Wayne Ernest Maunder (December 19, 1937 – November 11, 2018) was a Canadian-born American actor who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.
Three television series
From September 6 to December 27, 1967, Maunder starred as 28-year-old
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
during the time that Custer was stationed in the American West on the series ''
Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
''.
Maunder's next series was '' Lancer'', with co-stars
Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage.
Background
Duggan was born in ...
,
James Stacy
Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for starring in the late 1960s TV western ''Lancer''.
In 1973, Stacy was hit by ...
, and
Paul Brinegar
Paul Alden Brinegar Jr. (December 19, 1917 – March 27, 1995) was an American character actor best known for his roles in three Western series: ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'', '' Rawhide'', and ''Lancer''.
Early years
Brinegar was b ...
. ''Lancer'' ran from 1968 to 1970, with an additional rebroadcast cycle in Summer 1971.
Maunder's last regular series, ''
Chase
Chase or CHASE may refer to:
Businesses
* Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York
* Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company
* Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England
* Chase Co ...
'', is a 23-episode drama about an undercover police unit which aired on NBC during the 1973–1974 television season, co-starring
Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his six decades of television is known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...
as Chase Reddick and
Reid Smith
Reid Bryce Smith (May 8, 1949 – October 16, 2001) was an American film and television actor.
Smith was born in Burbank, California, the son of June, a secretary for actress, Maud Adams and Verne Smith, a model and announcer. He had three sis ...
as officer Norm Hamilton. Maunder played the role of police Sergeant Sam MacCray, one of whose duties was to handle the police dog named "Fuzz". A Jack Webb production, ''Chase'' was created by Stephen J. Cannell.
Early years and actor's training
Maunder was born in Four Falls in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, but was reared, along with four siblings, in Bangor, Maine, where he moved when he was four years old, and which he considered to be his hometown. His mother was Lydia Maunder (1913–1980).
Maunder graduated in 1957 from
Bangor High School
Bangor High School, a member of the Bangor School System, is a high school in Bangor, Maine, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9–12.
It is Bangor's only public high school.
Since its 2001–2002 sel ...
, where he played football and baseball.
He attempted to enter
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...
, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Maunder then spent a few years in the United States Naval Reserve and went on a training mission on the aircraft carrier the USS ''Leyte''.
He studied English literature plus drama at
El Camino College Compton Center
Compton College is a public community college in Compton, California. From 2006, when it lost its regional accreditation, to 2017, when it regained that accreditation, it operated as a part of El Camino College. Before and after the partnersh ...
, then known as Compton Junior College in Compton, California. He participated in an amateur play and began a career in acting.
He headed to Broadway and studied in 1961 under
Stella Adler
Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher. ''
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
in the evenings. He participated in stock companies and acted in productions of ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' with the American Shakespeare Company on Long Island.
In 1965, while acting in a role in ''The Knack'' at the Red Barn Theater on Long Island, at a salary of $100 per week plus room and board, Maunder signed a contract with a management agency.
Maunder made his first screen appearance on February 4, 1967 as Michael Duquesne in "Race for a Rainbow", an episode of The Monroes'', starring
Michael Anderson, Jr.
Michael Joseph Anderson Jr. (born 6 August 1943) is an actor whose 40-year career includes roles in '' The Sundowners'', ''In Search of the Castaways'', '' The Sons of Katie Elder'', and '' Logan's Run''. During the 1966 television season he sta ...
, and
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including weste ...
. Maunder was credited as James Wilder on ''The Monroes'' but decided thereafter to return to his own name.
As Custer
Maunder returned to Los Angeles, where he secured his first screen role under his real name, as
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
in the
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
production ''Custer''. He grew a moustache to accompany his long blond hair for the part. The short-lived series, which took over ''The Monroes'' time slot, was defeated in the ratings by '' The Virginian'' and ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'' on CBS, and dropped from the ABC schedule by the end of 1967 after only 17 episodes.
As Scott Lancer
The fictitious Scott Lancer was born in California, but reared in Boston, Massachusetts by his maternal grandfather Harlan Garrett. A Civil War veteran, Scott was a lieutenant in the cavalry under General
Philip Sheridan
General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...
. He spent time in a
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
prisoner of war camp. He attended Harvard University and was once engaged to a girl named Julie Dennison.
By contrast to Scott, Johnny Lancer, played by James Stacy, Scott's half-brother, was born to a Mexican woman and had been a gunslinger under the name Johnny Madrid for several years, then he attempted to settle on the family's Lancer ranch.
As the educated older son of Andrew Duggan's patriarchal figure of Murdoch Lancer, Maunder wore short hair and removed the moustache from his ''Custer'' role.
Other acting appearances
After ''Custer'' and ''Lancer'', Maunder appeared on three ABC series: the pilot episode of ''
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...
'' series with
David Carradine
David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...
, twice on ''
The F.B.I.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
'' with
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series '' 77 Sunset Strip'' and ''The F.B.I.'' He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the s ...
, as Knox Hiller in "Time Bomb" (1970) and as Earl Gainey in "The Fatal Showdown" (1972), and as Don Pierce in the episode "Crossfire" of ''
The Rookies
''The Rookies'' is an American police procedural series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department (SC ...
'' (1973).
Maunder had the lead role as attorney Mike Barrett in the 1971 film '' The Seven Minutes'', directed by
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...
.
After ''Chase'', Maunder appeared in five additional guest-starring roles: Detective Fred Webber in '' Police Story'', a two-episode program, "Year of the Dragon" (1975), a creation of Joseph Wambaugh; as Paul, a jewel thief, in ''
The Streets of San Francisco
''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin, Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the ...
'' with
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...
, episode "Web of Lies" (1975); in '' Kate McShane'' with
Anne Meara
Anne Meara Stiller (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer ...
, episode "God at $15,732 a Year" (1975); as Deputy Burt Campbell in ''
Barnaby Jones
''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was or ...
'' episode "Copy-Cat Killing" (1977), and as Cavanaugh in the movie ''
Porky's
''Porky's'' is a 1981 sex comedy film written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers in 1954 at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida. The film influenced many writers in the teen film genre and spawned two sequels: ...
'' (1982).
Personal life
Maunder resided in the Greater Los Angeles Area. In 1967, he married Lucia Maisto. The couple's son, Dylan T. Maunder, was born the next year in 1968.
Death
Maunder died unexpectedly on November 11, 2018, aged 80. He was noted as having a history of heart disease.
Fictional portrayals
In August 2018,
Luke Perry
Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...
was cast to portray Maunder in
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
's ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...