John Quade, R.I.P.
Aug. 18, 2009
My friend John Saunders, whose stage name was Quade, died last week. He was 71.
You may not remember his name, but you will remember his face.
He is best known for his role as an bumbling leader of a biker gang in Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can. The most memorable performers were an orangutan, Clint Eastwood, and John, in that order.
He was an amazingly intelligent man. He got his start in life as a high-tech worker-designer for Jet Propulsion Labs. He worked on some of the equipment that now rests on the moon.
While at a restaurant in Pasadena, he was asked if he had ever done any acting. He said no, but then he started. His unique face was his ticket into films.
He had bit parts in a lot of movies. Clint Eastwood let him be in several of his, including his role as the head of a gang of kidnappers in The Outlaw Josie Wales.
He was extremely well read. His lecture on the common law is on YouTube.
He was raconteur of great skill. He could talk for hours on the history of the arts. Over 25 years ago, I interviewed him on the history of film. If I can locate the recording, I'll post it.
He was a self-taught theologian of considerable insight.
He used Hollywood as a way to make a living. He did not regard it as his calling. He was a committed activist in the widest sense. He did not believe in salvation by politics.
He liked my father-in-law, R. J. Rushdoony. They worked on several projects. Quade could hold his own in discussing matters with him. I don't think a lot of Hollywood actors could have done that, even if they had been given the opportunity.
The public knew him mostly for his films. A character actor's name and face usually fade from people's memories. Quade's face made that less likely.
He will be remembered for the shadows he made on screens. That is more than most of us leave behind. But for those of us who knew him and got to work with him, we remember his intellect and his commitment to a free society, which he regarded as grounded in moral uprightness and faith in God. There were not a lot of Hollywood people like him. If there were, they kept their intellect hidden. He was versatile in a number of fields.
I wish he had produced a YouTube site filled with nothing but his thoughts on the current nonsense.
The Los Angeles Times ran an obituary on his life.
John was fascinating in his non-celebrity side. That's about the only way a celbrity can be interesting. There is not much to being a celebrity.