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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Biographical note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Related Archival Materials
  • Processing Information note

  • Language of Material: English
    Contributing Institution: Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
    Title: Chuck Waters Papers
    Identifier/Call Number: 0122
    Physical Description: 2.92 Linear Feet (7 boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1965-1998
    Abstract: Chuck Waters is an American stuntman and actor who has worked on more than 130 films, including The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, The Exorcist, the Indiana Jones trilogy, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The collection includes scripts, notes, photographs, stunt reels, articles, and ephemera relating to Waters' career in the stunt industry.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Advance notice required for access. Pepperdine has digital surrogates of Series 3. Photographs, and the last file in Series 2. Career, "Thank You Letters from Actors and Producers." The file name for each of these items is located following the item's title in parentheses. The originals have been retained by Chuck Waters. The rest of the materials are housed in Pepperdine University Special Collections and University Archives. The digital surrogates can be accessed through Pepperdine's Digital Collection: http://pepperdine.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15730coll12.

    Conditions Governing Use

    Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

    Preferred Citation

    [Box/folder# or item name], Chuck Waters Papers, Collection no. 0122, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    The collection was given to Pepperdine University by Chuck Waters on November 25, 2013.

    Biographical note

    Chuck Waters is an American stuntman and actor who has worked on more than 130 films. Waters was born on September 14, 1934, in Libertyville, Illinois and grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. Even as a child, he was known for his adventurous nature: as early as five years old, he could be found climbing on the roof of his house and jumping to a nearby tree to get down. In high school, Waters could often be found scaling fire escapes or hopping trains. At 17, Waters and a friend hitchhiked to California and back, then Waters hitchhiked to New Jersey and back on his own, just for the adventure of it.
    After high school, Waters joined the Marine Corps for a short tour of duty. When he returned from the military, Waters enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship school and spent 10 years in the plumbing business. In 1955, Waters married his first wife, Carol. The couple had four children.
    Waters decided to move to Hollywood in the early 1960s. Shortly after arriving in California, he read an article about stuntmen in the TV Guide. He found the challenges and excitement of a stuntman's career appealing and decided to try and make a name for himself in the stunt industry. Waters eventually connected with well-known stuntman, Paul Stader, who owned a boxing gym in Santa Monica where he trained up and coming stuntmen. Chuck began training with Stader and in 1965, after only 9 months of training, was recommended to take Stader's place on a job as a scuba diver on the TV series Honey West starring Ann Francis.
    In the 1970s, Waters' career took off. He performed stunts in major films such as High Plains Drifter, The Exorcist (crashing through a window and down 75 steps as Jason Miller's stunt double), The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now. In 1973, on the set of the Clint Eastwood film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot , Waters met his second wife, Charlotte Peterson. The two were married in 1975. In the 1980s, Waters began receiving jobs as a stunt coordinator and he has alternated between orchestrating the stunts and performing them ever since. All of the stunts that Waters has performed have been live action stunts and have not been computerized in any way.
    Over the course of his career, Waters has worked with many of the top names in Hollywood, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola and noted 2nd Unit Director Micky Moore. He has worked with actors such as Harrison Ford, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, and Sean Connery. One of his longest working relationships is with actor/director Clint Eastwood, with whom Waters has done 13 films. Additional movies Waters has worked on include: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Flubber, Every Which Way But Loose, Flags of Our Fathers, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
    Waters has been a member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures and Television since 1966 and in 2001, received a Lifetime Member Award.

    Scope and Content

    The collection includes scripts, notes, photographs, stunt reels, articles, and ephemera relating to Waters' career in the stunt industry.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged into three series: 1. Scripts; 2. Career; and 3. Photographs. Files within each series are organized chronologically.

    Related Archival Materials

    Michael D. (Micky) Moore Papers, 0117, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

    Processing Information note

    The collection was arranged and described by Beth McDonald, Pepperdine Special Collections and University Archives Intern, under the supervision of Katie Richardson in December, 2013.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Television scripts
    Motion pictures, American
    Actors and actresses -- United States
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History
    Feature films -- United States
    Screenplays
    Stunt performers
    Photographs
    Lucas, George
    Waters, Chuck
    Spielberg, Steven
    Eastwood, Clint
    Moore, Michael