Wayne Maunder - R.I.P. (1 Viewer)

[John Karras]

Various sites reporting the death of Custer and Lancer star Wayne Maunder today.

 

[Bob Gu]

Wayne Maunder is another one of those actors and actresses I wish had been in more series. Starred in three network series. Seems he retired from acting long ago.

CUSTER- 1967 with Slim Pickens

LANCER- 1968-70 with Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, and Elizabeth Bauer

CHASE- 1973-74 with Mitchell Ryan and Gary Crosby

Guested in a two-part POLICE STORY with Robert Culp. Ken Swofford, the policeman in the lower right of the picture, died Nov. 1st.

Lead role in THE SEVEN MINUTES with Edy Williams, 1971.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

Which sites are reporting his death? There is not a single item about it in a Google search.

All I see is a few Facebook posts about him supposedly having died of a heart attack at either 81 or 82. Absolutely nothing official.

 

[bmasters9]

Which sites are reporting his death? There is not a single item about it in a Google search.

All I see is a few Facebook posts about him supposedly having died of a heart attack at either 81 or 82. Absolutely nothing official.

Wikipedia has rudimentary info on his death; they list him as passing on on the 11th of this month.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Maunder

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

It is not on there now. I am not saying it is a hoax especially given his age, but there is not as of today a single reliable source for his death. Not even the Google alt.obituaries has mention of it. There needs to be official confirmation, not rumor. Wayne Maunder is/was a fairly well-known actor, especially among television western fans. Any death would certainly be officially reported.

 

[John Karras]

It's being reported on this usually reliable site:
http://westernboothill.blogspot.com/

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

A blog post is not reliable. Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, those are reputable sites. That is usually where the deaths are reported officially of people in show business. There is no death notice from his hometown newspaper in Bangor, Maine. The death rumor started supposedly on Facebook. If he indeed passed away, there is no way his death won't get reported because he was well known.

Furthermore, a lot of sites can't decide what year he was born. Some of them say he was born in 1935, but he graduated from Bangor (Maine) High School in 1957. I seriously doubt he graduated from high school at the age of 21. A copy of the yearbook can be found on Classmates. Either he was held back a couple of years in school, or the birthdate has been wrong on a lot of sources. I strongly suspect the latter. December of 1938 sounds about right for him.

 

[bmasters9]

That Wikipedia entry I mentioned above-- they edited out the date of death.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

A lot of places where I saw it they have since deleted it. There are some posts on Facebook that still have it.

He could be dead, of course, but until I see it on an official website or Facebook page or in a major news outfit like Associated Press or Hollywood Reporter, I will disregard it. I would think with all the rumors Associated Press would be the one to try and get an official word from a publicist or family spokesperson.

About his age: It seems like I read somewhere, I don't know where it was or even if it was on this forum, that when Wayne Maunder took the role of Custer in the show of the same name, he was the same age as the age of Custer when the series began, 28. That would make him born in December of 1938, since the series aired during the 1967-68 season.

 

[bmasters9]

He could be dead, of course, but until I see it on an official website or Facebook page or in a major news outfit like Associated Press or Hollywood Reporter, I will disregard it.

If I read it in something like The New York Times, then I'll believe that he has passed on!

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

Associated Press usually beats every media outlet to the punch. Often the NYT will use reports from AP. I suspect the AP has looked into the rumor or is looking into it.

I have also been checking the Bangor Daily News in Maine. He grew up there though born in Canada, and he considered it his hometown.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

It is now official. It was reported by Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and other sites that Maunder passed at age 80.

One link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...960s-tv-westerns-lancer-custer-was-80-1162237

According to this site, they went and contacted the Vermont Department of Health for official confirmation. That is going beyond the call of duty since the rumors were so rampant. Maunder had a history of heart disease.

 

[John Karras]

A blog post is not reliable. .

In this case it appears as if it was.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

Based on rumor, not official reports. Somebody else did the actual legwork, not the blogger. The blogger simply reported what he or she read on Facebook or other social media. Lots and lots of false stories about deaths of public figures are spread on social media, so I give little credence to them without official confirmation. I am sure the blogger didn't contact the Vermont Department of Health. There was absolutely nothing anywhere other than social media, and I suspect the source of the rumor was James Stacy's fiancee at the time of Stacy's death who I believe deleted the post right after she wrote it since it wasn't officially confirmed. That is not official. Compare that to the reporter from THR and how much digging the reporter had to do to confirm it, since Maunder didn't live in the Los Angeles area. So, my view stands.

 

[Neil Brock]

Thank you John for reporting this in a timely fashion and sorry that you have to be disparaged by people