R.I.P. John Quade (April 1, 1938 – August 9, 2009)

Born John William Saunders in Kansas City, Kansas, young Saunders went on to be dubbed John Quade, a silver screen heavy who appeared in indelible films with Clint Eastwood: High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales. But who could forget his role as Cholla the Black Widow Biker in both of Clint's orangutan flicks (Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can)?

Oddly enough, one of Quade's most memorable lines wasn't in an Eastwood film! In the 1987 biopic La Bamba, which chronicled the life and death of Richie Valens, Quade played a bartender. In his one and only scene, which came opposite actor Esai Morales who plays Valens' stepbrother Bob, Quade shuts off the tv behind the bar, prompting Morales to tell him to put it back on, adding, "That dude's my brother!" In reply Quade quips, "Yeah and I'm your Irish uncle."

Mr. Quade, who passed away at his home in Rosamond, California, is survived by his wife, 6 children and 10 grandchildren, not to mention his mother, 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

To our Irish Uncle John, a fine Irish proverb:

Dá mbeifeá chomh láidir le crann darach, gheobhaidh an bás an ceann is fearr ort.

If you are as strong as an oak tree, death will still vanquish you.