Charles Durning

Charles Durning
Charles Durning at the 2008 National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C..
Born	Charles Edward Durning February 28, 1923 Highland Falls, New York, U.S.
Died	December 24, 2012 (aged 89) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery Arlington County, Virginia Section 66, Grave 127[1] 38°52′25″N 77°03′51″W / 38.8737°N 77.0641°W
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1945–2012
Spouse(s)	Carole Doughty (1959–1972; div.) Mary Ann (Amelio) Durning (1974–2010; Declaration of Separation, Los Angeles, CA)
Children	Michele Durning Douglas Edward Durning Jeanine Durning
Parent(s)	Louise Durning (née Leonard; 1894–1982) James E. Durning (1883 – c. 1939)[2]
Relatives	James G. Durning (brother) Clifford John Durning (brother) Frances Durning (sister) Gerald J. Durning (brother) 5 more sisters[1]
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Army of the United States
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Private First Class
Awards	9 awards, 2 badges, 1 button

Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor, with appearances in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.^[3] Durning's best-known roles included The Sting (1973) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the comedies The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Tootsie (1982), and To Be or Not to Be (1983).

Early life

Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the ninth of ten children. His three brothers and sister, James (Roger) (1915–2000), Clifford (1916–1994), Frances (born 1919) and Gerald (1926–2000), survived to adulthood but five sisters lost their lives to scarlet fever and smallpox as children.^[1][4] He was the son of Louise (née Leonard; 1894–1982), a laundress at West Point, and James E. Durning (1883 – c. 1939).^[2] His father was an Irish immigrant.^[5][6] and his mother was also of Irish descent.^[7] Durning was raised Catholic.^[8][9]

In 1959, Durning married his first wife, Carole Doughty. They divorced in 1972. A Declaration of Separation was filed in 2010 from his second wife, Mary Ann (Amelio) Durning. He is survived by his three children from his first marriage.

Military service

Charles Durning served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was drafted at age 20 and discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.^[10]

Durning was known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans, including serving as Chairman of the U.S. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans.^[11] He was an honored guest speaker for 17 years at the National Memorial Day Concert televised by PBS every year on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend.

Durning was paid a special tribute at the May 26, 2013 National Memorial Day Concert when Taps was sounded in his honor.

Military awards and decorations

For his valor and the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart Medals.^[12] Additional awards included the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one bronze service star, and the World War II Victory Medal^[13] His badges included the Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Badge with Rifle Bar, and Honorable Service Lapel Pin.^[10]

Durning received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French Consul in Los Angeles in April 2008.

Badges and pins
Combat Infantryman Badge	Expert Badge with Rifle Bar	Honorable Service Lapel Button

Ribbons
Silver Star Bronze Star Purple Heart Good Conduct Medal American Campaign Medal EAME Campaign Medal (2x) World War II Victory Medal Legion of Honour – Chevalier

Acting career

With Maureen Stapleton in the 1975 made-for-television film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (both were nominated for an Emmy Award).

While pursuing an acting career, Durning, a professional ballroom dancer, taught at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in New York City.

Referred to as "the King of Character Actors", Durning began his career in 1951. While working as an usher in a burlesque joint, he was hired to replace a drunken actor on stage. Subsequently, he performed in roughly 50 stock company productions and in various off-Broadway plays, eventually attracting the attention of Joseph Papp, founder of The Public Theater and the New York Shakespeare Festival. Beginning in 1961, he appeared in 35 plays as part of the Shakespeare Festival. "That time in my life was my best time," Durning told Pittsburgh's Post Gazette in 2001. "I had no money at all, and he (Joseph Papp) didn't pay much. You were getting a salary for performance plus a rehearsal salary. We would do three plays in Central Park for the summer. And then you'd do three to six plays every year down on Lafayette Street -- new plays by new writers: Sam Shepard, David Mamet, David Rabe, John Ford Noonan, Jason Miller."

