Peace Be Wtih You, Mr. Durning!
Veteran actor, Charles Durning passed away yesterday, of natural causes in his home in Manhattan, NY. Best known, perhaps for his role as the duplitious governor of Texas in the comedy/musical "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", Mr. Durning also starred in many other movies, such as "Tootsie", where he played an amorous suitor to Dustin Hoffman's Dorothy, a rather bumbling Nazi officer in Mel Brook's "To Be or Not To Be", and a frazzled police lieutenant in "Dog Day Afternoon".
Mr. Durning will be remembered fondly by those of us who enjoyed his wide range of talents in his many movie appearances. Personally, I always felt that he was a kind man with a good sense of humor. I have missed seeing him in movie roles in the past few years, and only wish that he could have made more movies.
Although never a big star, Mr. Durning was an integral character in many supporting roles, and his familiar face was always good to see! Below is a brief video of one of his most memorable roles, the Governor of Texas, where he performed the wonderful sing/dance routine of "Dance a Little Sidestep"!
Thanks for coming by and I hope everyone had a great Christmas!
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Rest in peace, Mr. Durning! Thanks for all the laughs!
He was not only a fine actor but surprisingly light on his feet for such a big guy ...
He will be missed .
I couldn't have told you his name, but I know his face.
He was Mike!
He was a fine actor. I had the pleasure of seeing him on Broadway in "The Gin Game" with Julie Harris. I also loved him in Death of a Salesman. The New York Times , which commented on Durning's more than 200 credited roles,referredto him and actor Jack Klugman , who died the same day, as "extraordinary actors ennobling the ordinary".
Cool that you got to see him on Broadway. If I lived around there I would be going to the shows, too. We have to wait until they bring the production to town and the original stars are never in the traveling shows.
I got to see Broch Peters and Julie Harris in Driving Miss Daisy here in Louisville-- and Topol in Fiddler on the Roof-- Occasionally, we get most of the cast, just not all of it!
Great link! Thanks!!!
We'll all mis him, for sure.
He was one of those wonderful character actors, that could play just about everything... Thanks, grump, good to see you!
Loved him in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou"; another sad loss.
Charles Durning gave much to his country, as an actor and a soldier. We were lucky to have had him in our midst.
From wiki, about his military service. I've read in other sources that he was one of the survivors of Malmedy, but it seems up to question. Many of the veterans of WWII chose to not talk about their experiences.
Durning was wounded by a German S Mine on June 15, 1944 at La Mare des Mares, Normandy. He was transported to the 24th Evacuation Hospital and by June 17 he was in England at the 217th General Hospital. He was severely wounded by shrapnel in the left and right thighs, the right hand, the frontal head region, and the anterior left chest wall. Durning recovered quickly and was determined to be fit for duty on December 6, 1944. He arrived back at the front in time to take part in the Battle of the Bulge, the German counter-offensive through the Ardennes Forest of Belgium and Luxembourg in December 1944.[12][13] Subsequently, Durning was at one point captured by the Germans and reportedly narrowly escaped a massacre of prisoners.[14] (Whether this was the famed Malmedy massacre is a matter of dispute, since no official record of Durning's name associated with the massacre has been found, and Durning himself did not publicly claim to have been there.)
After being wounded again, this time in the chest, Durning was returned to the United States. He remained in Army hospitals until being discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.
He was a great man, in very many ways! I loved him in anything that he played, even when he was playing someone not quite so nice, he was still a good actor!
He deserved every honor given him, I'm sure. What a great man!
Wow.
I mean, just, WOW. He certainly deserved all those medals!
The guy was tough, wasn't he? He was quite a guy.
Yes, he was-- I'll miss seeing him!