“Joe said to me once, ‘If you hadn’t been an actor, you would have been a murderer,’” Durning told the Times. Occasional stage roles led him to Joseph Papp, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival, who became his mentor. He worked a number of make-do jobs - cab driver, dance instructor, doorman, dishwasher, telegram deliveryman, bridge painter, tourist guide - all while waiting for a shot at an acting career. “They basically said you have no talent and you couldn’t even buy a dime’s worth of it if it was for sale,” Durning told The New York Times. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts until he was kicked out. He was nominated for Emmys for the TV series “Rescue Me,” “NCIS,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Captains and the Kings” and “Evening Shade,” as well as the specials “Death of a Salesman,” “Attica” and “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”ĭurning was a fan of Jimmy Cagney and after returning from harrowing service in World War Two he tried singing, dancing, and stand-up comedy. Other notable Durning movie roles included a cop in “Dog Day Afternoon,” a man who falls in love with Dustin Hoffman’s cross-dressing character in “Tootsie,” “Dick Tracy,” “Home for the Holidays,” “The Muppet Movie,” “North Dallas Forty” and “O Brother Where Art Thou?” ![]() “Whorehouse” was one of 13 movies Durning made with friend Burt Reynolds, as well as Reynolds’ 1990s TV sitcom “Evening Shade.” ![]() He gained his first substantial acting experience through the New York Shakespeare Festival starting in the early 1960s and won a Tony Award for playing Big Daddy in a 1990 Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”ĭurning did not start amassing film and TV credits until he was almost 40 but went on to appear in more than 100 movies, in addition to scores of TV shows.ĭurning’s first national exposure came playing a crooked policeman who gets conned by Robert Redford in the 1973 movie “The Sting.” He got the role after impressing director George Roy Hill with his work in the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning Broadway play “That Championship Season.”ĭurning had everyday looks - portly, thinning hair and a bulbous nose - and was a casting director’s delight, equally adept at comedy and drama.ĭurning was nominated for supporting-actor Oscars for playing a Nazi in the 1984 Mel Brooks comedy “To Be or Not to Be” and the governor in the musical “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” in 1983. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan confirmed Durning’s death to Reuters.ĭurning also was an accomplished stage actor and once said he preferred doing plays because of the immediacy they offered. REUTERS/Phil McCartenĭurning, who was nominated for nine Emmys for his television work as well as two Academy Awards, died of natural causes at his New York City home on Monday, his agent told People magazine. "There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about.Actor Charles Durning is interviewed at a ceremony where he receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood July 31, 2008. "You make the money in movies and TV so you can do theater. They have to be fearless about how they work and they have to create a life for the audience in 90 minutes and make them believe." Charles Durning "You're out there on a high wire without a net, and that's the way actors operate. "I lack confidence as an actor." Charles Durning "I was born a character actor." Charles Durning Information about the death of Charles Durning Cause of deathĪctor, Dancer, Soldier, Teacher, Voice ActorĪrlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States ![]() Natural Causes caused Charles Durning's death in 2012. Before acting, Durning served in World War II. He is best known for his performances in such films as “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Sting,” “Tootsie,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” and “To Be or Not to Be,” the latter two of which earned him Academy Award nominations. Charles Durning had a net worth of $5 million at the time of his death. Biography - A Short WikiĬharles Durning was an actor who had over 200 credits in movies, television shows, and plays. The actor Charles Durning passed away at age 89, impressive.
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