![]() ![]() Indeed, he had met his first wife, Carol, when both worked at a dance studio. He brought joy and a smile to everyone's life.” 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. He taught me to believe that nothing was impossible. “Charlie lived the spirit of Christmas each and every day of his life. “He loved that holiday and played Santa Claus many times in films and TV shows,” Gregory said. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day,” said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory, released Tuesday by Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. ![]() “They're going to carry me out, if I go,” he said.ĭurning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan. He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in “Tootsie.” Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day.LOS ANGELES (AP) - Highland Falls native Charles Durning, actor and decorated World War II hero, grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge. Some of Durning’s other best-known roles included his Tony-winning performance as Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, the governor in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, a beleaguered police officer in “Dog Day Afternoon” and as Doc Hopper, the owner of a frog leg restaurant in “The Muppet Movie.”ĭurning’s family, in a statement issued Tuesday, said, “Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. He also attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he trained with Jason Robards, Colleen Dewhurst and others. ![]() He worked odd jobs that ranged from professional boxing to teaching ballroom dancing to ushering in a burlesque house, where he got his start on stage by once filling in for a comic who failed to show up, the actor often recalled. Durning landed at Normandy on D-Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, receiving the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. Photos: Notable people we've lost in 2012īorn in Highland Falls, New York, on February 28, 1923, Durning became an actor relatively late.Īccording to his TV Guide biography, Durning left home at age 16 and later enlisted in the Army. ![]()
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