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Chuck Roberson

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Chuck Roberson
Roberson in McLintock! (1963)
Born
Charles Hugh Roberson

(1919-05-10)May 10, 1919
DiedJune 8, 1988(1988-06-08) (aged 69)
Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Other namesBad Chuck
Occupations
  • Actor
  • stuntman
Years active1946–1988

Charles Hugh Roberson (May 10, 1919 – June 8, 1988) was an American actor and stuntman.[1]

Biography

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Roberson grew up on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico,[2] he left school at 13 to become a cowhand and oilfield roughneck. He married and took his wife and daughter to California, where he joined the Culver City Police Department and guarded the gate at MGM studios. Following army service in World War II, he returned to the police force. During duty at Warner Bros. studios during a labor strike, he met stuntman Guy Teague, who alerted him to a stunt job at Republic Pictures. Teague had been John Wayne's stunt double for many years and was able to show him the ropes. Chuck also resembled John Carrol whom Roberson doubled in his first picture, Wyoming (1947). He played small roles and stunted in other roles in the same film. He graduated to larger supporting roles in westerns for Wayne and John Ford, and to a parallel career as a second-unit director.[3]

His television appearances include The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Kit Carson, Lawman, Death Valley Days, Have Gun – Will Travel, Laramie, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Laredo, Bonanza, Daniel Boone, and The Big Valley. Roberson also appeared in Disney's television Westerns The Swamp Fox and Texas John Slaughter. They were part of The Wonderful World of Color. Prior to that, he portrayed a Confederate Prison Captain in The Great Locomotive Chase.

In 1980, he published an autobiography, The Fall Guy: 30 Years as the Duke's Double[4] (ISBN 088839036X).

Roberson died of cancer on June 8, 1988, in Bakersfield, California, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Hollywood Hills, California,[5] next to his brother, actor Lou Roberson.[citation needed]

Bob Dylan drew him as Long Tom in his Beaten Path series, the drawing is entitled "Untitled 1" and is based on a frame from the film Winchester '73 (1950).[6]

Roberson and Wayne Burson, another stuntman, were partners in breeding and training racehorses, with Roberson furnishing the horses from his Bakersfield, California, ranch and Burson training them.[7]

Filmography (Actor)

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Television

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  • The Lone Ranger – episode – Return of the Convict – Tod Gunder (uncredited) (1949)
  • The Lone Ranger – episode – Six Guns Legacy – Henchman Joe (Credit only) (1949)
  • The Lone Ranger – episode – The Renegades – Henchman at Cave (uncredited) (1949)
  • Cowboy G-Men – episode – Koniackers – Lefty (1952)
  • The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – episode – The Lonesome Road – Manley Stevens (1955)
  • Panic! – episode – The Vigilantes – Sam Glenn (1957)
  • Death Valley Days – episode – The Trial of Red Haskell (1957)
  • Wide Wide World – episode – The Western – Himself (1958)
  • Wagon Train – episode – The Bije Wilcox Story – Captain Thorpe (1958)
  • Cimarron City – episode – A Respectable Girl (1958)
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – episodes – Texas John Slaughter, Texas John Slaughter: Ambush in Laredo, and Texas John Slaughter: Showdown at Sandoval – Ranger Sam (1958–1959)
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – episode – The Swamp Fox: The Birth of the Swamp Fox – Jenkins, and Stunt Man (1959)
  • Cimarron City – episode – Blind is the Killer – Foreman (1959)
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – episode – The Swamp Fox: Brother Against Brother – Jenkins (1959)
  • Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – episode – The Swamp Fox: A Woman's Courage – Milo (uncredited) (1959)
  • Gunsmoke – episode – Cheyennes – Sgt. Keller (1959)
  • Yancy Derringer – episode – Two Tickets to Promontory – Henchman (uncredited) (1959)
  • Bat Masterson – episode – The Disappearance of Bat Masterson – Henchman about to be Sawn in Half (1960)
  • Death Valley Days – episode – Splinter Station – Sgt. Jim Laughlin (1960)
  • Gunsmoke – episode – Speak me Fair – Driver (1960)
  • Gunsmoke – episode – Abe Blocker – Joe (1962)
  • Have Gun - Will Travel – The Campaign of Billy Banjo – Rancher (1960)
  • Have Gun - Will Travel – The Legacy – Pike (1960)
  • Laramie – episode – Midnight Rebellion – Burke (uncredited) (1960)
  • Laramie – episode – Riders of the Night – Chet – Gang Member (1961)
  • Laramie – episode – The Killer Legend – Marker (1961)
  • Have Gun - Will Travel – Soledad Crossing – Man Guarding River Crossing (1961)
  • Have Gun - Will Travel – Ben Jalisco – Carly (1961)
  • Wagon Train – episode – The Colter Craven Story – Junior (uncredited) (1960)
  • The Detectives – episode – Secret Assignment – Enforcer (1961)
  • Stagecoach West – episode – A Place of Still Waters – Matt (1961)
  • Tales of Wells Fargo – The Traveler – Lee (1962)
  • Laramie – episode – Among the Missing – Croft (1962)
  • Gunsmoke – episode – The Glory and the Mud – Stage Driver (uncredited) (1964)
  • Daniel Boone – episode – Ken-Tuck-E – Dark Panther (1964)
  • The Virginian – episode – Six Graves at Cripple Creek – Wagon Driver (1965)
  • Daniel Boone – episode – Fifty Rifles – Ruffian (1966)
  • Daniel Boone – episodes – The High Cumberland Parts 1 and 2 – Dutch (1966)
  • Daniel Boone – episode – The Matchmaker – Shawnee Leader (1966)
  • Bonanza – episode – Horse of a Different Hue – Larcher (1966)
  • Laredo – episode – The Legend of Midas Mantee – Rafer (1966)
  • Lost in Space – episode – The Deadly Games of Gamma 6 – Alien Giant (1966)
  • Mister Terrific – episode – Stanley the Jailbreaker – Dawson (1967)
  • Daniel Boone – episode – The Young Ones – Lige Henry (1967)
  • The Big Valley – episodes – Night in a Small Town, Ladykiller, and the Disappearance – Stagecoach Driver (1967)
  • Lancer – episode – The high Riders (1968)
  • Mod Squad – episode – A Run for the Money – Caine (1969)

Filmography (Stunt Man) (All uncredited)

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Second Unit Director

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References

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  1. ^ Free, Gene (April 4, 2014). Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 1987. ISBN 9781476614700 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Hoggatt, John (April 22, 1964). "A Villain is Born". Valley Times. p. 35. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Matheson, Sue (December 2, 2019). The John Ford Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 277. ISBN 978-1-5381-0382-1.
  4. ^ Roberts, Randy (January 1, 1997). John Wayne: American. University of Nebraska Press. p. 720. ISBN 978-0-8032-8970-3. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  5. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7864-0983-9. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Dylan, Bob (November 5, 2016). "The Beaten Path page 322". Halcyon Gallery. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  7. ^ Keeler, Guy (October 13, 1978). "Horse Breeders Are Glad They Don't Have To Bite Hollywood Dust Anymore". The Fresno Bee. p. 20. Retrieved May 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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