Wayne Maunder

Wayne Maunder was born in 1937 in Four Falls and grew up with his four siblings in Bangor after moving there at the age of four. He considered Bangor his hometown. His mother’s name was Lydia Maunder. Between 1967 and 1974, Maunder starred in three American television series.

In 1957, Maunder graduated from Bangor High School, where he played football and baseball. He tried to join Major League Baseball but was unsuccessful in tryouts with the Milwaukee Braves, San Francisco Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Following this, Maunder spent a few years in the United States Naval Reserve and participated in a training mission on the aircraft carrier USS Leyte.

Maunder studied English literature and drama at El Camino College Compton Center, formerly known as Compton Junior College in Compton, California. After participating in an amateur play, he was drawn to acting.

In 1961, Maunder moved to Broadway and studied under Stella Adler during the day while working as a waiter at Grand Central Station in the evenings. He performed in stock companies and acted in productions of Hamlet, Othello, and Much Ado About Nothing with the American Shakespeare Company on Long Island.

While performing in “The Knack” at the Red Barn Theater on Long Island in 1965, earning a weekly salary of $100 plus room and board, Maunder signed a contract with a management agency.

Maunder then returned to Los Angeles, where he secured his first screen role under his real name, playing Lt. Col. Custer in the 20th Century Fox production of the same name. For the role of the American Indian Wars icon, he grew a mustache to accompany his long blond hair.

The brief series, which replaced “The Monroes” in its time slot, featured numerous stunts and challenging scenes but was quickly overshadowed by “The Virginian” and “Lost in Space” on CBS. Consequently, it was removed from the ABC schedule by the end of 1967. Maunder was credited as John Wilder on The Monroes but later decided to revert to his real name.

Between Custer and Lancer, Maunder appeared on three ABC series: the pilot episode of “Kung Fu” with David Carradine, twice on “The F.B.I.” with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (in “Time Bomb” (1970) and “The Fatal Showdown” (1972)), and as Don Pierce in the episode “Crossfire” of the police drama “The Rookies” (1973).

In the 1971 20th Century Fox film “The Seven Minutes,” Maunder portrayed attorney Mike Barrett. The film, a drama about a banned book and a rape that caused turmoil in a town, featured costars such as Philip Carey, John Carradine, Jay C. Flippen, Harold J. Stone, and Tom Selleck, and was directed by Russ Meyer.

Following Chase, Maunder appeared in four more guest-starring roles: on NBC’s “Police Story” (twice in 1975), on ABC’s “The Streets of San Francisco” with Karl Malden (1977), as Deputy Burt Campbell in the 1979 episode “Copy-Cat Killings” of Buddy Ebsen’s CBS series “Barnaby Jones,” and as Cavanaugh in the film “Porky’s” (1982).

In August 2018, Luke Perry was cast to portray Maunder in Quentin Tarantino’s film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Maunder lived in the Greater Los Angeles Area. In 1967, he married Lucia Maisto, and their son, Dylan T. Maunder, was born in 1968.

Maunder passed away on November 11, 2018, at the age of 80 in Vermont. He had a history of heart disease.

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