During this period, he segued into television and movies. He made his film debut in 1965, appearing in Harvey Middleman, Fireman. He appeared in John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970) starring Gregory Peck, and three Brian DePalma movies, Hi, Mom! (1970), credited as Charles Durnham, with Robert DeNiro, Sisters (1973) and The Fury (1978). He also appeared in Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972) with Barbara Hershey and John Lithgow.

Durning's performances in Broadway productions include Drat! The Cat! (1965), Pousse-Café (1966), The Happy Time (1968), Indians (1969), That Championship Season (1972), In the Boom Boom Room (1973), The au Pair Man (1973), Knock Knock (1976), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1990), Inherit the Wind (1996), The Gin Game (1997), and The Best Man (2000).

In 2002, he performed in the Tony Randall-produced Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht with Al Pacino. He played the role of Jack Jameson in Wendy Wasserstein's final play, Third (2005), with Dianne Wiest at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre.

Durning won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for his powerful performance in The Westwood Playhouse's 1977 production of David Rabe's Streamers. In 1980, he won critical acclaim for his performance as Norman Thayer, Jr. in Los Angeles's Ahmanson Theater's production of On Golden Pond opposite Julie Harris.

In 1972, director George Roy Hill, impressed by Durning's performance in the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season, offered him a role in The Sting (1973). In the Best Picture-winner, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Durning won distinction as the crooked cop, Lt. Wm. Snyder, who polices and hustles professional con artists. He doggedly pursues the young grifter, Johnny Hooker (Redford), only to become the griftee in the end. Other film credits include Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino; When A Stranger Calls; The Final Countdown; The Hindenburg; Twilight's Last Gleaming with Burt Lancaster; True Confessions with Robert DeNiro. Some television credits include The Connection; Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, the made-for-television musical in which he played the mailman who reaches out to Maureen Stapleton's lonely widow on the dance floor; Attica; PBS's Dancing Bear with Tyne Daly; the PBS production I Would Be Called John as Pope John XXIII; Hallmark Hall of Fame: Casey Stengel, in which Durning played the legendary baseball manager Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel; NBC's mini-series Studs Lonigan with Harry Hamlin and Colleen Dewhurst; The Best Little Girl in the World with Jennifer Jason Leigh. In 1976, he received both an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the television mini-series Captains and the Kings.

In 1979, he played Doc Hopper, a man who owns a frog leg restaurant and the main antagonist in The Muppet Movie. In Tootsie, he played a suitor to Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing lead character. The two actors worked together again in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman.

In 1993, he guest starred in the Sean Penn-directed music video "Dance with the One That Brought You" by Shania Twain.

Other film roles include Henry Larson, the benevolent father of Holly Hunter's character in Home for the Holidays (1995) and Waring Hudsucker in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). He worked with the Coen Brothers again playing "Pappy" O'Daniel, a cynical governor of Mississippi (a character loosely based on the Texas politician and showman W. Lee O'Daniel) in the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).

Prior to appearing in the Burt Reynolds's TV series, Evening Shade, as the town doctor Harlan Eldridge (1990-1994), Durning appeared with Reynolds in five films, beginning with 1979's Starting Over, followed by 1981's Sharky's Machine, 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 1985's Stick and 1999's "Hostage Hotel."

On TV, Durning had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as the Barone family's long-suffering parish priest, Father Hubley. He also played the voice of recurring character Francis Griffin in the animated series Family Guy. He appeared on the FX television series Rescue Me, playing Mike Gavin, the retired firefighter father of Denis Leary's character.

In 2005, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a Marine veteran in "Call of Silence," an episode in the television series NCIS, first broadcast November 23, 2004. Durning's character turns himself in to authorities, insisting that he must be prosecuted for having murdered his buddy during ferocious combat on Iwo Jima six decades earlier.^[14] The real truth of the incident only becomes known for certain when the guilt-stricken veteran goes through a cathartic reliving of the battlefield events.

