Randolph Roberts (born October 5, 1947), also known as Will Roberts, is an American actor best known for being the second actor (after

Gavan O'Herlihy Gavan John O'Herlihy (29 July 1951 – 15 September 2021) was an American actor. He was known for playing Chuck Cunningham in the first episodes of '' Happy Days'', as well as his appearances in films such as ''Never Say Never Again'', '' Death ...

) to portray

Richie Cunningham Richard J. Cunningham is a fictional character played by Ron Howard in the 1970s TV sitcom ''Happy Days''. He is the second son of Howard and Marion Cunningham, brother of Joanie Cunningham and Chuck Cunningham, and a friend of Fonzie, Ralph ...

's older brother Chuck on a few episodes of ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

''. Gavan O'Herlihy played Chuck Cunningham in a few episodes of

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambigua ...

and the role was recast with Randolph Roberts for

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

. Roberts played Chuck starting in season 2's first episode "Richie Moves Out" and ending with "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas". Chuck was not seen again but was later mentioned in a few other episodes ending with "Fish and the Fins" later in the season. After that, Chuck was written off the show completely with later episodes depicting the Cunningham family with only two children with

Richie Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. First name * Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), American Major League Baseball player, member of the Hall of Fame *Richie Benaud (1930–2015), Aus ...

as the elder. The character gave rise to the pejorative term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome", referring to characters who disappear from TV-shows without an In-Universe explanation and are later

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

to have never existed. Roberts also landed the leading role in '' Wicked, Wicked'' (1973), guest starred on ''

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 ...

'' (1974) and played a minor role in ''

Logan's Run ''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusianism future society in which both population and the consumption of resou ...

'' (1976). Roberts eventually sidelined his acting career and became an education supervisor for

ITT Technical Institute ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech) was a private for-profit technical institute with its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana and many campuses throughout the United States. Founded in 1969 and growing to 130 campuses in 38 states of the United Stat ...

in San Diego.

References

External links

*
Roberts on ''Happy Days''
via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

(episode "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas") Living people 1946 births American male television actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors People from Greater Los Angeles Male actors from Fresno, California {{US-screen-actor-stub