Chuck Roberson

Chuck Roberson
Roberson in McLintock! (1963)
Born	Charles Hugh Roberson (1919-05-10)May 10, 1919 Shannon, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 8, 1988(1988-06-08) (aged 69) Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Other names	Bad Chuck
Occupation	Actor, stuntman
Years active	1946–1988
Spouse(s)	Vera E. Barnett ​ ​ (m. 1940; div. 1948)​ Sharon Heinzman-Roberson ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1971)​ Dolly Mae Stanley ​ ​ (m. 1981⁠–⁠1988)​
Children	4

Charles Hugh "Chuck" Roberson (May 10, 1919 – June 8, 1988) was an American actor and stuntman. He was nicknamed "Bad Chuck" by director John Ford, for whom he worked many times, to distinguish him from "Good Chuck," stuntman Chuck Hayward. Roberson was reportedly the rowdier of the two, thus the nicknames.^{[citation needed]}

Biography[]

Roberson was born near Shannon, Texas, the son of farmer Ollie W. Roberson and Jannie Hamm Roberson. Raised on cattle ranches in Shannon, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico, 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.

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 1979 he published an autobiography, co-authored by Bodie Thoene, entitled “The Fall Guy: 30 Years as the Duke's Double” (ISBN 088839036X). Roberson died of cancer in Bakersfield, California and is buried next to his brother, actor Lou Roberson in Los Angeles.

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).^[1]

Filmography (Actor)[]

Television[]

• 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)[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chuck Roberson.

• Chuck Roberson at IMDb
• Chuck Roberson at Find a Grave