Chip Mayer

Best known as Vance Duke from the ill-fated fifth season of the popular hillbilly sitcom "The Dukes of Hazzard," Christopher Mayer had a shaky entry into the world of television. After landing a couple of decent roles in TV movies, he was cast as cousin Vance, one of the replacement Dukes hired on when the series' established stars, Tom Wopat and John Schneider, left the show over a salary dispute. So while the beloved Bo and Luke Duke took to the NASCAR circuit, their doppelganger cousins, Coy and Vance, took to hightailing around Hazzard County in their place. Ultimately, ratings plummeted and the producers brought back Bo and Luke before the fifth season concluded. While the cousins were ousted without fanfare, Mayer reprised the role via voice work when the duo was included in the animated spin-off, "The Dukes," which lasted two seasons. Next Mayer became a cast member of a new TV drama, "Glitter," which centered on the offices of a popular entertainment magazine. The series proved short-lived, and Mayer moved on to the daytime soap opera "Santa Barbara." Mayer's famed dwindled in the 1990s, though he continued to land TV work and sometimes traded on his "Dukes" fame. In 1998, he landed a guest spot on the popular lifeguard drama "Baywatch," in which he winkingly played a character named Vance.