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Wikipedia / Wings Hauser

Gerald Dwight "Wings" Hauser (December 12, 1947 – March 15, 2025) was an American actor, screenwriter, film director and musician. A prolific character actor, he appeared in over 100 film and television productions since 1967, and was once called "the biggest star you've never heard of". He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male for his role in Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987). He is the father of actor Cole Hauser.

Early life

Hauser was born in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, the son of Geraldine (née Thienes) and Dwight Hauser, a director and producer. His brother is actor Erich Hauser. The elder Hauser's career was hampered by the Red Scare, and the family moved outside Los Angeles when Hauser was 8 years old, where his father started a small theatre group. He earned his nickname during high school, when he played football as a wing-back.

Hauser made his film debut at the age of 18, when he played a small role in the 1967 war film First to Fight. Although from an acting family, Hauser did not seriously pursue acting at first, and spent most of his twenties working as a folk musician and busker. For a period in the early 1970s, Hauser was homeless, and spent several months living in a vacant garage with his infant daughter Bright.

In 1970, he was a member of the band "Vision of Sunshine" that released a self-titled album on the Avco-Embassy label. In 1975, Hauser released an album for RCA titled Your Love Keeps Me Off the Streets. For this LP, he used the name "Wings Livinryte". Though the album was not a success, it enabled Hauser to move into more stable housing with his daughter. The same year, he appeared in an episode of the television series Cannon, earning his SAG card.

Career

Hauser first attracted notice in December 1977, when as an unknown he was cast to play Greg Foster on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, succeeding Brian Kerwin in the part. Hauser remained with the show until 1981, when he was succeeded by Howard McGillin. He returned to the part nearly thirty years later for three episodes, in 2010.

Hauser had his film breakthrough playing the villainous pimp Ramrod in Vice Squad (1982). Hauser also wrote and performed the film's theme song, "Neon Slime".

In 1983, he wrote the story for the Paramount Pictures box-office hit Uncommon Valor. The film was stories of a childhood friend, Gary Dickerson, who had been to Vietnam. According to Hauser:I saw that [Dickerson] had left something behind in Viet Nam and that triggered the whole thing. And then I became aware of the MIA and the POW situation and said well that will be the excuse to go back to Nam and get the POWs, but what they’re really going back for is their own clarity and their own integrity right? And that’s the story. That’s the whole film.In 1982, Hauser starred as Garrard in Hear No Evil, a television film. In 1987, he was co-starred in the Norman Mailer-directed Tough Guys Don't Dance, earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male.

Hauser appeared in 41 television series, including recurring roles in Beverly Hills, 90210, Murder, She Wrote, and Roseanne, and a cameo as a juror in the season 4 episode "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" of Monk.

In 2010, Hauser appeared in Rubber, a French film directed by Quentin Dupieux.

Personal life and death

Hauser had a daughter from his first marriage to Jane Boltinhouse. From his second marriage to Cass Warner Sperling, daughter of Milton Sperling, he had a son, actor Cole Hauser. According to the younger Hauser, he and his father did not have a relationship when he was a child, but later reconciled and reconnected when he was a teenager.

Hauser later remarried to actress Cali Lili Hauser, with whom he built a marine life and butterfly animal sanctuary.

In the early 1990s, Hauser was in a relationship with actress Linda Blair.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease resulted in declining health for Hauser, who relied on breathing assistance from oxygen tanks in his final years. He died in Santa Monica on March 15, 2025, at the age of 77.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Citations

Sources