For his numerous roles on television, he earned nine Emmy Award nominations. He also received Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 and To Be or Not to Be in 1983. He won a Golden Globe in 1990 for his supporting role in the television miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts, having had three previous nominations. That same year, he won a Tony Award for his performance as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He received two Drama Desk Awards for his performances in That Championship Season and Third.

In 1999, Durning was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame on Broadway. He was honored with the Life Achievement Award at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony on January 27, 2008. On July 31, 2008 he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame adjacent to one of his idols, James Cagney.

“There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don’t want anyone to know about,” he told Parade. “There’s terror and repulsion in us, the terrible spot that we don’t talk about. That place that no one knows about — horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting.”

The Charles Durning Collection is held at the Academy Film Archive. Along with films he appeared in, his collection consists mainly of films he admired as well as a small collection of family home movies.^[15]

Death

Durning died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan on December 24, 2012, aged 89^[16][17] and was subsequently buried at Arlington National Cemetery.^[18][19] On December 27, 2012, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights to honor him. The New York Times, which commented on Durning's more than 200 credited roles, referred to him and actor Jack Klugman, who died the same day, as "extraordinary actors ennobling the ordinary".^[20] The Huffington Post compared the two men, calling them "character actor titans".^[21]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Password Is Courage	American GI	Uncredited
1965	Harvey Middleman, Fireman	Dooley
1969	Stiletto	Cop	Uncredited
1970	I Walk the Line	Hunnicutt
	Hi, Mom!	Superintendent	as Charles Durnham
1971	The Pursuit of Happiness	2nd Guard
1972	Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues	Murphy
	Deadhead Miles	Red Ball Rider
	Doomsday Voyage	Jason's First Mate
1973	Sisters	Joseph Larch
	The Sting	Lt. Wm. Snyder
1974	The Front Page	Murphy
1975	Dog Day Afternoon	Det. Sgt. Eugene Moretti	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
	The Hindenburg	Capt. Pruss
	Breakheart Pass	O'Brien
	Queen of the Stardust Ballroom	Alvin "Al" Green	TV movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1976	Harry and Walter Go to New York	Rufus T. Crisp
1977	The Choirboys	Spermwhale Whalen
	Twilight's Last Gleaming	President David Stevens
1978	An Enemy of the People	Peter Stockmann
	The Fury	Dr. Jim McKeever
	The Greek Tycoon	Michael Russell
1979	Starting Over	Michael Potter
	North Dallas Forty	Coach Johnson
	When a Stranger Calls	John Clifford
	The Muppet Movie	Doc Hopper	Doc Hopper is a frog legs restaurant owner
	Tilt	Harold 'The Whale' Remmens
1980	Die Laughing	Arnold
	The Final Countdown	Senator Samuel Chapman
	Attica	Russell Oswald	TV movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1981	Crisis at Central High	Principal Jess Matthews	TV movie
	Dark Night of the Scarecrow	Otis P. Hazelrigg	TV movie
	True Confessions	Jack Amsterdam
	Sharky's Machine	Friscoe
1982	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas	Governor	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Tootsie	Leslie 'Les' Nichols
1983	Two of a Kind	Charlie
	Scarface	Immigration Officer	Uncredited
	To Be or Not to Be	Col. Erhardt	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1984	Mass Appeal	Monsignor Thomas Burke
	Hadley's Rebellion	Sam Crawford
	Mister Roberts	The Captain
1985	Stick	Chucky
	The Man with One Red Shoe	Ross
	Stand Alone	Louis Thibadeau
	Death of a Salesman	Charley	TV movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1986	Where the River Runs Black	Father O'Reilly
	Meatballs III: Summer Job	Pete	Uncredited
	Solarbabies	The Warden
	Big Trouble	O'Mara
	Tough Guys	Deke Yablonski
1987	Happy New Year	Charl
	The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains	Warden Hardy	TV movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
	The Rosary Murders	Father Ted Nabors
1988	Far North	Bertrum
	A Tiger's Tale	Charlie Drumm
	Case Closed	Detective Les
	Cop	Dutch Peltz
1989	Étoile	Uncle Joshua
	Brenda Starr	Editor Francis I. Livright
	Cat Chaser	Jiggs Scully
	Dinner at Eight	Dan Packard	TV movie
1990	Fatal Sky	Colonel Clancy
	Dick Tracy	Chief Brandon
1991	V.I. Warshawski	Det. Lt. Bobby Mallory
1993	When A Stranger Calls Back	John Clifford
	The Music of Chance	Bill Flower
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Waring Hudsucker
	I.Q.	Louis Bamberger
1995	The Last Supper	Reverend Gerald Hutchens
	The Grass Harp	Reverend Buster
	Home for the Holidays	Henry Larson
1996	Spy Hard	The Director
	Recon	N/A
	Mrs. Santa Claus	Santa Claus
	One Fine Day	Lew
	The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists	Archie the Archelon
1997	The Secret Life of Algernon	Norbie Hess
1998	Jerry and Tom	Vic
	Shelter	Capt. Robert Landis
	Hi-Life	Fatty
	Hard Time	Detective Charlie Duffy
2000	Never Look Back	N/A
	Lakeboat	Skippy
	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	Pappy O'Daniel
	The Last Producer	Syd Wolf
	Very Mean Men	Paddy Mulroney
	State and Main	Mayor George Bailey	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2001	Turn of Faith	Philly Russo
	L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve	Stuart Steele
2002	The Last Man Club	John 'Eagle Eye' Pennell
	Pride & Loyalty	Dylan Frier
	Mother Ghost	George
	Mr. St. Nick	King Nicholas XX
2003	Dead Canaries	Jimmy Kerrigan
	One Last Ride	Mr. Orlick
2004	Death and Texas	Marshall Ledger
	A Boyfriend for Christmas	Santa Claus
2005	Resurrection: The J.R. Richard Story	Frank McNally
	River's End	Murray Blythe
	Dirty Deeds	Victor Rasdale
	The L.A. Riot Spectacular	The Lawyer
	Miracle Dogs Too	Captain Pete
2006	Forget About It	Eddie O'Brien
	Local Color	Yammi
	Jesus, Mary and Joey	Teddy the Bartender
	Unbeatable Harold	Harold's Father
	Descansos	Innkeeper #2
	The Naked Run	Congressman Davenport
2007	Chronicle of Purgatory: The Waiter	Frank 'The Handler' Maro
	Polycarp	Alexander Hathaway	aka Kinky Killers
2008	Deal	Charlie Adler
	Good Dick	Charlie
	The Golden Boys	John Bartlett
	The Drum Beats Twice	Satan
	iMurders	Dr. Seamus St. Martin
2009	A Bunch of Amateurs	Charlie Rosenberg
	Shannon's Rainbow	Floyd

