Charles Durning

Charles Durning was an American film, television, and stage actor. He had a very prolific career, appearing in dozens of films, TV series, and plays. He was nominated for several Academy Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.

About

Charles Edward Durning was born on February 28, 1923, in the village of Highland Falls, New York. His father was James Edward Durning, an Irish immigrant. His mother was Louise Leonard Durning, a cleaning lady at the West Point Military Academy. Five of his sisters died during childhood from smallpox and scarlet fever. He had one surviving sisters, named Frances. He had three surviving brothers, named James, Clifford, and Gerald.

In 1943, Durning joined the U. S. Army and fought in World War II. He reached the rank of Private First Class and was discharged in 1946. He earned the Purple Heart Medal, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the World War II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. He also earned the Honorable Service Lapel Pin, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Badge with Rifle Bar.

Theater career

In 1951, Durning worked as an usher in a burlesque theater. One night, the producer hired him to replace an actor who had gotten drunk. That marked the beginning of his acting career. Over the next decade, he appeared in more than 50 off-Broadway plays and stock company productions. He then captured the attention of theatrical producer Joseph Papp. In 1961, he took part in more than 30 plays that were part of the Shakespeare Festival. His first big role on Broadway was in the 1965 musical Drat the Cat.

He then appeared in the plays Indians, The Happy Time, and Pousse Café. In the 1970s, he starred in Knock Knock, In the Boom Boom Room, That Championship Season, Streamers, On Golden Pond, and The au Pair Man. In the 1990s, he appeared in The Gin Game, Inherit the Wind, The Best Man, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. One of his final plays was Third, performed at the Lincoln Center’s Mitzy E. Newhouse Theatre in 2005.