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

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 roles until he gained a notable role in 1987 as Poncho in the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 film Predator

Predator (film)

Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....

. Soon afterward his career received another boost with the role of Lt. Colonel Ironhorse in the War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds (TV series)

War of the Worlds is a television program that ran for two seasons, from 1988 to 1990. The series is an extension of the original 1953 film The War of the Worlds, using the same War Machine, often incorporating aspects from the film, radio adaptation, and original novel into its mythology.Though...

TV series. As well as having a character that allowed him to get in touch with both his Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 heritage

Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...

 and a military history, the series also brought him a large fanbase. Chaves once calculated that the volume of fan mail

Fan mail

Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or "fans".In return celebrities may send a poster or picture and usually a return letter.-Overview:...

 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.

Personal life

Chaves was born in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, the son of a U.S. Marine Corps officer/drug enforcement agent father.
He is part Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 on his mother's side. He is a Vietnam veteran

Vietnam veteran

Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...

.

In the late 1990s, Chaves became the subject of a stalker

Stalking

Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...

. To protect himself, his family and friends, he followed the advice of police by refraining from attending conventions and closing his official website.

Chaves has made few public appearances over the years since being stalked. He appeared at the Las Vegas Comic-Con in October 2003; in late 2006 he was photographed with Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

 at the Flags of our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers (film)

is a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were involved...

premiere; he was a guest at the Chicagoland Entertainment Collectors Expo in October 2007; he appeared at the Gallifrey One convention in February 2007, and is scheduled to attend again in February 2008. His most recent acting appearance is in the soon-to-be-released film Lost Warrior: Left Behind and "Dark House".

In June 2009, he was present in Star Guest of "Collectormania" at the Stadium Way West, Milton Keynes, UK.

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
  Fire on the Mountain (film)
  Fire on the Mountain is a 1981 made-for-television movie adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel, Fire on the Mountain starring Buddy Ebsen as John Vogelin, Ron Howard as Lee Mackie and Michael Conrad as Col...
  
  ... Army lieutenant
• 1985 Witness ... detective
• 1985 Cease Fire ... Badman
• 1986 The Penalty Phase ... Nolan Esherman
• 1987 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues ... Irondog (Sioux Indian)
• 1987 Predator
  Predator (film)
  Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
  
  ... Jorge "Poncho" Ramirez
• 1988 Onassis: The Richest Man in the World ... ??
• 1988 To Heal a Nation ... veteran
• 1989 L.A. Takedown
  L.A. Takedown
  L.A. Takedown is a crime/thriller made for TV movie that aired on NBC on August 27, 1989 at 9 pm. It was written and directed by Michael Mann, and its ensemble cast includes Scott Plank, Alex McArthur, Michael Rooker, Daniel Baldwin, and Xander Berkeley. Takedown starred Plank as Det. Vincent Hanna...
  
  (aka Crimewave) ... Lou Casals
• 1992 Night Eyes II ... Hector Mejenes
• 1994 Night Realm ... Ursis
• 1996 Baja Run ... Domingo
• 1997 Weapons of Mass Distraction
  Weapons of Mass Distraction
  Weapons of Mass Distraction is a 1997 film starring Gabriel Byrne, Ben Kingsley, Mimi Rogers, Jeffrey Tambor, and other stars in an ensemble cast, about two media moguls and their fight over ownership of a professional football team...
  
  ... Senator Ramirez
• 1998 Lone Greasers (30 min. short film) ... Las Vegas police officer
• 2007 Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter ... ??
• 2008 Lost Warrior: Left Behind ... Capt. Johansson
• 2009 Dark House ... officer Jones

Television

• 1981 Eight Is Enough
  Eight Is Enough
  Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...
  
  "Father Knows Best?" ... U.S. Marine Captain "Bobo"
• 1982 Dallas
  Dallas (TV series)
  Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
  
  "The Search" ... Bernie
• 1983 St. Elsewhere
  St. Elsewhere
  St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
  
  "Brothers" ... Tim Potts
• 1983 Hill Street Blues
  Hill Street Blues
  Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
  
  "The Russians Are Coming" ... doctor
• 1987 Miami Vice
  Miami Vice
  Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
  
  "Theresa" ... District Attorney Martinez
• 1988 Ohara "They Shoot Witnesses Don't They?" ... Earl Baker
• 1988 War of the Worlds
  War of the Worlds (TV series)
  War of the Worlds is a television program that ran for two seasons, from 1988 to 1990. The series is an extension of the original 1953 film The War of the Worlds, using the same War Machine, often incorporating aspects from the film, radio adaptation, and original novel into its mythology.Though...
  
  (season 1: all 23 episodes; season 2: "The Second Wave") ... Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse
• 1990 L.A. Law
  L.A. Law
  L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
  
  "Bang... Zoom... Zap" ... Carlos Mendez
• 1990 MacGyver
  MacGyver
  MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
  
  "Tough Boys" ... Det. Anthony "Manny" Lopez
• 1990 MacGyver
  MacGyver
  MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
  
  "The Treasure of Manco" ... Enrique Vasquez
• 1990 Trials Of Rosie O'Neill "Mr. Right" ... Det. John Santos
• 1991 Sons And Daughters "Throw Momma From The Terrain" ... Michael Valdez
• 1992 F.B.I. The Untold Stories "The Blue Fiber" ... Det. Joe Swiski
• 1994 Babylon 5
  Babylon 5
  Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
  
  "The War Prayer" ... Alvares
• 1995 Star Trek: Voyager
  Star Trek: Voyager
  Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
  
  "Tattoo" ... tribal chief
• 1996 Walker, Texas Ranger
  Walker, Texas Ranger
  Walker, Texas Ranger is an American television action crime drama series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis, and starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division. The show aired on CBS in the spring of 1993, with the first season consisting of three pilot episodes. Eight full...
  
  "Deadline" ... Special F.B.I. Agent Samuel Mills
• 2001 Days of Our Lives
  Days of our Lives
  Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
  
  "Episode #1.9109" ... Capt. 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

External links

• Richard Chaves fansite - screenshots, interviews, forum