Richard Chaves ( '; born October 9, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Poncho in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

'' and as Lieutenant Colonel Ironhorse in the television series '' War of the Worlds''.

Early life

Chaves was born in Florida to a career

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

officer father who later worked for the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

. Chaves studied acting at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

before joining the U.S. Army in May 1970, serving a tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as an infantryman in the

196th Infantry Brigade The 196th Infantry Brigade ("Chargers"), also known as the Charger Brigade was first formed on 24 June 1921 as part of the United States Army Reserve's 98th Division with the responsibility of training soldiers. World War II During World War II, ...

. He was discharged from the Army in 1973 at the rank of Specialist 4.

Career

Chaves helped write the critically acclaimed stage drama ''Tracers''. In the early 1980s, he began work as an actor taking on various

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

roles until he gained a role in 1987 as Poncho in the

film ''

''. Soon afterward, his career received another boost with the role of Lt. Colonel Ironhorse in the television series '' War of the Worlds''. Chaves once calculated that the volume of

fan mail Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or "fan (person), fans". In return for a fan's support and admiration, public figures may send an autographed poster, photo, reply letter, or note thanking the ...

he received outnumbered the rest of the cast members by a four or five to one ratio. However, his career hit a bump when ''War of the Worlds'' was given new creative management for its second season. The new executives did not think that the Ironhorse character worked with the format they wanted for the show, so his character and that of Norton Drake were killed off. His most recent acting appearances were in the films ''Lost Warrior: Left Behind'', ''Dark House'' and ''Beyond the Game''.

Works

Stage

*19?? ''Pendleton Blankst'' *19?? ''Vietnam Trilogy'' *19?? ''Labyrinth'' *19?? ''Macbeth'' *19?? ''Romeo & Juliet'' *1980/85 ''Tracers'' (co-author) ... Dinky Dau *1995 ''Santos & Santos'' ... Miguel Santos *1997 ''Police Officer's Wives (P.O.W.)'' ... Franko *2001 ''Pvt. Wars'' ... Silvio

Movies

*1981 '' Fire on the Mountain'' ... Army Lieutenant *1985 ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

'' ... Detective *1985 ''

Cease Fire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may be ...

'' ... Badman *1986 '' Penalty Phase'' ... Nolan Esherman *1987 '' Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues'' ... Irondog (Sioux Indian) *1987 ''

'' ... Jorge "Poncho" Ramirez *1988 ''Onassis: The Richest Man in the World'' ... Turkish Officer *1988 ''To Heal a Nation'' ... Veteran *1989 '' L.A. Takedown'' (aka ''Crimewave'') ... Lou Casals *1992 '' Night Eyes 2'' ... Hector Mejenes *1994 ''Night Realm'' ... Ursis *1996 ''Baja Run'' ... Domingo *1997 '' Weapons of Mass Distraction'' ... Senator Ramirez *1998 ''Lone Greasers'' (30 min. short film) ... Las Vegas police officer *2007 ''Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter'' ... Prison Guard *2008 ''Lost Warrior: Left Behind'' ... Captain Johansson *2009 ''Dark House'' ... Officer Jones *2016 ''Beyond the Game'' ... Captain Johansson

Television

*1981 ''

Eight Is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American comedy-drama/sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 15, 1977, to May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight childre ...

'' (Season 5 Episode: "Father Knows Best?") ... U.S. Marine Captain "Bobo" *1982 ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'' (Season 5 Episode 13: "The Search") ... Bernie *1983 ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' is an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...

'' (Season 1 Episode 17: "Brothers") ... Tim Potts *1983 ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'' (Season 4 Episode 10: "The Russians Are Coming") ... Doctor *1987 ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' (Season 3 Episode 16: "Theresa") ... District Attorney Martinez *1988 '' Ohara'' (Season 2 Episode 10: "They Shoot Witnesses Don't They?") ... Earl Baker *1988 '' War of the Worlds'' (Season 1: all 24 episodes; Season 2 Episode 1: "The Second Wave") ... Lieutenant Colonel Paul Ironhorse *1990 ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'' (Season 4 Episode 19: "Bang... Zoom... Zap") ... Carlos Mendez *1990 ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...

'' (Season 5 Episode 15: "The Treasure of Manco") ... Enrique Vasquez *1990 ''

'' (Season 6 Episode 1: "Tough Boys") ... Detective Anthony "Manny" Lopez *1990 ''Trials of Rosie O'Neill'' (Season 1 Episode 10: "Mr. Right") ... Detective John Santos *1991 ''Sons and Daughters'' (Season 1 Episode 9: "Throw Momma from the Terrain") ... Michael Valdez *1991 ''Sons and Daughters'' (Season 1 Episode 13: "Nose to Nose") ... Michael Valdez *1992 '' FBI: The Untold Stories'' (Episode: "The Blue Fiber") ... Detective Joe Swiski *1994 ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'' (Season 1 Episode 7: "The War Prayer") ... Alvares *1995 '' Star Trek: Voyager'' (Season 2 Episode 9: "Tattoo") ... Tribal Chief *1996 ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

'' (Season 4 Episode 22: "Deadline") ... Special Agent Samuel Mills *2001 ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' ("Episode #1.9106") ... Captain Eduardo *2001 ''

'' ("Episode #1.9108") ... Captain Eduardo *2001 ''

'' ("Episode #1.9110") ... Captain Eduardo *2001 ''

'' ("Episode #1.9111") ... Captain Eduardo

Voice

*1987 ''Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam'' ... himself / additional dialogue *2010 ''Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress'' ... Buzzoose *2009 ''Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse'' ... Buzzoose

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaves, Richard Living people American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Place of birth missing (living people) 1951 births