Aussie lands U.S. soap role
By Garry Shelley, TV Week, 1991	Home   Cette page en Français

Chard Hayward, who endeared himself to Australian TV viewers as Dudley Butterfield in Number 96, has won a role in the American soap Santa Barbara. Now settled in Burbank, California, with his second wife, Cynthia, Chard left Australia in the Seventies to help produce That's Incredible and stayed in the U.S..

Now, as well as a lot of acting work, he has American business interests which allow him to travel internationally. "There's no great trappings of success," he says, "but we have a nice house and I drive a Cadillac."

TV Week caught up with Chard during a fleeting visit to Australia. "It's an easy lifestyle in California," he says, "and once you've lived there it's hard to contemplate living anywhere else. It's a fairly stress-free existence."

Recently he completed a role in Santa Barbara, playing a nightclub singer, Richard Sedgewick, a friend of the principal character, C.C. Capwell, played by Jed Allan.

Chard says : "I was a bit nervous when I realized how big the role was, but then I thought how much it could help my acting career."

Before his character dies, Chard warbles standards such as Send the Clowns and The Way You Look Tonight.

Australian viewers won't be seeing Chard in Santa Barbara for quite a long time. However, he's pleased with his work and not disappointed at being killed off. "I really do not want to do these shows for 50 weeks a year. I need to have the space to pursue my other interests," he says.