Charles Durning - #36

Character actor Charles Durning has died. He was number 36 on the list.

Charles Durning, 'king of character actors,' dies at 89

Charles Durning, the two-time Oscar nominee who was dubbed the king of the character actors for his skill in playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope, died Monday at his home in New York City. He was 89.

Durning's longtime agent and friend Judith Moss told The Associated Press that he died Monday of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan.

Although he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen, Durning may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically corrupt governor in 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Many critics marveled that such a heavyset man could be so nimble in the film's show-stopping song-and-dance number, not realizing Durning had been a dance instructor early in his career. Indeed, he had met his first wife, Carol, when both worked at a dance studio.

The year after "Best Little Whorehouse," Durning received another Oscar nomination, for his portrayal of a bumbling Nazi officer in Mel Brooks' "To Be or Not to Be." He was also nominated for a Golden Globe as the harried police lieutenant in 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon."

He won a Golden Globe as best supporting TV actor in 1991 for his portrayal of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in the TV film "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" and a Tony in 1990 as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Durning had begun his career on stage, getting his first big break when theatrical producer Joseph Papp hired him for the New York Shakespeare Festival.

He went on to work regularly, if fairly anonymously, through the 1960s until his breakout role as a small town mayor in the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play "That Championship Season" in 1972.

He quickly made an impression on movie audiences the following year as the crooked cop stalking con men Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the Oscar-winning comedy "The Sting."

Dozens of notable portrayals followed. He was the would-be suitor of Dustin Hoffman, posing as a female soap opera star in "Tootsie;" the infamous seller of frog legs in "The Muppet Movie;" and Chief Brandon in Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy." He played Santa Claus in four different movies made for television and was the pope in the TV film "I Would be Called John: Pope John XXIII."

"I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director," Durning told The Associated Press in 2008, when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Other films included "The Front Page," "The Hindenburg," "Breakheart Pass," "North Dallas Forty," "Starting Over," "Tough Guys," "Home for the Holidays," "Spy Hard" and `O Brother Where Art Thou?"

Durning also did well in television as a featured performer as well as a guest star. He appeared in the short-lived series "The Cop and the Kid" (1975), "Eye to Eye" (1985) and "First Monday" (2002) as well as the four-season "Evening Shade" in the 1990s.

"If I'm not in a part, I drive my wife crazy," he acknowledged during a 1997 interview. "I'll go downstairs to get the mail, and when I come back I'll say, `Any calls for me?"'

Durning's rugged early life provided ample material on which to base his later portrayals. He was born into an Irish family of 10 children in 1923, in Highland Falls, N.Y., a town near West Point. His father was unable to work, having lost a leg and been gassed during World War I, so his mother supported the family by washing the uniforms of West Point cadets.

The younger Durning himself would barely survive World War II.

He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.

In later years, he refused to discuss the military service for which he was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.

"Too many bad memories," he told an interviewer in 1997. "I don't want you to see me crying."

Tragedy also stalked other members of his family. Durning was 12 when his father died, and five of his sisters lost their lives to smallpox and scarlet fever.

A high school counselor told him he had no talent for art, languages or math and should learn office skills. But after seeing "King Kong" and some of James Cagney's films, Durning knew what he wanted to do.

Leaving home at 16, he worked in a munitions factory, on a slag heap and in a barbed-wire factory. When he finally found work as a burlesque theater usher in Buffalo, N.Y., he studied the comedians' routines, and when one of them showed up too drunk to go on one night, he took his place.

He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as heard the audience laughing. He told the AP in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working.

"They're going to carry me out, if I go," he said.

Durning and his first wife had three children before divorcing in 1972. In 1974, he married his high school sweetheart, Mary Ann Amelio.

He is survived by his children, Michele, Douglas and Jeannine. The family planned to have a private family service and burial at Arlington National Cemetery

His filmography:

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1962      The Password Is Courage              American GI       Uncredited

1965      Harvey Middleman, Fireman       Dooley

1969      Stiletto Cop        Uncredited

1970      Hi, Mom!             Superintendent                (as Charles Durnham)

I Walk the Line Hunnicutt           

1971      The Pursuit of Happiness              2nd Guard          

1972      Doomsday Voyage           Jason's First Mate           

Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston

Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues            Murphy               

Sisters   Joseph Larch     

1973      Deadhead Miles                Red Ball Rider   

The Sting             Lt. Wm. Snyder

1974      The Front Page Murphy               

1975      Queen of the Stardust Ballroom                 Alvin "Al" Green               TV Movie

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

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

Breakheart Pass                O'Brien

The Hindenburg                Capt. Pruss         

1976      Harry and Walter Go to New York             Rufus T. Crisp    

1977      Twilight's Last Gleaming                President David Stevens               

The Choirboys   Spermwhale Whalen     

1978      The Fury               Dr. Jim McKeever            

An Enemy of the People                Peter Stockmann             

The Greek Tycoon            Michael Russell

1979      Tilt          Harold 'The Whale' Remmens    

The Muppet Movie         Doc Hopper       

North Dallas Forty            Coach Johnson

Starting Over      Michael Potter

When a Stranger Calls    John Clifford      

1980      Attica    Russell Oswald TV Movie

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Die Laughing      Arnold

The Final Countdown     Senator Samuel Chapman            

1981      Crisis at Central High       Principal Jess Matthews                TV Movie

True Confessions             Jack Amsterdam              

Dark Night of the Scarecrow        Otis P. Hazelrigg                TV Movie

Sharky's Machine             Friscoe

1982      The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas        Governor             Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Tootsie Leslie 'Les' Nichols          

1983      Scarface               Immigration Officer         Voice, Uncredited

Two of a Kind     Charlie

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      Mister Roberts The Captain       

Mass Appeal       Monsignor Thomas Burke            

1985      Stick       Chucky

The Man with One Red Shoe       Ross      

Death of a Salesman       Charley                 TV Movie

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Stand Alone        Louis Thibadeau               

1986      Big Trouble         O'Mara                

Where the River Runs Black         Father O'Reilly  

Tough Guys        Deke Yablonski

Meatballs III: Summer Job            Pete       Uncredited

Solarbabies         The Warden      

1987      The Rosary Murders        Father Ted Nabors          

Happy New Year               Charlie

A Tiger's Tale      Charlie Drumm

Hadley's Rebellion           Sam Crawford   

The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains            Warden Hardy   TV Movie

Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

1988      Cop        Dutch Peltz        

Far North             Bertrum              

Case Closed        Detective Les    

1989      Etoile     Uncle Joshua     

Brenda Starr       Editor Francis I. Livright

Cat Chaser           Jiggs Scully         

Dinner at Eight Dan Packard       TV Movie

1990      Dick Tracy            Chief Brandon   

Fatal Sky              Colonel Clancy  

1991      V.I. Warshawski                Det. Lt. Bobby Mallory  

1993      The Music of Chance       Bill Flower          

When A Stranger Calls Back         John Clifford      

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    Chief     

The Land Before Time IV:

Journey Through the Mists           Archie the Archelon        Voice

Mrs. Santa Claus               Santa Claus        

One Fine Day     Lew       

1997      The Secret Life of Algernon          Norbie Hess       

1998      Shelter Capt. Robert Landis        

Jerry and Tom    Vic         

Hi-Life   Fatty     

Hard Time           Detective Charlie Duffy

2000      Lakeboat              Skippy  

O Brother, Where Art Thou?        Pappy O'Daniel

Very Mean Men                Paddy Mulroney              

The Last Producer            Syd Wolf             

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

Never Look Back               N/A       

2001      L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve               Stuart Steele     

2002      Turn of Faith      Philly Russo       

Mother Ghost    George

Mr. St. Nick         King Nicholas XX              

The Naked Run Congressman Davenport              Short

The Last Man Club           John 'Eagle Eye' Pennell                

Pride & Loyalty Dylan Frier         

2003      Dead Canaries   Jimmy Kerrigan

2004      Death and Texas               Marshall Ledger               

One Last Ride     Mr. Orlick           

A Boyfriend for Christmas             Santa Claus        

2005      River's End          Murray Blythe  

Resurrection: The J.R. Richard Story         Frank McNally  

The L.A. Riot Spectacular               The Lawyer        

Dirty Deeds         Victor Rasdale  

Detective             Max Ernst            TV Movie

Jesus, Mary and Joey      Teddy the Bartender      

2006      Descansos           Innkeeper #2    

Miracle Dogs Too             Capt. Pete Weaver         

Unbeatable Harold          Harold's Father

Local Color          Yammi

Forget About It Eddie O'Brien    

2007      Polycarp               Alexander Hathaway      aka Kinky Killers

2008      Good Dick            Charlie

Deal       Charlie Adler     

The Drum Beats Twice   Satan    

Break     The Wise Man  

iMurders              Dr. Seamus St. Martin   

The Golden Boys              John Bartlett     

A Bunch of Amateurs      Charlie Rosenberg          

2009      Shannon's Rainbow         Floyd    

2010      Three Chris's      Kris Kringle         

Chronicle of Purgatory: The Waiter           Frank 'The Handler' Maro            

An Affirmative Act           Man in the White Suit   

2011      Naked Run          Congressman Davenport             

The Great Fight Judge Frier         

The Life Zone     James Wise        

2012      Rogue Assassin Frank Maro        

2014      Scavenger Killers              Dylan Frier         

2015      Bleeding Hearts                Santa Claus         (final film role)

 

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

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

1992      The Water Engine            Tour Guide          Television movie

1996      Elmo Saves Christmas     Santa Claus         Television special

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