Richard Chaves
# Richard Chaves

Richard John Chaves (born October 9, 1951) is an American character actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Poncho in the science fiction film Predator and as Lt. Colonel Ironhorse in the television series War of the Worlds.

## Early life

Chaves was born in Florida. His father was a United States Marine officer who later worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration. In the early 1970's, Chaves joined the US Army and received infantry training at Fort Polk before serving in the Vietnam War with the 196th Infantry Brigade.

## 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 roles until he gained a role in 1987 as Poncho in the science fiction film Predator. 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 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.

## Personal life

In the late 1990s, Chaves became the target of a stalker. 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 at the premiere of Flags of our Fathers; he was a guest at the Chicagoland Entertainment Collectors Expo in October 2007; he appeared at the Gallifrey One convention in February 2007, and was scheduled to attend again in February 2008. In June 2009 he was present as a guest star at Collectormania, a film and comic convention which was hosted at the Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, UK.

## 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 ... Detective
* 1985 Cease Fire ... Badman
* 1986 Penalty Phase ... Nolan Esherman
* 1987 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues ... Irondog (Sioux Indian)
* 1987 Predator ... 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 ... ??
* 2008 Lost Warrior: Left Behind ... Captain Johansson
* 2009 Dark House ... Officer Jones
* 2016 Beyond the Game ... Captain Johansson

### Television

* 1981 Eight Is Enough "Father Knows Best?" ... U.S. Marine Captain "Bobo"
* 1982 Dallas "The Search" ... Bernie
* 1983 St. Elsewhere "Brothers" ... Tim Potts
* 1983 Hill Street Blues "The Russians Are Coming" ... doctor
* 1987 Miami Vice "Theresa" ... District Attorney Martinez
* 1988 Ohara "They Shoot Witnesses Don't They?" ... Earl Baker
* 1988 War of the Worlds (season 1: all 23 episodes; season 2: "The Second Wave") ... Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse
* 1990 L.A. Law "Bang... Zoom... Zap" ... Carlos Mendez
* 1990 MacGyver "Tough Boys" ... Det. Anthony "Manny" Lopez
* 1990 MacGyver "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 FBI: The Untold Stories "The Blue Fiber" ... Det. Joe Swiski
* 1994 Babylon 5 "The War Prayer" ... Alvares
* 1995 Star Trek: Voyager "Tattoo" ... tribal chief
* 1996 Walker, Texas Ranger "Deadline" ... Special Agent Samuel Mills
* 2001 Days of Our Lives "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
