John William Saunders III (April 1, 1938 – August 9, 2009), better known by the stage name John Quade, was an American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

who starred in film and in television. He was best known for his role as Cholla, the leader of the motorcycle gang the Black Widows in the

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

films ''

Every Which Way but Loose ''Every Which Way but Loose'' is a 1978 American action comedy film released by Warner Bros., produced by Robert Daley and directed by James Fargo. It stars Clint Eastwood in an uncharacteristic and offbeat comedy role as Philo Beddoe, a tr ...

'' (1978) and its sequel ''

Any Which Way You Can ''Any Which Way You Can'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Buddy Van Horn and starring Clint Eastwood, with Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, William Smith, and Ruth Gordon in supporting roles. The film is the sequel to the 1978 hi ...

'' (1980).

Early life

Born in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, Quade attended Perry Rural High School in

Perry, Kansas Perry is a city in Jefferson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 852. History Perry had its start in the year 1865 by the building of the railroad through that territory. It was named for John ...

before transferring to Highland Park High School in Topeka on September 7, 1954. While at Highland Park, he was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

tackle and also participated in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

.''Highlander 1992: Seventy-fifth Anniversary Edition''; yearbook of

Highland Park High School (Topeka, Kansas) Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Unit ...

, pg. 12 He was a member of the

Stamp Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents ...

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

, and

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

clubs. He graduated from Highland Park in May 1956. Quade attended

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,10 ...

in the fall semester of 1956. He worked for the Santa Fe Railway repair shop in Topeka. Quade met an engineer building

missile silo A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs ...

s in Kansas, which led to a job in California working at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

as an

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. Some of the parts Quade constructed are still on the moon. While at a restaurant in Pasadena, a talent scout from the movie industry approached Quade to ask if he had ever done any acting.

Acting career

Quade began acting on TV in 1968 with a part on the TV show ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

'', and made his first film in 1972. Due to Quade's gruff look, he usually played roles as a brutish villain or ruthless authority figure. He appeared opposite

in '' High Plains Drifter'', '' The Outlaw Josey Wales'', ''

Every Which Way But Loose ''Every Which Way but Loose'' is a 1978 American action comedy film released by Warner Bros., produced by Robert Daley and directed by James Fargo. It stars Clint Eastwood in an uncharacteristic and offbeat comedy role as Philo Beddoe, a tr ...

'', and ''

''. Quade's wife stated that, "Clint hired him for his face and told him afterward that he felt like he got a bonus because John could act." He appeared in '' Papillon'' with

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

. He played the role of Sheriff Briggs in the mini-series ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' and was in the 1986 western mini-series''

Dream West ''Dream West'' is a 1986 American television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and directed by Dick Lowry. Development The seven-hour miniseries was broken into three parts (2 hours, 2 hours, and 3 hours). Part 1 aired on Sunday, April 13 ...

''. Quade starred in two short-lived television series, ''Flatbush'' (1979) and ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

'' (1991). He made many guest appearances on television shows ranging from ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, ...

'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...

'', ''

Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

'', ''

The Dukes Of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television serie ...

'' (in the episode "Hazzard Connection"), ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'' (in the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

"Knight of the Phoenix"), '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' (in the two-part episode "The Plot to Kill a City" as Quince, a telekinetic supervillain), ''

Galactica 1980 ''Galactica 1980'' is an American science fiction television series and a spin-off from the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series. It was first broadcast on ABC in the United States from January 27 to May 4, 1980, lasting for 10 ep ...

'' (in the two-part episode “The Super Scouts” as the town sheriff), ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

'' (in the episodes "There's Always A Catch" and "Skins") and '' On the Air'', to TV miniseries such as ''Roots'', ''Dream West'' and ''

Return to Lonesome Dove ''Return to Lonesome Dove'' is a 1993 American four part television miniseries, written by John Wilder involving characters created in Larry McMurtry's Western novel ''Lonesome Dove'' which was broadcast by CBS and first aired on November 14–1 ...

''.

Death

On August 9, 2009, Quade died at his home in

Rosamond, California Rosamond is a unincorporated community in Kern County, California, US, near the Los Angeles county line. Rosamond is part of Greater Los Angeles and is located in the Mojave Desert just north of Lancaster and Palmdale, two of the largest c ...

, at the age of 71 while sleeping.

Selected filmography

*''

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...

'' (1972) as Cop (uncredited) *''

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

'' (1972) as Riley *''

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

'' (1972) as Nolan *'' Goodnight, My Love'' (1972) as Edgar *''

Deadhead Miles ''Deadhead Miles'' is a 1972 American road comedy film directed by Vernon Zimmerman from a script by Terrence Malick, and starring Alan Arkin, Bruce Bennett and Paul Benedict. Actors George Raft and Ida Lupino make cameos. Plot Cooper (Alan A ...

'' (1973) as Spud Holder *'' High Plains Drifter'' (1973) as Jake Ross *''Brother on the Run'' (1973) as 'Fatback' - Hit Man *'' The Blue Knight'' (1973) as Knobby Booker *'' Papillon'' (1973) as Masked Breton *''

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw).'' Variety'' film review; December 12, 1973, pag ...

'' (1973) as Riley *''

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

'' (1974) as Kreeg Commandant *''

The Swinging Cheerleaders ''The Swinging Cheerleaders'' is a 1974 comedy-drama film written and directed by exploitation film auteur Jack Hill (who was credited for writing the film as Jane Witherspoon). The film was also released under the titles ''Locker Room Girls'' a ...

'' (1974) as Belski *''

Mr. Ricco ''Mr. Ricco'' is a 1975 crime drama film directed by Paul Bogart and starring Dean Martin in his last leading film role, along with Eugene Roche, Denise Nicholas and Cindy Williams. Plot A murder charge is dropped against San Francisco black mili ...

'' (1975) as Arkansas *''

Rancho Deluxe ''Rancho Deluxe'' is a 1975 Neo-Western comedy film directed by Frank Perry. Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston star as two cattle rustlers in modern-day Livingston, Montana, who plague a wealthy ranch owner, played by Clifton James. The film als ...

'' (1975) as Circular Face (uncredited) *''

92 in the Shade ''92 in the Shade'' is a 1975 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McGuane, based on his 1973 novel of the same name, it stars Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Elizabeth Ashley and Margot Kidder. Plot Tom Skelton, a young man, opens a ch ...

'' (1975) as Roy *'' The Last Hard Men'' (1976) as Gant *'' The Outlaw Josey Wales'' (1976) as Comanchero Leader *'' Special Delivery'' (1976) as Barney *''

'' (1977, TV Mini-Series) as Sheriff Biggs *'' Night Drive'' (1977) as Old Drunk *'' Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion'' (1977) as Adam *''

The Ghost of Flight 401 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 total fatalities. Three of the 4 cockpit ...

'' (1978) as Marshall *''

'' (1978) as Cholla (Black Widows Leader) *'' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' (1979, TV Series) as Jolen Quince (two episodes) *''

'' (1980) as Cholla (Black Widows Leader) *''

'' (1980, TV Series) as Sheriff *'' Cattle Annie and Little Britches'' (1981) as Morgan *''

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

'' (1984) as Henry Lambert *''Fury to Freedom'' (1985) as Mr. Ries *''The B.R.A.T. Patrol'' (1986) as 'Knife' *''

Gone to Texas Gone to Texas (often abbreviated GTT), was a phrase used by Americans emigrating to Texas in the 19th century. During the Panic of 1819, many left the United States and moved there to escape debt. Moving to Texas, which at the time was part of M ...

'' (1986) as Sen. William Stansbury *'' La Bamba'' (1987) as Bartender *'' Tigershark'' (1987) as 'Cowboy' Dave Reynolds *'' The Tracker'' (1988) as Lomax (outlaw) *'' The Giant of Thunder Mountain'' (1991) as Carl (Townsman) *'' And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird'' (1991) as Walter Kotzwinkle

References

External links

* *
Celebrity Deaths - John Quade
Includes videos, cause of death, & biography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quade, John 1938 births 2009 deaths Male actors from Kansas City, Kansas American male film actors American male television actors People from Kern County, California 20th-century American male actors Amateur radio people