In 1979, he played Doc Hopper, a man who owns a frog leg restaurant and the main antagonist in The Muppet Movie. (LOS ANGELES TIMES) Charles Durning, a Tony Award-winning actor whose prolific work in films and television included supporting roles in the classic comedy "Tootsie" and the TV sitcom. He is not credited for being in Star Wars at IMDB. But interestingly, in the detailed Wikipedia discussion of Malmady, they conclude that Durning was not a part of the event. After all, few PFCs who earn the Silver Star remain as PFCs for long. Charles Durning's first job in the entertainment field was as an usher at a burlesque house. Before jumping into your new job all gung-ho, you would do yourself a great disservice if you didn't do your research. But second, last year I met with Gavan Daws who wrote the definitive book on Japanese Prisoners of War. Browse 1,069 charles durning stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Steve Karras - who wrote the web2carz article - joined the discussion and provided additional data from his research. On D-Day, you took part in the invasion at Omaha Beach, landing early in the day with a battalion of Rangers, alongside the First Infantry Division. Durning was paid a special tribute at the May 26, 2013, National Memorial Day Concert when "Taps" was sounded in his honor. Well I should maybe have taken part earlier to this discussion. The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the Waffen-SS on 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945). He also received Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 and To Be or Not to Be in 1983. There is a significant question as to who he served with upon returning to the Continent. He also points out that During's records only mention Silver Star, not Silever Star Medal. Zskok (1994) Smrt Waringa Hudsuckera ( Charles Durning) byla inspirovna skutenou udlost ze dne 3. nora 1975, kdy obchodnk Eli M. Black rozbil kufkem okno sv kancele ve 44. pate Newyorkskho mrakodrapu Pan Am Building (nyn MetLife Building) a skoil z nho. The current article, which avoids all discussion of these questions of fact, appears dedicated to burnishing and protecting his image, which seems a POV violation. From there he worked in a variety of plays. Nothing more. Warren Kozak writes in the Wall Street Journal, "The Real Rules of War," Dec. 23, that his father, who survived the Battle of the Bulge, told him that for two weeks . Asteriks (talk) 18:46, 10 August 2008 (UTC). Charles Durning, who overcame poverty, battlefield trauma and nagging self-doubt to become an acclaimed character actor, whether on stage as Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" or in film as. See more ideas about charles durning, charles, movie stars. Unfortunately, Harold Billow, the last known survivor of the WWII POW massacre, died at 99 on May 17, 2022. Cheers.InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 05:27, 5 September 2017 (UTC), There's no reason to display the medals or decorations he is said to have received. Durning's best-known films include The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), True Confessions (1981), Tootsie (1982), Dick Tracy (1990), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? Durning was present for the Battle of the Bulge, the German counter-offensive in December 1944. Can we really exclude that the speach could have writen by a lazzy (or gullible) employee who could simply have made a copy/paste of what he had found on a website without making any check? . He was 89. That place that no one knows about horrifying things we keep secret. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. . He does not appear in the list of survivors. Mr. As pointed out, there is no official record of Mr Durning listed on any roll of a Ranger unit and in my knowledge elements of the Provisional Ranger Force were landed besides the 29th Infantry Division rather than the First Infantry Division. Charles Durning, a second World War hero who became one of Hollywood's top character actors in films like The Sting, Tootsie and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, has died, a New York City. Unless there is a source that indicates Mr. Durning has a disorder, suggesting he has one simply because he admits to nightmares is false and misleading. Born: 28-Feb-1923 Birthplace: Highland Falls, NY Died: 24-Dec-2012 Location of death: New York City Cause of death: unspecified. Again, Charles Durning is nowhere to be found among these men. Where the River Runs Black. Durning was reassigned to the 398th Infantry Regiment with the 100th Infantry Division, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Durning was a boxer, ice-cream seller and dance instructor before establishing himself as an actor. The net result was a commercial that was okay. Other men could probably have the same luck. A Tiger's Tale. television commercial for the Kerry campaign, Obama commercial that I discussed a few weeks ago. "There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about," he told Parade. Earlier in the discussion somebody (rightfully) pointed out General Reynold's sentence "Few of these accounts are based on fact, and most are embellished and inaccurate". There tends to be a correlation between the quality of character actors and how big of a character they are themselves. Here's a key tactic that most job seekers overlook when attending a job or career fair: Stop at every table. First, no one doubts he was at D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, but he also told me he was there at Malmady. the men in the pasture, and the other men who escaped the massacre because for one or other reason they were not at the crossroads when and where they were supposed to be when the massacre occured (I think for instance to a man the artillery observer battalion who had been left in Malmedy because he suddenly fell ill: he escaped the massacre but is not a survivor). 