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Another World	Gil McGowan (#1)	Unknown episodes
1973	All in the Family	Detective	Episode: "Gloria the Victim"
1975–1976	The Cop and The Kid	Officer Frank Murphy	13 episodes
1975	Barnaby Jones	Don Corcoran	Episode: "The Deadly Conspiracy: Part 2"
1976	Captains and the Kings	Ed Healey	3 episodes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1981	Great Performances	McMahon	Episode: "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories"
1982	American Playhouse	Retired Man	Episode: "Working"
1985	Amazing Stories	Assistant to the Boss	Episode: "Guilt Trip"
1985	Tall Tales & Legends	Uncle Doffue	Episode: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
1986	Amazing Stories	Earl	Episode: "You Gotta Believe Me"
1990–1994	Evening Shade	Dr. Harlan Elldridge	98 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1991–92)
1990	The Kennedys of Massachusetts	John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald	3 episodes
1997	Orleans	Frank Vitelli	3 episodes
1997	Early Edition	Psychiatrist	Episode: "A Regular Joe"
1998	Homicide: Life on the Street	Thomas Finnegan	Episode: "Finnegan's Wake" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
1998	Cybil	A.J. Sheridan	2 episodes
1998–2002	Everybody Loves Raymond	Father Hubley	6 episodes
1998–2000	The Practice	Stephen Donnell	2 episodes
1999–2009	Family Guy	Francis Griffin	5 episodes
1999–2000	Now and Again	Narrator	20 episodes
2000	The Hoop Life	Wes Connelly	Episode: "The Second Chance"
2000	Early Edition	Judge Steven Romick	Episode: "Time"
2001	Arli$$	N/A	Episode: "Fielding Offers"
2001	Citizen Baines	Clifford Connelly	Episode: "Three Days in November"
2002	First Monday	Justice Henry Hoskins	13 episodes
2003	Touched by an Angel	Father Madden	Episode: "The Root of All Evil"
2004–2011	Rescue Me	Michael Gavin	27 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2004	NCIS	Corporal Ernie Yost	Episode: "Call of Silence" Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2006	Everwood	Eugene Brown	2 episodes
2007	Monk	Hank Johansen	Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital"
2010	No Clean Break	The Wise Man	Unsold TV pilot

