John Davis Chandler

Born: 1935-01-28 in Hinton, West Virginia, USA

Died: 2010-02-16

Known For: Acting

Biography

John Davis Chandler (1935–2010) was an American character actor renowned for his distinctive, intense onscreen presence and his prolific career playing villains, outlaws, and shady miscreants. Born in Hinton, West Virginia, and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, he broke into film in 1961 by landing the title role of real-life 1930s gangster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll in the biopic Mad Dog Coll. That breakout performance cemented his niche as an exceptional on-screen heavy, enabling him to carve out a nearly 40-year career spanning more than a hundred film and television credits. Throughout his career, Chandler became a familiar face in classic Westerns and gritty crime dramas, notably collaborating multiple times with director Sam Peckinpah in films such as Ride the High Country, Major Dundee, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Mainstream audiences also recognize him for playing the sneering gang leader Bleak in the 1987 action-comedy Adventures in Babysitting, alongside feature work in Capone, Only the Lonely, and Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead. In addition to his extensive film resume, he was a ubiquitous television guest star, appearing on classic programs ranging from The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, Adam-12, and Columbo to Murder, She Wrote. Science fiction fans also remember him for his appearance as the Orion character Flith in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sixth-season episode "Honor Among Thieves". He passed away on February 16, 2010, at the age of 75 in Toluca Lake, California, due to cancer.

Filmography

1992

Renegade as Captain at Base
Inside Out 2

1991

Only the Lonely as Duane Earl Tyrone

1990

Crash and Burn as Bud

1988

Double Revenge as Big Charlie

1987

Adventures in Babysitting as Bleak
Love Among Thieves as San Francisco Desk Clerk

1984

Murder, She Wrote as John Detweiler
Airwolf as Gentry
Hunter as Paul Hammond

1983

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse as Mason

1982

T. J. Hooker as Waylon Gilbert
Matt Houston as Hank
Cassie & Co. as Gillian
The Sword and the Sorcerer as Guard 1

1981

1980

The Little Dragons as Carl

1979

Hart to Hart
B. J. and the Bear as Marsh

1978

Fantasy Island as Ed Larson
Confessions of the D.A. Man as Robin Saydo (as John Chandler)
Doc Hooker's Bunch as Roy

1977

1976

Quincy, M.E. as Robert Gideon
The Outlaw Josey Wales as First Bounty Hunter
Spencer's Pilots
Mako: The Jaws of Death as Charlie
Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy as Dr. Cheech
Scorchy as Nicky

1975

Capone as Hymie Weiss
Walking Tall Part II as Ray Henry
The Desperate Miles as Truck Driver

1974

Police Woman as Nolan
The Ultimate Thrill as Evans

1973

Police Story
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid as Norris
Chase as Thomas L. Traylor
Hitched as Jannis

1972

The Rookies
Moon of the Wolf as Tom Jr.
Drag Racer as Dave

1971

Columbo as Eddie Kane
Cannon
The Partners
Shoot Out as Skeeter (as John Chandler)
O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra as Al Garver, the Henchman

1970

Barquero as Fair

1969

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys as Deuce

1968

Adam-12 as Wally Barstow
The Hooked Generation as Acid

1967

1966

Felony Squad

1965

Run for Your Life as Dr. Walker
Major Dundee as Jimmy Lee Benteen
Once a Thief as James Arthur Sargatanas, Walter's Henchman

1964

Those Calloways as Ollie Gibbons

1963

The Fugitive as Kenny
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters as Dick McBride

1962

The Virginian as Dog
Empire as Aflen
Ride the High Country as Jimmy Hammond

1961

Straightaway
The Young Savages as Arthur Reardon
Mad Dog Coll as Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll
Ricochet as Kelso

1960

Route 66 as Frank Lauderbeck

1959

The Detectives as Starr

1958

The Rifleman as Brooks

1955

Gunsmoke as Rogers