Roger Cudney (June 22, 1936 – July 5, 2021) was an American actor, singer, dubbing director, radio and television announcer.
Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudney was known for starring in numerous Mexican films and telenovelas where he portrayed numerous different characters. In 2003, The Wall Street Journal described his career playing ‘unpopular gringos’:
MEXICO CITY — Roger Cudney, a smallish, 66-year-old with a receding hairline and a gleaming smile, may be the most notorious gringo in Mexico. Some Mexicans know him as a plunderer of ancient archaeological treasures. Others remember him as the union-busting manager of a sweatshop. Still others recognize Mr. Cudney as a pathologically nasty Texas ranger or a meddling diplomat.
Mr. Cudney had been all of these things and more in a 30-year acting career in Mexican TV and movies. The Ohio-born Mr. Cudney came to Mexico in the 1960s to play the lead in the musical Show Boat but he soon found a different dramatic calling. “Roger Cudney is the epitome of the bad gringo, a blending of all the worst American stereotypes,” says David Wilt, who compiled the Biographical Dictionary of Mexican Film Performers.
On the [2001] Mexican soap opera, Amigas y rivales (Friends and Rivals), Mr. Cudney was a racist South Texas rancher who caught a couple of illegal Mexican immigrants trespassing on his property, shortly after the World Trade Center attack. “Git off of my land,” the actor snarled, waving a shotgun. Then, in his distinctively accented Spanish, he ad-libbed: “Thousands of Americans have just died in New York. They shouldn’t let anyone enter my country anymore.”
Cudney also had parts in mainstream Hollywood films including a co-starring role opposite Charles Bronson in The Evil That Men Do, Total Recall, Rambo: First Blood Part II, the James Bond film Licence to Kill, Julia, Perdita Durango and Original Sin. He portrayed the part of the United States Ambassador to Mexico in La Dictadura Perfecta.
Cudney was married, with three sons and one daughter.
He died on July 5, 2021, of a heart attack following a car accident.
Selected Filmography
El sabor de la venganza – Eye for an Eye (1971)
Ni solteros, ni casados (1972)
The Revengers (1972) – Sheriff (uncredited)
Slaughter (1972) – Gio
Nevada Smith (1975, TV Movie) – Perkins
Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) – Howard Miller
Lucky Lady (1975) – Hotel Clerk
Swashbuckler (1976) – Guard (uncredited)
El karateca azteca (1976) – Calvin
Mina, Wind of Freedom (1977) – Colonel Young
Los hermanos del viento (1977)
Roots of Blood (1978) – Factory foreman
El recurso del método (1978) – Army captain
Cananea (1978) – Ted Nolan
The Bees (1978) – Blankeley
Border Cop (1980) – Slaughterhouse Foreman
Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980) – Capps
El hombre sin miedo (1980) – Mr. Brown
357 magnum (1981)
Priest of Love (1981)
Krasnye kolokola, film pervyy – Meksika v ogne (1982)
Amityville II: The Possession (1982) – Prosecutor (uncredited)
Showdown at Eagle Gap (1982) – Ames
Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983) – Durand
The Evil That Men Do (1984) – Cannell
Escuela de placer (1984)
El mexicano feo (1984)
Toy Soldiers (1984) – Mr. Green
Hombres de acción (1984)
Perros salvajes (1984)
El traficante II (1984)
El carro de la muerte (1984)
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) – FBI Agent (uncredited)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – Chief Radio Operator (uncredited)
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) – Captain Young
Miracles (1986) – Captain Irvine
On Wings Of Eagles (1986, TV miniseries) – General Jerome O’Malley
La venganza del rojo (1986) – Callahan
Ghost Fever (1986) – TV Announcer
Murieron a la mitad del rio (1987) – Mr. Smith
A Walk on the Moon (1987)
Hot Pursuit (1987) – Bartender
Ratas de la frontera (1987)
Con el odio en la piel (1988)
Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell (1988) – Inaros
Con el niño atravesado (1988) – Banker
Licence to Kill (1989) – Wavekrest Captain
Total Recall (1990) – Agent
El fiscal de hierro 2: La venganza de Ramona (1990)
Los demonios del desierto (1990)
Muerte infernal (1992) – Dr. Emmanuel Richter
The Cisco Kid (1994, TV Movie) – Alcott
Juana la Cubana (1994)
Immortal Combat (1994) – Stan
The Burning Season (1994, TV Movie) – Reporter
Una papa sin catsup (1995)
The Arrival (1996) – JPL Official
Perdita Durango (1997) – Herbert
Henequen (1997) – Ranch foreman
Santitos (1999) – Scott Haines
One Man’s Hero (1999) – Col. Harney
Blind Heat (2001) – Bautista
Original Sin (2001) – Ship’s captain
The Pearl (2001) – Captain
Amigas y rivales (2001, TV Series) – Mr. Jones
King of Texas (2002, TV Movie) – Smithwick
Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2004) – Bill the Bartender
Los pajarracos (2006) – Minuteman
Fast Food Nation (2006) – Terry
Propiedad ajena (2007) – Roger Cassey
Julia (2008) – Frank
La Noche del Pirata (2011) – Paddy O’Brien
Soul Walker (2012) – Donato
Z-Baw (2012) – Great Chancellor (English version, voice)
For Greater Glory (2012) – Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg
Portion (2012) – Art
El fantástico mundo de Juan Orol (2012) – Don Guillermo
Instructions Not Included (2013) – Abogado Julie
Cesar Chavez (2014) – Grower
Cantinflas (2014) – John
La dictadura perfecta (2014) – Embajador de USA
Happy Times (2014) – Dr. Guillermo Murray
Hasta el fin del mundo (2015, Telenovela) – Mike Stone
Hysteria (2016) – Stephen
Diario de un Mirrey (2017) – Don Steven Rice
La rosa de Guadalupe (2018, Episode: “Nuevecitos sin estrenar”) – Gringo
Más sabe el Diablo por viejo (2018) – Stuart Young
El corazón nunca se equivoca (2019, TV Series) – Isarnio Caballero
Mentada de padre (2019) – Williams
External Links
Actor Roger Cudney – Wikipedia