Narrations

• Normandy: The Great Crusade Discovery Channel Director-Christopher Koch - English (1994)

References

1. Thomas, Bob (December 24, 2012). "Charles Durning Obituary". Los Angeles: AP via Legacy.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
2. Cf. a Ancestry.com family tree search. The New York Times obituary, published December 26, 2012, writes that Charles' father died when he was 16, placing his death between Feb 28, 1939 to Feb 27, 1940. A more exact reference is needed.
3. Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "In real life and on the screen, he played countless roles" The Washington Post, p. B4
4. Biography for Charles Durning at the Internet Movie Database
5. CHARLES DURNING; Healing the Wounds of Normandy
6. "Sullivan County Democrat: Obituaries for November 7, 2000". Sc-democrat.com. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
7. The mother book: a compendium of trivia & grandeur concerning mothers ... - Liz Smith - Google Books. Books.google.ca. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
8. "Los Angeles Times: Archives - NO BLEEPS FOR DURNING'S ROLE". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. March 2, 1981. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
9. Michaelson, Judith (September 15, 1987). "Durning Takes On The 'Peasant Pope' For Pbs - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
10. National Personnel Records Center (April 18, 2008). "Letter from NPRC to Charles Durning" (Press release). St. Louis, MO. p. 2.
11. VA Voluntary Service – National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans
12. Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, MND-B PAO, "Military urban legends versus true tales: real life stories prove more interesting", www.Army.mil, retrieved 16-Sep-2011
13. "Speech by Consul General of France Philippe Larrieu". Los Angeles: French Diplomatic Mission to the United States. April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2008. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
14. O'Hare, Kate. 'NCIS' Has Durning Hearing Echoes of War. tv.zap2it.com.
15. "Charles Durning Collection". Academy Film Archive.
16. "Charles Durning". The Daily Telegraph. London. December 26, 2012.
17. "Charles Durning, Oscar-nominated king of the character actors, dies at 89 in NYC". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
18. "WWII Soldier, character actor Charles Durning to be interred at Arlington". United States Army. January 17, 2013.
19. "Charles Durning (1923 - 2012) - Find A Grave Memorial". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
20. Genzlinger, Neil (December 26, 2012). "AN APPRAISAL; Remembering Jack Klugman and Charles Durning". The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
21. "Charles Durning, Jack Klugman Deaths Bring New Appreciation For Character Actor Titans". The Huffington Post. December 25, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.

External links

• Charles Durning at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles Durning at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Charles Durning at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Location of Charles Durning's grave at Find A Grave
• McCaslin, John, TownHall.com (cached) "Stars by example" at the Wayback Machine (archived December 31, 2006)
• Hayes, Richard L., Osprey Publishing. "Hollywood Stars at D-Day"
• Soldiers Online – Army.mil. "Concert on Memorial Day"