which he played the lead role of trapper Luther “Yellowstone” Kelly.
Walker took a two-year break from filming and eventually returned to the silver screen in 1961 when he played Jim Rainbolt in Gold of the Seven Saints.
In 1964, Clint Walker took a break from being the leading man when he was cast in the role of Bert from Rock Hudson and Doris Day’s hit film Send Me No Flowers.
A year later, Walker had the opportunity to star in the only film that Frank Sinatra ever directed, None but the Brave.
Clint Walker got to work alongside Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, and George Kennedy when he appeared in The Dirty Dozen in 1967.
The Cheyenne actor played Samson Posey in the World War II action film.
Did Clint Walker Have Any Children?
Yes, Clint Walker had a daughter with his first wife Verna Garver who was born in 1950.
Her name is Valerie Walker, and she shares her father’s hard-working mentality and his passion for a life filled with adventure.
Valerie Walker grew up incredibly close to her Western star father, often going on hikes and enjoying other outdoor activities with him.
Like her father, Valerie Walker was willing to chase her dreams even if they seemed unlikely.
Valerie Walker became one of the first female commercial airline pilots when she was hired by Western Airlines on March 8th of 1976.
She was a member of the first class of female pilots to graduate from aviation school.
When she graduated from the aviation school, the Air Force wasn’t accepting female pilots.
Although she wanted to serve in the military like many of her family members, her passion for flight would have to stay in the world of commercial flights.
To prepare for the chance of being allowed into the Air Force, Walker also studied martial arts for 35 years.
Her role as a commercial pilot would help her country after the terrorist attack of 9/11 when she became one of the 40 pilots chosen to be in the first class of Federal Flight Deck Officers.
During this time, it was Walker’s goal to require basic martial arts briefings for flight crews in order to help in the case of another attack.
However, some critics of her idea felt that a plane packed with people was no place for martial arts to occur.
After working for Delta Airlines, Valerie Walker eventually retired and began to turn her attention back to her love of martial arts.
She has earned her first-degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and also studies Wing Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu, Chun, Hapkido, and Kendo.
Why Was Cheyenne Canceled?
Cheyenne was canceled because actors, viewers, and the production team all agreed that the storylines for the long-running Western show were beginning to become so similar to one another that they were barely distinguishable.
In addition, lead star Clint Walker had been outspoken about his disdain for working in the television industry after tasting the freedom that film had given him.
The show had been going through some rocky experiences since Walker had first walked away from the show after getting into an argument with Warner Bros. over the contractual requirements.
Walker was willing to put his foot down hard enough that he began boycotting the show.
Rather than cancel Cheyenne at that time, Warner Bros. decided to replace Walker and his character Cheyenne Bodie with Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne for the 1958–1959 season.
Bronco Layne was originally in his own show called Bronco, but the shows were so similar that the script for Cheyenne didn’t even need to be changed.
Fans of Cheyenne were confused and upset about the lead star and character changing, with many fans claiming that it made the show confusing.
Luckily for fans of the western show, Clint Walker agreed to come back to the show after Warner Bros. made the required changes.
During the 1959–1960 season, the show began going by the name The Cheyenne Show.
This allowed Warner Bros. to combine the shows Cheyenne, Bronco, and Sugarfoot.
Although Walker was under a better contract than his original contract, it wasn’t enough to make his job any more enjoyable.
Walker felt “like a caged animal” and even went as far as to call The Cheyenne Show “a dead-end street.”
The actor felt that combining the three Western shows made it impossible to tell what show you were on and even more impossible to care.
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