Vance Duke won't be down for breakfast! RIP Chris Mayer

[resq302]

Known for his role as Vance Duke (one of the replacement Dukes) on the Dukes of Hazzard.  I had the pleasure of meeting him at Carlisle back around 2003 or something like that.   RIP Chris!



Christopher Mayer passes away
BRBTV has just learned from the fiancee of Christopher "Chip" Mayer that the actor died unexpectedly on Saturday evening. Catherine, whom Mayer was planning to marry next month, had been out of town shooting a new project when she received the news.

"I will be posting something as soon as I can find words, just wanted you to know," she tells us.

Born George Charles Mayer III on February 21, 1954 in New York City, Mayer became well-known as Vance Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard" and T.J. Daniels on "Santa Barbara" and had a slew of other roles through the '90s. He was just coming back into the spotlight this year, doing appearances with his "Dukes" cousin Byron ("Coy") Cherry at the recent Johnny Cash Music Festival and the Hollywood Show in Burbank. He was 57.

BRBTV was thankful for the opportunity to speak with Chris a few weeks back about his work on "The Dukes of Hazzard" as well as "Santa Barbara." He was full of exuberance and a desire to get back out there and talk with fans after a long time under the radar. He talked freely about his faith, and we're thankful to know so surely that he is saved by God's grace. We certainly grieve over the untapped potential of his wonderful, joy-filled attitude -- the future experiences missed for both him and the "Dukes" fans -- and we are praying for comfort for his loved ones.

[Kern Dog]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

[resq302]

Well, considering this was my first "Death" post, and seeing the other "obituary" threads, I figured I would just use what people were familiar with.

[Kern Dog]

Its been long enough now to admit that this guy really got a raw deal when he signed on to be a replacement Duke.
Warner Brothers were in a tight spot. Schneider and Wopat walked out over an issue of product royalties and despite the car being touted as the "Star of the show",the producers knew better. They needed some stand-in guys to hold them over until the contract dispute could be resolved. It has become known that the search for replacements was more about finding attractive copies of Bo and Luke than for finding great actors. Who could argue that the Coy and Vance characters had a reasonable resemblance to the originals? Chip and Byron were told that even if/when Schnieder and Wopat returned, there would still be room for them. Sad for them, during the episode in which Bo and Luke return, a letter arrived for the stand-in Dukes, requesting their help with a sick aunt. They never came back, not even for a guest spot. Oddly, the Coy and Vance episodes featured some of the series most DARING stunts and jumps. Not to pee on the mans grave, but I didn't really care much for the Vance character. Maybe his acting improved over the years in future projects. Byron Cherry seemed believable as Coy though.

[Todd Wilson]

Its been long enough now to admit that this guy really got a raw deal when he signed on to be a replacement Duke.
Warner Brothers were in a tight spot. Schneider and Wopat walked out over an issue of product royalties and despite the car being touted as the "Star of the show",the producers knew better. They needed some stand-in guys to hold them over until the contract dispute could be resolved. It has become known that the search for replacements was more about finding attractive copies of Bo and Luke than for finding great actors. Who could argue that the Coy and Vance characters had a reasonable resemblance to the originals? Chip and Byron were told that even if/when Schnieder and Wopat returned, there would still be room for them. Sad for them, during the episode in which Bo and Luke return, a letter arrived for the stand-in Dukes, requesting their help with a sick aunt. They never came back, not even for a guest spot. Oddly, the Coy and Vance episodes featured some of the series most DARING stunts and jumps. Not to pee on the mans grave, but I didn't really care much for the Vance character. Maybe his acting improved over the years in future projects. Byron Cherry seemed believable as Coy though.

Thanks for that history lesson................


Todd

[stripedelete]

They needed some stand-in guys to hold them over until the contract dispute could be resolved.

Dukes scab? (Won't be down for breakfast)

[Kern Dog]

Dukes SCAB..... THATS funny. I'm a union member, so thats a familiar reference!

