Chuck Hayward

Actor · born 20 January 1920 · Alliance, Nebraska, U.S.A.

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.

Where to start: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).