Chard Hayward
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n and later US-based television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor. In Australia, he was best known for his long-running role of Dudley Butterfield in the 1970s television 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,...
Number 96
Number 96 (TV series)
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
.
Born Roy Hayward in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Hayward had initially pursued a military career and by 19 was commissioned as an officer in the Engineers. He eventually decided the career was not for him, however a legacy of his army years was the nickname Chard - the surname of a famous British Army officer - which he would use as his official stage name throughout his subsequent acting career while refusing to reveal his original first name.
After jobs as an actuary and part-time work in catering, Hayward heard about the National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
, auditioned, and was accepted. However, he left NIDA after only 12 months to join the Pageant Theatre Company, which toured schools throughout New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He eventually worked at both directing and producing plays for the company.
Hayward's role of the high-camp gay caterer and old-movie fan Dudley Butterfield in Number 96 began in late 1973 and quickly became one of the show's most popular and recognised characters. Dudley was involved in a long-running gay relationship with Don Finlayson in the show. Dudley was later revealed as a bisexual and embarked on relationships with women, opened a hairdressing salon and then a disco, briefly became a television star, and then was shot to death in June 1977 after Hayward decided to leave the series.
His career continued steadily with roles in Australian feature films, drama series and miniseries through the 1980s. In the 1990s he acted on US television with a role in soap opera Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
. More recent appearances include 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...
, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
and, in 2007, as a surprise guest for the Number 96
Number 96 (TV series)
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
reunion on Australia's Where Are They Now (TV program).
Chard Hayward has two sons, Adam with his first wife, former Miss Australia
Miss Australia
Miss Australia is the title for the winner of the Miss Australia Quest/Awards, which ran from 1954 until 2000, when the last Miss Australia was named....
Sarah Gray, and Sean with one-time US actor Cynthia Killion.