John Quade, a veteran character actor who specialized in playing heavies and appeared in several Clint Eastwood movies, including Every Which Way But Loose and its sequel Any Which Way You Can, has died. He was 71.

Quade died in his sleep of natural causes Sunday at his home in Rosamond, Calif., said his wife, Gwen Saunders. In a more than two-decade career in films and television that began in the late 1960s, Quade played character roles in numerous TV series and in films such as Papillon, The Sting and Eastwoods High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales. He also played Sheriff Biggs in the 1977 TV mini-series Roots.

Everybody remembers him for Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can, Quades wife said Wednesday. He played Chola, the leader of the motorcycle gang. It was more of a comic relief of the movie; they were a bumbling motorcycle gang.

Although Quades name might not be familiar to many moviegoers, his face was.

He was one of the nicest men youd ever want to know, but he looked mean and nasty, his wife said. He looked like he could do murder and mayhem at any moment, but he was a big teddy bear the kind that he just loved little kids, but they were always afraid of him.

His face definitely stands out in a crowd. He had to be careful he didnt overshadow scenes just by the way he looked. The first film he did with Clint Eastwood, Clint hired him for his face and told him afterward that he felt like he got a bonus because John could act.