#Charles durning war record plus
#Charles durning war record professional

in Los Angeles's Ahmanson Theater's production of 'On Golden Pond' opposite Julie Harris. In 1980, he won critical acclaim for his performance as Norman Thayer, Jr. Drama Critics Circle Award for his powerful performance in The Westwood Playhouse's 1977 production of David Rabe's 'Streamers'. He played the role of Jack Jameson in Wendy Wasserstein's final play, 'Third' (2005) with Diane Wiest at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. In 2002, he performed in the Tony Randall produced 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' by Bertolt Brecht with Al Pacino. He also appeared in 'Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues' (1972) with Barbara Hershey and John Lithgow.ĭurning'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), Gore Vidal's 'The Best Man' (2000). He appeared in John Frankenheimer's 'I Walk the Line' (1970) starring Gregory Peck, two Brian De Palma movies, 'Hi, Mom!' (1970), credited as Charles Durnham, with Robert De Niro and 'Sisters' (1973). He made his film debut in 1965, playing in 'Harvey Middleman, Fireman'. 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.'ĭuring this period, he segued into television and movies. We would do three plays in Central Park for the summer.

#Charles durning war record plus

You were getting a salary for performance plus a rehearsal salary. 'I had no money at all, and he (Joseph Papp) didn't pay much. 'That time in my life was my best time,' Durning told Pittsburgh's Post Gazette in 2001. Beginning in 1961, he appeared in 35 plays as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival. He attracted the attention of Joseph Papp. Subsequently, he performed in roughly 50 stock company productions and in various off-Broadway plays. While working as an usher in a burlesque joint, he was hired to replace a drunken actor onstage. Referred to as 'the King of Character Actors', Durning began his career in 1951.

#Charles durning war record professional

While pursuing an acting career, Durning, a professional ballroom dancer, taught at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in New York City. ĭurning received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French consul in Los Angeles in April 2008. 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 His badges included the Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Badge with Rifle Bar, and Honorable Service Lapel Pin. He was an honored guest speaker for over a decade at the National Memorial Day Concert televised by PBS every year on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend.ĭurning was paid a special tribute at the National Memorial Day Concert when Taps was sounded in his honor.įor his valor and for the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart Medals. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans.

ĭurning was known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. Durning was discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.

He was wounded by a German “S” Mine on Jat La Mare des Mares, Normandy. He was drafted at age 20 and participated in the Normandy Invasion of France. He is survived by his three children from his first marriage.Ĭharles Durning served in the U.S. He was legally separated from his second wife, Mary Ann (Amelio) Durning, in 2010. In 1959, Durning married his first wife, Carole Doughty.

His mother, Louise (née Leonard 1894–1982), was a laundress at West Point, and his father, James Durning (1883 – c. His three brothers James (Roger) (1915–2000), Clifford (1916–1994),and Gerald Durning (born 1926), and his sister Frances (born 1919) survived to adulthood, but five sisters lost their lives to scarlet fever and smallpox as children. Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the ninth of ten children.