Floyd Simmons

Floyd "Chunk" Simmons served as a member of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart and Battle Stars. He is a two-time Olympic Bronze Medal Decathlete for the 1948 London Games and the 1952 Helsinki Games. The Gold Medalist both years was fellow American, Bob Mathias. Handsome, dark-haired, athletic Floyd became a contract player at Universal-International where he appeared in a number of small roles in mid-1950's films, becoming friends with fellow contractee, Clint Eastwood. But his best-known role was as Commander William "Bill" Harbison in the 1958 20th-Century Fox musical, "South Pacific," in which he was tenth-billed. He so impressed producers that he was set to play opposite Elizabeth Taylor in "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof," but when the picture changed hands, the new director wanted Paul Newman. His final film appearance on the big screen was in United Artist's 1963 Nathaniel Hawthorne compilation, "Twice-Told Tales," as the ghost of Matthew Maulle. He then switched careers and became an accomplished artist and commercial photographer, settling in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. In February 2004, he was selected along with three other Charlotte natives (including the late Dale Earnhardt) as one of the first inductees in the Greater Charlotte Sports Hall of Fame.