John Davis Chandler


John Davis Chandler

About

Also Known As
John Chandler
Birth Place
Hinton, West Virginia, USA
Born
January 28, 1935
Died
February 16, 2010

Biography

Character actor John Davis Chandler, who made a career out of villainous turns, was on the pre-med track at Princeton before joining the U.S. Army and discovering his passion for performing. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his film debut in 1961, landing the title role in the chilling biopic of a 1930s gangster, "Mad Dog Coll." This establish...

Biography

Character actor John Davis Chandler, who made a career out of villainous turns, was on the pre-med track at Princeton before joining the U.S. Army and discovering his passion for performing. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his film debut in 1961, landing the title role in the chilling biopic of a 1930s gangster, "Mad Dog Coll." This established his niche as an excellent on-screen weasel, and soon he was scoring numerous roles playing underhanded criminals. Perhaps most memorably, he played a menacing cowboy named Jimmy Hammond in Sam Peckinpah's Western "Ride the High Country" and the sneering gang leader, Bleak, in the 1980s action-comedy "Adventures in Babysitting." When not playing notable heavies, Chandler balanced his film roles with one-offs on a variety of popular television programs, from the docudrama crime series "The Untouchables" to the superhero saga "The Incredible Hulk" to the science-fiction spin-off "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." He made his final onscreen appearance on the last, ending a career that spanned nearly 40 years. Chandler died in 2010, a victim of cancer, but his legacy lives on in his characters, whom audiences love to hate.

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Once A Thief (1965) -- (Movie Clip) I Don't Need You San Francisco ex-con Eddie (Alain Delon), who we know is committing armed robberies on his own, nonetheless pushes back when his gangster brother Walter (Jack Palance), with his hoodlum sidekick (John Davis Chandler), offers him a job, pleasing Eddie’s wife (Ann-Margret), in Once A Thief, 1965.
Good Guys And The Bad Guys, The (1969) -- (Movie Clip) Stay Here And Hold His Hand Kicked out of his job as marshal in nearby Progress but determined to stop the gang that includes washed-up bandit McKay (George Kennedy), Flagg (Robert Mitchum) attempts an arrest but is thwarted by Deuce (John Davis Chandler) and his self-assured boss Waco (David Carradine), in The Good Guys And The Bad Guys, 1969.
Mad Dog Coll (1961) -- (Movie Clip) A Competent Violin Gene Hackman (as the uniformed cop) has no lines as detective Darrell (Telly Savalas) waylays Vince (John Davis Chandler, title character) who's been getting rough with innocent Elizabeth (Brooke Hayward) in Mad Dog Coll, 1961.
Mad Dog Coll (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Hello Pop! John (Davis) Chandler appears as the title character in an opening sequence featuring a theme sung by Hal Waters and aiming well over the top from Columbia's Mad Dog Coll, 1961.
Mad Dog Coll (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Slouch, Now! Casting novelty as cops on stake-out (Gene Hackman and Telly Savalas) see Elizabeth (Brooke Hayward) bump into Joe (young Jerry Orbach) en route to visit the title-character (John Davis Chandler) in Mad Dog Coll, 1961.

Bibliography