Most of the time, they’re not headlining movies nor TV shows. They’re not regulars on TMZ, Entertainment Tonight nor other Hollywood hype machines. And they’re not reality show attention whores who are famous for simply being famous…or trying to be famous. What they are is all too frequently the unheralded; the people whose solidly consistent work affects and often delights us. They’re the ones who don’t always get the credit when the credit is due. We aim to change that.

Nick Chinlund / Bruce McGill / J.T. Walsh / Keith David & David Keith / Brion James / Al Leong / Anthony De Longis / Mykelti Williamson / Tony Todd / Kim Coates / CCH Pounder / Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa / Steve James

Lance LeGaultName: William Lance LeGault

Vital Stats:

– Date of Birth: May 2, 1935
– Date of Death: Sseptember 10, 2012
– From: Chicago / Chillicothe, IL
– 6′ 0″ (1.83 m)

IMDB Page

Notable Roles: Col. Decker, Col. Glass, Col. Greene, Col. Stark, Lt. Barnes, Lt. Decker, Gen. Edwards, Gen. Mills, RCMP Inspector Roger McCabe, Flagg, Alamo Joe Rogan.

Career Hiccup(s): Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Why We’re Saluting: Because we just got reminded of how much we saw and liked his work in the 1980s in a flood of TV shows. Because we enjoyed unexpectedly seeing him in a David Gordon Green indie called Prince Avalanche. And for our regret in not even realizing that as much as we enjoyed his gravelly-voiced presence, that that indie was his last performance as he had passed away just last September.

If you grew up in the late ’70s and ’80s, it was virtually impossible to miss Lance LeGault on TV. He was on all the cool shows, from being the main antagonist, Col. Decker, on The A-Team, to tracking a werewolf as Alamo Joe on Werewolf, to recurring spots on Magnum, P.I. as Col. Buck Greene. He had a ton of guest spots on shows like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dynasty, Voyagers!, Airwolf, T.J. Hooker, Automan, Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, Sledge Hammer!, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, The Rockford Files, B.J. and the Bear, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Quantum Leap, Dallas, MacGyver, L.A. Law, Dynasty, Gunsmoke, Land of the Giants and on and on. It’s staggering. And he must have been a friend of The King himself, because he had uncredited roles in no less than four Elvis Presley movies at the beginning of his career: Girls! Girls! Girls!, Kissin’ Cousins, Viva Las Vegas and Roustabout. He even sat in the crowd playing a tambourine during Elvis’ seminal ’68 Comeback Special.

While LeGault was in a ton of TV fare, he did make appearances in films like Kentucky Fried Movie, Coma, Iron Eagle and Stripes as Col. Glass. It’s notable that LeGault, who was adept at playing hardasses, portrayed a number of military and authority figures, particularly colonels. In Prince Avalanche, he portrays a flighty but sage trucker, who stops by to offer bits of wisdom – and plenty of booze – to road workers played by Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch. It’s an unusual role for a guy who’s been virtually everything under the sun in film and TV during a 50-year career.

Mr. LeGault, for your ubiquity in our formative years, on all of our favorite shows, for your badass bass-boosted voice (Glen A. Larson once said that LeGault’s voice was “four octaves lower than God’s”), for your dogged pursuit of Hannibal, B.A., Face and Murdoch, and for working right up until the end, we at CHUD most wholeheartedly salute you.

Lance LeGault Factoids

  • Fathered actress Mary Alice LeGault when he was 52.
  • Was an experienced pilot and often flew his Cessna.
  • Started working for a railroad at 11 and was fired at age 13 because he wasn’t of legal age to work.
  • Once voiced self-guided tour tapes of Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate.