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Charles Durning
Durning at the 2008 National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C.
Born	(1923-02-28)February 28, 1923 Highland Falls, New York, U.S.
Died	December 24, 2012(2012-12-24) (aged 89) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–2012
Spouses	Carole Doughty (1959–1972; div.) Mary Ann Amelio (1974–2010)
Children	Michele Durning Douglas Durning Jeanine Durning
Parents	Louise Durning (née Leonard; 1894–1982) James Durning
Relatives	James G. Durning (brother) Clifford John Durning (brother) Frances Durning (sister) Gerald J. Durning (brother) 5 more sisters
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1944–1946
Rank	Private First Class
Unit	398th Infantry Regiment 1st Infantry Division United States Third Army
Awards	Silver Star Bronze Star Purple Heart (3 awards) World War II Victory Medal Legion of Honour – Chevalier

Charles Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He won a Tony award for his portrayal of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1990.

Early life

Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the fourth oldest of ten children. His four brothers James (1915-2000), Clifford (1916-1994), Frances (born 1919) and Gerald Durning (born 1926) survived to adulthood, but his five sisters lost their lives to scarlet fever and smallpox as children. His mother, Louise (née Leonard; 1894–1982), was a laundress at West Point, and his father, James Durning, was an Irish immigrant who gained U.S. citizenship by joining the army. His mother was also of Irish descent. Durning was raised Catholic, and was at one time considering becoming a priest.

He received his first taste of acting as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, NY where he took the place of one of the comedians who showed up too drunk to perform. He recalled years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing.

Military service

Durning served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Drafted at age 21, he was first assigned as a rifleman with the 398th Infantry Regiment, and later served overseas with the 3rd Army Support troops and the 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion. For his valor and the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Heart medals. Additional awards include the World War II Victory Medal.

Durning participated in the Normandy Invasion of France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was among the first troops to land at Omaha Beach. In Episode S03E09 of the program Dinner for Five, which also included Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly, Reynolds spoke about Durning's service career for him, as Durning did not like to talk about it much. Reynolds revealed that Durning was in a group of gliders who overshot their landing zone and that he had to fight alone all the way back to the beach. Reynolds also stated that his own father was there fighting about 15 yards away and that Durning was probably the most decorated veteran (then) still alive from World War II. Some sources state that he was with the 1st Infantry Division at the time, but it is unclear if he served as a rifleman or as a member of one of the division's artillery battalions.

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. By June 17 he was back in England at the 217th General Hospital. Although severely wounded by shrapnel in the left and right thighs, the right hand, the frontal region of the head, 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.

After being wounded again, this time in the chest, Durning was returned to the United States. He remained in Army hospitals to receive treatment for wounds until being discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a Marine veteran in "Call of Silence," an episode of the television series NCIS, first broadcast November 23, 2004. Drawing on his first-hand knowledge of the lingering effects of battle-induced stress, 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. 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.

Durning was known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. He was the chairman one year of the U.S. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans. He was an honored guest speaker at the National Memorial Day Concert for many years, televised by PBS every year on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend.

In April 2008 Durning received the National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French consul in Los Angeles, awarded to those who served with distinction in France. During the ceremony, Durning spoke about his wartime experiences.

Acting career

Durning got his start on the New York stage and continued to return once or twice a decade. Among his most acclaimed performances were the role of Mayor George Sitkowski in the original production of Jason Miller's That Championship Season in 1973. His Tony Award winning performance as Big Daddy in the 1989 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Matthew Harrison Brady to George C. Scott's Henry Drummond in the Tony Randall produced revival of Inherit the Wind in 1997, and Charley in the 1980 revival of Death of a Salesman also starring Dustin Hoffman and Kate Reid .

Durning's breakthrough film performance was in The Sting. In the film, Durning plays a corrupt policeman, Lieutenant Snyder, who polices and hustles professional con artists. He doggedly pursues the young grifter Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), only to become the griftee in the end. By the end of his life, Durning had more than 100 film and television credits, including Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, When A Stranger Calls, Dog Day Afternoon (with Al Pacino), The Final Countdown, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and The Hindenburg. 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 1979's The Muppet Movie. In Tootsie he plays a suitor to a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman. The two actors worked together again in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman. In 1993, Durning guest starred in the Sean Penn-directed music video for "Dance with the One That Brought You" by Shania Twain.

Other film roles include portrayals of the characters of Henry Larson, the benevolent father of Holly Hunter's character in Home for the Holidays (1995); "Pappy" O'Daniel, a cynical governor of Mississippi (a character loosely based on the Texas politician and showman W. Lee O'Daniel) in O Brother, Where Art Thou; and Victor Rasdale in Dirty Deeds. In 1996 he played Lew in the romantic comedy One Fine Day and Santa Claus in the Sesame Street home video "Elmo Saves Christmas".

On TV he played town doctor Harlan Eldridge on the Burt Reynolds sitcom Evening Shade (1990–1994). From 1998-2002, he 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 until the episode Peter's Two Dads where the character died (although he later returned in the episode Family Goy to voice the ghost of Francis).

For his numerous roles on television, Durning 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 for 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. He appeared on the FX television series Rescue Me, playing Mike Gavin, the retired firefighter father of Denis Leary's character.

Durning 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 next to that of one of his idols, James Cagney.

His daughter, Jeanine Durning, is a New York-based modern dance performer and choreographer.

Death

Charles Durning died of unknown causes at his home in Manhattan, New York on December 24, 2012. Durning was 89. In his obituary, the Los Angeles Times called Durning "the king of character actors".

Filmography

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 December 26, 2012.
2. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001164/bio
3. CHARLES DURNING; Healing the Wounds of Normandy
4. http://www.sc-democrat.com/archives/2000/obits/11November/2000_1107.html
7. http://articles.latimes.com/1987-09-15/entertainment/ca-8172_1_pope-john
8. Charles Durning, king of character actors, dies in NYC
9. 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
10. "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 December 26, 2012.
11. epguides.com
12. "Top Ten Celebrity Veterans : Charles Durning". {{cite web}}: Text "http://military.discovery.com" ignored (help)
13. Baron, Scott (2007). "They Also Served: June 6, 1944: The Longest Day". G.I. Jobs website. G.I. Jobs Online. Retrieved January 8, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
14. War Hero on Walk of Fame by Solvej Schou (Associated Press)
15. O'Hare, Kate. 'NCIS' Has Durning Hearing Echoes of War. tv.zap2it.com.
16. VA Voluntary Service – National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans
17. VFrance honors wartime service of Charles Durning
18. "Charles Durning, Oscar-nominated king of the character actors, dies at 89 in NYC". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
19. Associated Press (December 25, 2012). "Charles Durning, king of character actors, dies at 89". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 25, 2012.

External links

• Charles Durning at IMDb
• Charles Durning at the Internet Broadway Database
• Please use a more specific IOBDB template. See the template documentation for available templates.
• Charles Durning at Find A Grave
• McCaslin, John, TownHall.com (cached) "Stars by example"
• Hayes, Richard L., Osprey Publishing. "Hollywood Stars at D-Day"
• Soldiers Online – Army.mil. "Concert on Memorial Day"

Template:ScreenActorsGuildAward LifeAchievement 2000–2019

Template:Persondata

• 1923 births
• 2012 deaths
• Actors from New York
• American film actors
• American military personnel of World War II
• American people of Irish descent
• American stage actors
• American television actors
• Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
• People from Orange County, New York
• People from the Catskills
• Recipients of the Silver Star
• Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal
• Recipients of the Purple Heart medal
• Légion d'honneur recipients
• Tony Award winners
• United States Army soldiers