Chuck Hicks(1927-2021)
- Actor
- Stunts
- Production Manager
Tall (6 ft 2"), brawny (220 pounds) American actor, stuntman and stunt coordinator, in films from 1952. From the time he attended school in Burbank, California, Chuck Hicks established a solid reputation as an all-round athlete, subsequently to become an alumnus of Loyola University (on a scholarship) where he played both football and rugby. He was also that institution's heavyweight boxing champion. Having enlisted in the U.S. Navy (following a hitch in the Merchant Marine), Hicks won another heavyweight boxing title in 1946. During his brief career as a professional fighter (which came to an end when he broke his hand) he was known as 'Chuck Daley'. In the Steel (1963), Hicks was later to take on the role of a formidable mechanical pugilist known as the Maynard Flash (with a robot face mask cleverly crafted by William Tuttle).
After being dropped by the L.A. Rams football team in 1951, Hicks tried his hand as a lifeguard at the Pickwick Pool in Burbank before an opportunity arose to work as a movie extra. Thereafter, he was often used as a stand-in for Clint Walker on the western series Cheyenne (1955). In the course of the next six decades, Hicks worked as stand-in or stunt double for the likes of Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Brian Dennehy and Paul Sorvino.
On the screen, Hicks found himself frequently on the receiving end of a beating at the hands of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry (1971), The Enforcer (1976), Bronco Billy (1980)). In the movie Dick Tracy (1990), he had a small featured role as The Brow, one of the minor villains. Hicks appeared in innumerable small film roles as bar brawlers, henchmen, bodyguards, crooked cops, bouncers, prizefighters and even zombies. He was stunt coordinator for the famous fight scene in Cool Hand Luke (1967).
Hicks retired in 2010. He was a past president of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, an inductee into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Screen Actors Guild.
After being dropped by the L.A. Rams football team in 1951, Hicks tried his hand as a lifeguard at the Pickwick Pool in Burbank before an opportunity arose to work as a movie extra. Thereafter, he was often used as a stand-in for Clint Walker on the western series Cheyenne (1955). In the course of the next six decades, Hicks worked as stand-in or stunt double for the likes of Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Brian Dennehy and Paul Sorvino.
On the screen, Hicks found himself frequently on the receiving end of a beating at the hands of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry (1971), The Enforcer (1976), Bronco Billy (1980)). In the movie Dick Tracy (1990), he had a small featured role as The Brow, one of the minor villains. Hicks appeared in innumerable small film roles as bar brawlers, henchmen, bodyguards, crooked cops, bouncers, prizefighters and even zombies. He was stunt coordinator for the famous fight scene in Cool Hand Luke (1967).
Hicks retired in 2010. He was a past president of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, an inductee into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Screen Actors Guild.
