Charles Durning (born February 28, 1923 in Highland Falls, New York) is an American actor of stage and screen, born to an impoverished Irish American Catholic family, which he left as soon as possible to ease the financial pressure on his mother. An eminent character actor, Durning is known for his versatility and for sometimes outperforming the main actors in his films.
Military service
Durning served as a soldier in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Heart medals, and a Good Conduct Medal. He was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 21, and landed on D Day in the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944. Some sources state he was in the 1st Infantry Division at the time but it is unclear if he was a rifleman or in an artillery unit by 1944.
- On Omaha Beach itself, Pvt. Charles Durning was among the first troops to land. Drafted early in the war, he was first assigned as a rifleman with the 398th Infantry Regiment, but later served overseas with the 3rd Army Support troops and the 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion.
- Durning was wounded by an “S” Mine on June 15, 1944, at Les Mare des Mares. He was transported by the 499th Medical Collection Company 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 thigh, right hand, the frontal region of the head and the interior left chest wall, Durning recovered quickly and was determined to be “fit for duty” on Dec. 6, 1944. Durning was present for the Battle of the Bulge, the German counter-offensive in December 1944. [1]
He was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge, and was one of the few survivors of the infamous Malmedy massacre of American POWs, perpetrated by a battlegroup under Joachim Peiper of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. "He escaped with two others, and returned to find the remainder murdered.[2]
After being wounded in the chest, Durning was repatriated to the United States where he remained in army hospitals, receiving treatment for both physical and psychological wounds, until discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.
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.
Post-war career
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, and in 1990 he won the Tony Award for "Featured Actor in a Play" for his role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. [citation needed]
One of Durning's best-known roles is the bunco cop Lieutenant 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), a savvy southern state governor ("Pappy" O'Daniel) in O Brother, Where Art Thou, and as Victor Rasdale in Dirty Deeds. He also had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996 – 2005) as the Barone family's long-suffering parish priest, Father Hubley.
For his roles on television, Durning has earned four Emmy Awards and 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 can currently be seen on the television show Rescue Me, playing the father of Denis Leary's character.
References
- ^ Baron, Scott, GIJobs.netJune 6, 1944: The Longest Day
- ^ Baron, Scott, GIJobs.netJune 6, 1944: The Longest Day
See also:
- O'Hare, Kate, Zapit.com. 'NCIS' Has Durning Hearing Echoes of War.
- O'Hare, Kate, Anniston Star. "Durning plays role close to his heart"
- . 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"