Charles Durning - Definition and Overview

Charles Durning (born February 28, 1923) is an American actor of stage and screen. An eminent character actor, Durning is known for his versatility and for sometimes outperforming the main actors in his films.

Durning served as a U.S. Army Ranger in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star and three Purple Heart medals. One of his injuries took place in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was one of the few to survive an attack on American POWs. He also participated in the Normandy Invasion. Durning is well-known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. He has said he still suffers from nightmares about his war experiences. After the war, Durning worked various jobs. While working as a ballroom dance instructor (he had some training in classical dance) he was noticed and cast in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He has since performed in some 32 plays, including the Tony Award-winning That Championship Season.

One of Durning's best-known roles is the crooked bunco cop Lieutennant Snyder who doggedly pursues the young con artist Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) in the 1973 classic The Sting. Since then he has amassed over 100 film and TV credits, including Dog Day Afternoon (with Al Pacino), the sci-fi classic The Final Countdown, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In Tootsie he played a suitor to a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman, and worked again with Hoffman in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman. More recently he has played a benevolent father to Holly Hunter in Home for the Holidays (1995), and a savvy southern state governor ("Pappy" O'Daniel) in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

Durning 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.

External links

• Charles Durning (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001164/) at the Internet Movie Database

passed away FThursday or Friday  fEbruary 3/4 2005