Actor Christopher ‘Chip’ Mayer, who played Vance Duke on The Dukes Of Hazzard TV show, died July 23 in Sherman Oaks. He was 57.

He was a replacement actor in the CBS series due to an actors’ contract dispute. Mayer and Byron Cherry stepped in to replace Tom Wopat and John Schneider at the start of the 1982-83 series. The stars wanted more money.

However, after Hazzards suffered a drop in ratings, CBS recalled the stars and renegotiated their salaries, and Mayer was on the show for 19 episodes only. After that his character was written off.

The dark-haired Mayer went on to reprise his Vance Duke character in a cartoon series called "The Dukes." He also appeared on 134 episodes of "Santa Barbara," another '80s long-running soap opera

He acted in the series Glitter, Weird Science, Silk Stalkings and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In 1988 Mayer starred in the low-budget film Survivor; his other movies included East Meets West, Hard Time, The Hunted and the 1997 Jim Carrey film Liar Liar.

He is survived by three daughters and two grandchildren. He was married thrice- to actresses Teri Copley, Eileen Davidson and Shauna Sullivan.

Chip