Chuck Roberson

107 years old Shannon, Texas, USA

Charles Hugh Roberson (May 10, 1919 – June 8, 1988) was an American actor and stuntman.

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. Before that, he portrayed a Confederate Prison Captain in The Great Locomotive Chase.

In 1980 he published an autobiography, The Fall Guy: 30 Years as the Duke's Double.

Roberson died of cancer on June 8, 1988, in Bakersfield, California, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Hollywood Hills, California, next to his brother, actor Lou Roberson. 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). Roberson and Wayne Burson, another stuntman, were partners in breeding and training racehorses, with Roberson furnishing the horses from his Bakersfield, California, ranch and Burson training them.

Recent movies

# Name Character Rating
1 McQ (1974) Santiago's Bodyguard (uncredited) 6
2 99 and 44/100% Dead (1974) Gunman -
3 Cahill: United States Marshal (1973) Leader of Bunch 10
4 Big Jake (1971) Texas Ranger (uncredited) 7
5 Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) Director / Writer 6.5
6 Chisum (1970) Trail Herder (uncredited) 7
7 Rio Lobo (1970) Corporal in Baggage Car (uncredited) 7
8 The Undefeated (1969) Yankee Sergeant at River (uncredited) 8
9 100 Rifles (1969) Director / Writer 7
10 The Green Berets (1968) Sgt. Griffin 4
11 The Scalphunters (1968) Scalphunter 8
12 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) Cook (uncredited) 4
13 The War Wagon (1967) Brown / Mustachioed guard at blown bridge 9
14 Nevada Smith (1966) Deputy (uncredited) -
15 El Dorado (1966) Jason's Gunman 6.3
16 Shenandoah (1965) Rebel Commander with Mustache -
17 The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) Townsman (uncredited) 7
18 Cat Ballou (1965) Armed Guard (uncredited) 5.8
19 Cheyenne Autumn (1964) Jessie (uncredited) 6
20 McLintock! (1963) Sheriff Jeff Lord -
21 Shock Corridor (1963) Wilkes 5.3
22 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Henchman (uncredited) 6.8
23 How the West Was Won (1962) Officer (uncredited) 6
24 Two Rode Together (1961) Comanche 5
25 The Alamo (1960) Tennesseean 4.5
26 Spartacus (1960) Slave (uncredited) 7.3
27 Sergeant Rutledge (1960) Court-Martial Board Member (uncredited) 6.5
28 Rio Bravo (1959) Gunman (uncredited) 6
29 The Wonderful Country (1959) Barton 4
30 Man of the West (1958) Rifleman-Guard on Train (uncredited) -
31 The Big Country (1958) Terrill Cowboy 8
32 The Wings of Eagles (1957) Officer 5.5
33 Run of the Arrow (1957) Sergeant 4
34 Forty Guns (1957) Howard Swain 6.3
35 The King and Four Queens (1956) Posseman -
36 The Searchers (1956) Ranger at Wedding (uncredited) 7.2
37 7 Men from Now (1956) Mason 6.5
38 The Tall Men (1955) Alva Jenkin (uncredited) 5
39 The Far Country (1954) Latigo (uncredited) 6
40 Hondo (1953) Kloori / Cavalry Sergeant Killed in Indian Attack (uncredited) 7
41 Calamity Jane (1953) Barfly (uncredited) 7
42 Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) Pirate (uncredited) -
43 Way of a Gaucho (1952) Gaucho 5
44 The Capture (1950) Employee (uncredited) 4
45 Rio Grande (1950) Officer / Indian Fires Arrow Into Col. York's Chest (uncredited) 7
46 Winchester '73 (1950) Long Tom (uncredited) 7.5
47 Hellfire (1949) Groper (uncredited) 5
48 Last of the Wild Horses (1948) Deputy Chuck (uncredited) 1
49 The Flame (1947) Policeman (uncredited) 5