Chuck Hayward

Biography

Charles Bert Hayward (January 20, 1920 – February 23, 1998) was an American motion picture stuntman and actor. He was associated particularly with the films of John Wayne. He doubled for most of the great Western and action stars of the 1950s-1980s. His parents, Bert and Hazel Hayward, were cattle ranchers on a farm near Hyannis, Nebraska, about sixty miles east of Hayward's birthplace in Alliance. He spent his early youth working cattle, then, at 16, left home to join the rodeo circuit as a bronc rider and horse trainer. In 1947, he arrived in Los Angeles and sought work as a wrangler on motion pictures. He began doing stunts in 1949 on The Fighting Kentuckian, doubling for John Wayne. The two became pals and Hayward subsequently stunted and doubled for Wayne on nearly two dozen of the latter's films. Excelling at all sorts of horseback stunts, Hayward doubled most stars of the period who found themselves in Westerns or otherwise astride a horse, including Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Gregory Peck. He was prominent in The Big Country, co-produced by Peck. He was known as "Good Chuck" in contrast to "Bad Chuck", in reference to Chuck Roberson, another of Wayne's stunt doubles. He graduated into stunt coordination, arranging the stunts in films such as The Deadly Companions and the TV series The Rat Patrol. He played small roles in numerous films and TV shows, and his appearance often served as an accurate predictor of an upcoming fight scene. He retired from stunt work in 1981, and from acting in 1989. Hayward was a member of the unofficial John Ford Stock Company, a lifetime member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, and an inductee into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame. He died from Hodgkin's Disease at his home in North Hollywood, California, in 1998. He was married three times, to Ellen Powell, by whom he had a daughter, and to Carol Lynn Shepherd. He had two children with Carol Lynn Shepherd. They were divorced in 1982. He then married Sally Pape Callaghan on October 30, 1982. Before his Hollywood stuntman career, Hayward also worked as a medic in the United States Merchant Marine and he stated that he served on liberty ships. His two boys, along with his wife Carol's best friend who was trying to save them, perished in a forest fire in the early 1980s.

Known For

Standby Engineer

The Swarm

Rafe Hannassey

The Big Country

Officer

Merrill's Marauders

Jud

Night of the Lepus

Union Captain

The Horse Soldiers

Charlie Savage

Forty Guns

Henchman (uncredited)

Fort Osage

Scurvy

Stark

Henchman (uncredited)

Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory

Morgue Attendant

Hustle

Tennessean (uncredited)

The Alamo

Roughneck (uncredited)

Showdown at Abilene

Lookout (uncredited)

Gun Brothers

Trooper (uncredited)

Two Rode Together

Al (uncredited)

Desperadoes of the West

Deputy (uncredited)

The Sun Shines Bright

Jackson (uncredited)

Wagon Master

Velasco Rider (uncredited)

Jubilee Trail

Dolotov (uncredited)

Taras Bulba

Card Sharp (uncredited)

The Deadly Companions

Willie

San Antone

Nester (uncredited)

Gun for a Coward

(uncredited)

Rio Lobo

Stage Driver (uncredited)

Plunderers of Painted Flats

Card Player / Raft Man (uncredited)

True Grit

Walker Man

Parts: The Clonus Horror

Sailor

Fair Wind to Java

Soldier (uncredited)

The Great Race

Mimmo's Men

Gone with the West

Indian Warrior Friend to Black Eagle (uncredited)

Kings of the Sun

Man at Wedding (uncredited)

The Searchers

Guest (uncredited)

The World in His Arms

Randy (uncredited)

The Road to Denver

Trooper (uncredited)

Cheyenne Autumn

Cowboy

Arena

Eljay

Joe Kidd

Trooper I

The Longest Yard

Wald (Cavendish gang)

The Legend of the Lone Ranger

Doorman

Lepke

Cowpuncher

Red Sundown

Fitch Man (uncredited)

Nevada Smith

O'Hara (uncredited)

5 Card Stud

Band Member (as Charles Hayward)

Crystal Gazing

Indian

Escort West

Capt. Dickinson (uncredited)

Sergeant Rutledge

Hazer (uncredited)

The Unholy Wife

Jerry (uncredited)

Rooster Cogburn

Outlaw (uncredited)

Blazing Saddles

Soldier (uncredited)

Spartacus

Henchman (uncredited)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Townsman (uncredited)

High Noon

Barnes

The Fargo Phantom

Blacksmith (uncredited)

The War Wagon

Corporal

Run of the Arrow

Deputy Proctor

Tom Horn

Character Actor (voice)

The Lord of the Rings

Scream of the Wolf

Wounded Indian (uncredited)

Slaughter Trail

Chalmers

Pork Chop Hill

Self

John Wayne's 'The Alamo'

Passenger

Airport '77

Wrangler (uncredited)

The Rare Breed

Townsman (uncredited)

Apache Drums