Biography

Don Chastain was an American actor, singer, and screenwriter. He worked in television in Los Angeles and New York and toured the United States and Canada. Chastain's Broadway credits include Parade (1998), 42nd Street (1980), It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (1965), and No Strings (1961). On television, Chastain appeared as Gerald Wiley in the episode "Trial by Rope" of the TV series Colt .45 in 1960. The guest cast also included Pamela Duncan as Dora Lacey, and Lurene Tuttle as Lottie Strong. Other series in which Chastain appeared as a guest star include The Real McCoys, Rhoda, Maude, The Rockford Files, All My Children, Hawaii Five-O, The West Wing, Gunsmoke, Scrubs, and The Big Valley. Chastain also played Jim Thompson in the TV comedy The Debbie Reynolds Show (1969–1970) and Scott Thomas in the TV comedy Hello, Larry (1979–1981). One of Chastain’s final roles on TV was as a “suspect” On the television reality competition show “Murder in Small Town X” in 2001 as character Hayden DeBeck. He was featured for 6 episodes before being “killed” by the show’s fictional killer. On film, he appeared in the role of Lizard in the 1970 film of C.C. and Company and also penned the screenplay for The Mafu Cage (1978). Chastain also wrote several episodes of As the World Turns between 1992 and 1995.