[69bronzeT5]

Damn

[moparstuart]

any cause of death      he was pretty young

[Orange_Crush]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

Vance Duke dove headfirst into the shallow end of the pool?
Vance Duke is looking at the grass from the brown side?
Vance Duke is taking up the harp?
Vance Duke has become a root inspector?
Vance Duke has paid his tab at life's bar?
Vance Duke is drinking with Elvis?
Vance Duke is at room temperature?
Vance Duke is no more, he has ceased to be?
Vance Duke has gone into the fertilizer business?
Vance Duke has gone tits up?
Vance Duke has gone to live on a farm in the country where he can run around all day?

[TruckDriver]

More recent picture of both of them

[Richard Cranium]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

Vance Duke dove headfirst into the shallow end of the pool?
Vance Duke is looking at the grass from the brown side?
Vance Duke is taking up the harp?
Vance Duke has become a root inspector?
Vance Duke has paid his tab at life's bar?
Vance Duke is drinking with Elvis?
Vance Duke is at room temperature?
Vance Duke is no more, he has ceased to be?
Vance Duke has gone into the fertilizer business?
Vance Duke has gone tits up?
Vance Duke has gone to live on a farm in the country where he can run around all day?

You can also say that the deceased "has assumed room temperature", but personally, "won't be down for breakfast" has a good ring to it. 

[stripedelete]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

Vance Duke dove headfirst into the shallow end of the pool?
Vance Duke is looking at the grass from the brown side?
Vance Duke is taking up the harp?
Vance Duke has become a root inspector?
Vance Duke has paid his tab at life's bar?
Vance Duke is drinking with Elvis?
Vance Duke is at room temperature?
Vance Duke is no more, he has ceased to be?
Vance Duke has gone into the fertilizer business?
Vance Duke has gone tits up?
Vance Duke has gone to live on a farm in the country where he can run around all day?

You can also say that the deceased "has assumed room temperature", but personally, "won't be down for breakfast" has a good ring to it. 

I'm partial to "won't be down for breakfast".  However, if you must change it please consider,
"Vance Duke is taking the big dirt nap".

[nvrbdn]

 "Vance Duke has quit the breathing habbit" 

[JoeyGowdy]

May he rest in peace, Chris Mayer - Vance Duke

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1334435474

by Byron Cherry on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 1:08am
.
IM SO SAD TO SAY THAT MY BEST FRIEND BUDDY PAL  CHRIS MAYER  VANCE DUKE ' PASSED AWAY SUDDENLY . HE WAS SO SPECIAL TO ME AND MY KIDS AND FAMILY. HE WILL BE SO MISSED AND I PRAY THAT WE ALL JUST REMEMBER HIM FOR ALL THAT HE DID TO PUT A SMILE ON OUR FACE. HE WAS SOMEBODY I COULD CALL ANY TIME DAY OR NIGHT AND HE WOULD MAKE ME FEEL BETTER AND A GOOD LAUGH.I MISS HIM SO MUCH AS I DO MY OWN SON.LOVE YA VANCE ,ME,.COY

http://www.facebook.com/notes/byron-cherry/i-love-you-vance-duke/10150268932749084

[Khyron]

"Vance Duke has quit the breathing habbit" 

I will be using that one :-)

[MoparManJim]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

Well, sense your so sick of it by the way it sounds from your reply. Why don't you help the members come up with a better "routine" then?    

If I didn't know any better, I think someone was jealous that they didn't come up with that catch phrase so that is why they acting the way they do.  



RIP Chris (Vance)   


(for a better routine)

"Won't be waking up anytime soon"
"Won't be joining us in life no longer" 
"Is taking a long nap, real long" 

[Mike DC]

                 
It's unfortunate.  Not a big shock though, he was struggling the last few years with personal stuff.  


