Person Biography:
Born in Sacramento, California, Chelcie was the eldest of three sons to a career Air Force Officer, making him a military "brat". He attended numerous schools across the United States and abroad, graduating from Pemberton Township High School in New Jersey.
Chelcie was an athletic individual, lettering in baseball, football, and basketball. However, acting was not yet on his radar. It wasn't until his senior year at Southwest Texas State University that he took on his first theatre production, playing the title role in William Shakespeare's King Lear. Concurrently, he continued his collegiate baseball career and became the Commander of the AFROTC Corp of Cadets.
After college, Chelcie pursued a career in radio as a disc jockey in Texas, but later left this profession to join the USAF as a Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. He spent a year in Than Son Nhut, Saigon, Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star. Following his military service, he was stationed at the Pentagon before resigning his commission to become an actor.
In 1970, Chelcie enrolled in the MFA program at the Dallas Theatre Center, during which he appeared in his first feature film, Keep My Grave Open. He spent the next four years as a member of the resident acting company of the DTC. In 1975, he relocated to Chicago, making his stage debut in a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ten years later, he was cast opposite Gene Hackman in Hoosiers, marking the beginning of his many major film roles.
