Charles Durning (1924-2012)

I am saddened to report the passing of actor Charles Durning, who passed away at the age of 89.

As a character actor he worked alongside the likes of Paul Newman, Robert Redford Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Tom Hanks, and George Clooney.

According to reports, he didn't talk about his service during WWII very much. But he was a real American hero. According to Boot Hill: "He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners."

Since the early 1970s, he has acted non-stop on television, in films, and on stage. Among his accolades: a Tony award, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of fame, and the Screen Actor's Guild Lifetime Achieviment Award.

Theatrical Motion Picture Filmography:

1962 The Password is Courage
1965 Harvey Middleman, Fireman
1970 Hi, Mom
1970 I Walk The Line
1971 The Pursuit of Happiness
1972 Dealing
1972 Doomsday's Voyage
1973 Deadhead Miles
1973 Sisters
1973 The Sting
1974 The Front Page
1975 Dog Day Afternoon  (Golden Globe nomination)
1975 Breakheart Pass
1975 The Hindenburg
1976 Harry and Walter Go To New York
1977 Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977 The Choirboys
1978 The Fury
1978 An Enemy of the People
1978 The Greek Tycoon

Home for the Holidays (1995)

1979 Tilt
1979 The Muppet Movie
1979 North Dallas Forty
1979 Starting Over
1979 When A Stranger Calls
1980 Die Laughing
1980 The Final Countdown
1981 True Confessions
1981 Sharkey's Machine
1982 The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas  (Oscar nomination)
1982 Tootsie
1983 Two of A Kind
1983 To Be or Not to Be (Oscar nomination)
1984 Mass Appeal
1985 Stick
1985 The Man With One Red Shoe
1985 Stand Alone
1986 Big Trouble
1986 Where the River Runs Black
1986 Tough Guys
1986 Solarbabies
1987 The Rosary Murders
1987 Happy New Year
1987 A Tiger's Tale
1987 Hadley's Rebellion
1988 Cop
1988 Far North
1990 Dick Tracy
1991 V.I Warshawski
1993 The Music of Chance
1994 The Hudsucker Proxy
1994 IQ
1995 The Grass Harp
1995 Home For The Holidays
1996 Spy Hard
1996 One Fine Day
2000 Oh Brother Where Art Thou
2000 State and Main