Schneider & Wopat had a habit of improvising/reworking their dialogue lines of the DOH scripts to make it sound a bit more believable.  Cherry & Meyer basically read everything as it was written because they didn't have enough support from WB to risk causing any trouble.  That is a big reason for the wooden feel of the temporary cousins.  

---------------------------------------


I may be alone in this but I actually would have liked to see Vance and/or Coy to have returned.  Maybe just like one or two more times before the TV series ended.  

Not because I liked the characters, but because it would have reduced the "alternate universe" feel to the Vance & Coy episodes.  Just seeing a few more minutes of the temporary cousins onscreen with Bo & Luke would have made the V/C episodes feel less like a Saturday Night Live parody or something.

[Tilar]

Please stop with the "Won't be down for breakfast" routine. There are far more original titles you can think of aren't there?

Honestly people.. in this short life what the hell makes any difference what the topic title says?

[MoparManJim]

I may be alone in this but I actually would have liked to see Vance and/or Coy to have returned.  Maybe just like one or two more times before the TV series ended.  

Not because I liked the characters, but because it would have reduced the "alternate universe" feel to the Vance & Coy episodes.  Just seeing a few more minutes of the temporary cousins onscreen with Bo & Luke would have made the V/C episodes feel less like a Saturday Night Live parody or something.

Mike, your not alone man.

[Brock Lee]

I always thought the replacements were a smack in the face to Wopat and Schneider. An attempted statement by WB producers that the show didn't need them, or even "good" actors to survive (and that the real star was the car). It kind of backfired. The car kept a large audience, but the whole dynamic changed for the worse, which sent many fans off looking for alternatives. Reading period interviews that seems to be confirmed.

Nonetheless, it is sad those guys got caught up in that. They were hated until a couple years ago when they started hanging out at various Dookie conventions. At least he had a chance to feel accepted and appreciated before he died.

[Mike DC]

  
Wopat & Schneider weren't too broken up about it.  John Schneider actually recommended Byron Cherry if they were gonna look for somebody that physically resembled him.  I think W&S felt vindicated by how much the show's rating tanked as soon as they left so there probably wasn't a big amount of animosity between them and their replacements.  Wopat has been known to make wisecracks about V&C but he's got an attitude about a lot of things.

There were cast member strikes & substitutions throughout the series, so W&S probably expected Warner Bros to temporarily replace them as soon as they went on strike.  And nobody originally expected W&S's strike to last so long.  It used to take a good 2-3 weeks to shoot an episode on that show, which is plenty of time to hash out a contract deal.  So when the strike began I doubt anyone expected that Bo & Luke would actually be AWOL for very many episodes before it got resolved.



Warner Bros has been repeating the same old mistake with DOH for decades - they always assume that as long as they have the flying car and a hot girl in the shorts then they don't need to invest $10 worth of effort into anything else about it.   It wasn't enough in the Coy & Vance era.  It wasn't enough for the 2005 & 2007 remake attempts.  It won't work the next time somebody tries to revive DOH.  

[71ChallengeHer]

This is very sad. Shelby and I met Chris at Carlsile, many times.  He was very nice guy. It could be a couple years in betwee Chris and Byron's apperances and he never forgot us or our names. One year they even babysat Shelby because she wanted to hang out with them. RIP,  Chris. You will be missed. 

[Cooter]

Dang, sad day for sure..RIP Chris....

[Kern Dog]

Chris turned in his tools.
Chris rode in his last rodeo.
Chris surfed his last wave.
Chris won't be renewing his gym membership.
Chris mowed his last yard.
Chris has joined Boss Hogg and Jessie Duke.

How about those?
My point with the complaint is that the repetitive use of the same phrase was getting old. When you see the same phrase used EVERY time another celebrity passes away, it makes me wonder....WHAT happened to the creativity and originality of us car guys? Have we spent too much time restoring cars to a set standard that we have forgotten how to think for ourselves?  If you were at a party, whom do you think would be more interesting? The writer/artist or the guy that works the cash register at Wal Mart?