Actor, stuntman, stunt actor, and stunt coordinator, Chuck Hicks died on May 5, 2021. Born in Stockton, California, but his family moved to Los Angeles a year after his birth. He attended school in Burbank where he played trumpet in the school band. After having a growth spurt that put him at a height of 6'1, Hicks started playing football as a running back. After that, Hicks joined the Merchant Marines and then the Navy.
After completing his service, Hicks attended Loyola University on a football scholarship, and went on to play with the Eagle Rock Athletic Club. Although he tried out for the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins on the NFL, there were no openings and he stayed with Eagle Rock for 7 years. Hicks was voted Most Valuable Player three times during his career. Aside from football, Hicks was also involved in bringing rugby to South California in the early 1950's.
Hicks was also a professional boxer, fighting under the name of Chuck Daley. He was Heavyweight Champion of the Navy's 5th Fleet in 1946 and also Heavyweight Champion of Loyola University. He had 8 professional fights, but retired when he broke his hand. Eventually, he decided to turn to the film business.
Hicks film career started in 1952 with minor acting roles in films like She's Working Her Way Through College and The Rose Bowl Story. The next year, he also started performing as a stuntman in the film Siren of Bagdad. He continued to work both as an actor and a stunt performer for more than 50 years. During that time, he was Brian Dennehey's stunt double.
Hicks retired from stunt business in 2010 and the fantasy horror film Legion (2010) and the romance The Back-up Plan (2010) became his last credited stunt work. On 27 December 2014, Hicks married longtime companion and fellow stuntwoman Kaye Wade.
HICKS, Chuck (Charles Delaney Hicks)
Born: 12/26/1927, Stockton, California, U.S.A.
Died: 5/5/2021, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
Chuck Hicks’s westerns – actor, stuntman.
Horizons West – 1952 (barfly)
River of No Return – 1954 (prospector) [stunts]
Cheyenne (TV) – 1956, 1957, 1961, 1962 (train passenger, riverboat passenger, townsman,
barfly, gang member, Jenkins, blacksmith, circus patron, young man) [Cheyenne]
My Friend Flicka (TV) – 1956 (Ray Minifree)
Gunfire at Indian Gap – 1957 (deputy)
Yancy Derringer (TV) – 1958 (pallbearer)
Lawman (TV) – 1959, 1960, 1961 (barfly, townsman, bouncer)
Riverboat (TV) – 1959 (saloon brawler)
Wagon Train (TV) – 1959 (court martial officer)
Law of the Plainsman (TV) – 1960 (fighter)
The Rebel (TV) – 1960 (Frontier Kid)
The Texan (TV) - 1960 (Smith)
Maverick (TV) – 1961 (Gentleman Joe Bartlett, corporal)
Frontier Circus (TV) – 1962 (Bricker)
Rawhide (TV) – 1962 (Billy)
4 for Texas – 1963 (fighter) [stunts]
The Man from Galveston – 1963 (U.S. Marchal Chuck)
Temple Houston (TV) – 1964 [stunts]
The Great Race – 1965 (saloon brawler) [stunts]
The Big Valley (TV) – 1965, 1967 (brawler, sparring partner)
Branded (TV) – 1965 (brawler, young Samson)
Daniel Boone (TV) – 1965 (Briggs)
Gunsmoke (TV) – 1966, 1973, 1974 (saloon brawler, townsman, Turner)
Johnny Reno – 1966 (Bellows)
Fort Utah – 1967 (henchman)
Iron Horse (TV) – 1967 (Caleb, Champ) [stunts]
The Virginian (TV) – 1968 (Hicks’ gang member)
Paint Your Wagon – 1969 [stunts]
There Was a Crooked Man – 1970 [stunts]
Wild Women (TV) – 1970 (Corporal Hearn)
Bearcats! (TV) – 1971 (guard)
Something Big – 1971 (Corporal James)
Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1972 (Carson)
Nichols (TV) – 1972 (Steve, The Dutchman)
Barbary Coast (TV) – 1975 (Bassiter henchman)
Kung Fu (TV) – 1975 (Saxon)
The Quest (TV) – 1976 (Pouley)
Bronco Billy – 1980 (cowboy at bar) [stunts]
Little House on the Prairie (TV) – 1982 (Big Arnie) [stunts]
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