It's one of those actors where you know the face and ask the question who the hell is he.He only had onestarring role and that was way back in 1961 when he played the title role in a movie called 'Mad Dog McColl'.
But it was his role in this movie and 'The Young Savages' that would mark the type of character that he would play in the future.
Remember the creepy Johnny Hammond in 'Ride The High Country'? That was John Davis Chandler born 1937 in Hinton, West Virginia.
He was, also, one of the bounty hunters in 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
He made three movies with Sam Peckinpah - the other two being 'Major Dundee' and 'Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid'.
One of his best moments has to be from the Lee Van Cleef movie, 'Barquero' where John Davis Chandler shows a lighter side with some marvellous interplay with Forrest Tucker.
Chandler has turned up on the small screen playing Kid Curry in 'The High Chaparral'. He appeared in some of the series from 'The Virginian' to 'The Rifleman'.
Not all his appearances were of the western variety. There have been roles stretching back from 'Star Trek: Deep Space 9' to 'Route 66' including a recently shown episode of 'Murder, She Wrote'.
John Davis Chandler may not have been a big star but to put him down as one of the supporting actors is a mistake. When on screen he makes his presence felt.
John Davis Chandler was good at playing bad guys.Maybe too good.Seems like he got typecast later in his career.Back in his heyday,he was a very much sought after actor.That is,until he got too old.Too old for Hollywood,that is.He was in his early 60's.Today,only fans know who he is and what he was in.Be nice to give him a shout out for what he did in his nearly 40 year career.
ReplyDeleteHe was indeed a great actor.He passed away on 2/16/10 at the age of 75.He never knew there were so many sites for fans to go to or that he had so many loyal fans.He will be missed.
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