Chuck Courtney (23 July 1930 – 19 January 2000; age 69) [1] was a stuntman, stunt actor, and stunt coordinator, who appeared as Davod in the Star Trek: The Original Series second season episode "Patterns of Force". He filmed his scenes on Thursday 30 November 1967 at Desilu Stage 9.
Almost twenty years later, Courtney served as stunt coordinator for the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Datalore". He was among the group of stunt coordinators who were hired, prior to Dennis Madalone's employment on the series. As a close friend and "father figure", Courtney assisted Madalone in the stunt coordination of several episodes of The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He received no credit for this work.
Courtney was born in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of Hollywood costumer Elizabeth Courtney, father of stuntman Dustin Courtney and stepfather of stuntman Lincoln Simonds. Courtney received a Golden Boot Award in 1994 for his memorable work in western films and television series.
Courtney made his first steps into the stunt business in the 1950s and appeared as a background actor and stunt actor in productions such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950, with Marc Lawrence and Anthony Caruso), Back at the Front (1952), Two Guns and a Badge (1954), Away All Boats (1956, with Keith Andes and directed by Joseph Pevney), The Lineup (1958), and Spartacus (1960, with Jean Simmons). He landed the role of Dan Reid, the nephew of the Lone Ranger in the television series The Lone Ranger, in which he appeared in fourteen episodes between 1950 and 1955. These appearances were followed by parts in television series, including Tales of the Texas Rangers (1956), Broken Arrow (1957), Dragnet (1958), The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), and Zane Grey Theater (1959).
In the 1960s he performed and doubled in the television series Laramie (1962-1963), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964, with Jim Goodwin, Ronald R. Rondell and Arch Whiting), Wagon Train (1964, alongside John Hoyt), Laredo (1965-1966), Mission: Impossible (1966, with Jack Donner and Eddie Paskey), The Wild Wild West (1968-1969, featuring Michael Dunn), The Virginian (1964-1969), and Adam-12 (1969-1970). He was also featured in films such as Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Red Line 7000 (1965, with George Takei and Marianna Hill), El Dorado (1966, with Paul Fix), and The Green Berets (1968, also with George Takei and with Irene Tsu).
Courtney continued in the 1970s and coordinated several feature films, including Santee (1973), and the television movies The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980), both featured René Auberjonois. He performed in the films Rio Lobo (1970), The Omega Man (1971, with Anthony Zerbe and Brian Tochi), The Cowboys (1972), and Sudden Death (1977), and served as producer for the comedy Muroh the Surf (1975) and as associate producer for The Great Monkey Rip-Off (1979).
In the 1980s he was hired as stunt coordinator for the television series Bring 'Em Back Alive (1982-1983, starring Clyde Kusatsu) and The Wizard (1986-1987, starring David Rappaport). He was also involved in Porky's Revenge (1985, with Wyatt Knight and Nancy Parsons), Beverly Hills Brats (1989, with Whoopi Goldberg), and Blind Fury (1989, starring Terry O'Quinn). Courtney also appeared in Pet Sematary (1989, with Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Kavi Raz, Donna Garrett, and Robert Herron).
Among the last productions he appeared in are The Rookie (1990, with Marco Rodriguez and Tony Plana), Alligator II: The Mutation (1991, with Richard Lynch and Brock Peters), and Mom and Dad Save the World (1992, with Terri Garr, Wallace Shawn, Chuck Borden, George Colucci, B.J. Davis, Chris Doyle, Gene LeBell, Tom Morga, Dennis Madalone, and Lincoln Simonds).
Courtney committed suicide, after suffering a series of strokes, in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on 19 January 2000 at the age of 69. [2] He was survived by his wife, Geraldine Courtney, his children Dustin and Elizabeth, his stepchildren Kim and Lincoln, and his sister Connie.