1923-02-28. PFC Durning was one of only a few soldiers to escape and survive the subsequent notorious Malmedy massacre. He was the son of Louise (ne Leonard; 18941982), a laundress at West Point, and James E. Durning (1883 c. The Wikipedia discussion argues that because there is no documentation, and more importantly, because so many accounts of what happened at Malmady are embellished and inaccurate, that he should not be cited as a survivor of the incident. He appeared on the FX television series Rescue Me, playing Mike Gavin, the retired firefighter father of Denis Leary's character. Also, we got Paul Newman to do the voiceover which was fun I directed him over the phone but he did his performance at the end of a recording session for the animated feature, Cars, and he was very old by then so most people didnt even recognize his voice (which was a lesson to me in voice talent). Durning was temporarily assigned to the Special Services (entertaining troops) before shipping home with the 398th Regiment in January, 1946. [3][17], On December 27, 2012, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights to honor him. Tough Guys. I have known of Charles Durning as an accomplished actor for many years. Set the record straight and, once you have, we can revise it here. Captured during the Battle of the Bulge, Durning, was one of the few survivors of the Malmedy massacre when German troops opened fire on dozens of American prisoners. Charles is related to William Pershing Durning and Jeff M Durning as well as 1 additional person. But simply because I am interested in the Malmedy massacre for several years, which means I have spend much time on the question and read a lot of books. If such a trivial thing deserves mention (which IMO it doesn't), then you would need to provide a reference that someone else is the 2nd most decorated soldier of WWII. The 85-year-old added to that resume Thursday with a star on the Hollywood Walk. A few additional points. By June 17 he was back in England at the 217th General Hospital. He interviewed over 200 surviving P.O.W.s. Charles Durning was born on 1923-02-28. SAG Award nominations will be announced Dec. 20. The inability of anyone, to include his family, to produce these General Orders, or even cite the GO#, must arouse curiosity, to put it mildly. In 2002, he performed in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino, produced by Tony Randall. ", The Charles Durning Collection is held at the Academy Film Archive. The Cat! So when was he a member of Third Army, during or after the war?EnigmaMcmxc (talk) 13:23, 26 December 2012 (UTC), It seems to me we should be able to track down (and then link to) Durning's Silver Star citation, which would provide date, circumstances and probably unit of assignment at the time. Those who did not escape, including medical personnel, quickly surrendered to the SS troopers and after being searched and relieved . He also played the voice of recurring character Francis Griffin, the religious zealot father of Peter in the animated series Family Guy. [18] The Huffington Post compared the two men, calling them "character actor titans".[19]. But I didn't know until last week that Durning was not only a veteran of World War II, but a genuine hero, awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Heart medals, and a Good Conduct Medal. And then you'd do three to six plays every year down on Lafayette Street new plays by new writers: Sam Shepard, David Mamet, David Rabe, John Ford Noonan, Jason Miller.". Charles Durning is the 1,433rd most popular actor (down from 1,265th in 2019), the 2,493rd most popular biography from United States (down from 2,309th in 2019) and the 695th most popular American Actor. Durning's rugged early life provided ample material on which to base his later portrayals. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charles Durning, a World War Two hero who became one of Hollywood's top character actors in films like "The Sting," "Tootsie" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," has. Durning began his career in 1951. were returned to those kinds of units, infantrymen were returned to infantry units. Photograph: NBC via Getty Images. --Lebob-BE (talk) 20:11, 25 February 2009 (UTC), . 4. Stars in Khaki by Wise and Wilderson provides little information. Sheesh. On the other hand I am far from being convinced that the fact this would have been said by the French consul (if it was the case) make it the revealed truth. In conclusion I still have strong doubts about this story and I think that one should check for more reliable sources before writing that Mr. Durning is a Malmedy massacre survivor. He told me he was fond of my father because he was, in his opinion, one of only a handful that he felt was actually telling the truth most of the rest had either intentionally or unintentionally blown their stories up over the years into hugely embellished tales that contradicted each other and played loose with the facts. Whether you want to learn more about other famous veterans, polish up your resume, find veteran job fairs in your area, or connect with employers looking to hire veterans, Military.com can help. [14], Durning died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan on Christmas Eve December 24, 2012, aged 89. He was not a witness at the war crimes trial and he is not mentioned in any of the first person accounts of any of the survivors. For his valor he . Mr. Blacks later book, The Battalion: The Dramatic Story of the 2nd Ranger Battalion goes into more detail about the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Shearonink (talk) 18:54, 10 June 2019 (UTC), North American military history task force, United States military history task force, http://www.historynet.com/magazines/world_war_2/3030591.html, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, http://westlaonline.com/wcnp_article.php?articleid=5, http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-today/25135-they-also-served-celebrities-uniform-ww2.html, http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/04/france_honors_charles_dur.php, http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1401379.php/France_says_Viva_Charles_Durning_actor_and_war_hero, http://www.legiondhonneur.fr/shared/fr/ordresdecorations/fhist.html, http://stephane.delogu.free.fr/hs12-07.pdf, http://m.web2carz.com/article/article.php?articleId=2097, http://news.yahoo.com/durning-king-character-actors-dies-nyc-075353360.html, http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/04_SS/2_WWII/indexes/army/Army-D.html, http://www.arrse.co.uk/military-history-militaria/87046-actor-charles-durning-talks-about-d-day.html, http://nmisscommentor.com/random-firings/charles-durning-obit-in-the-new-york-times/comment-page-1/#comment-126171, http://www.web2carz.com/people/who-you-know/2097/charles-durnings-war-heroism-exaggeration-fabrication, https://web.archive.org/web/20071201183644/http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1%2C1002%2C271%7C91918%7C1%7C10%2C00.html, http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1%2C1002%2C271%7C91918%7C1%7C10%2C00.html, https://web.archive.org/web/20060625095909/http://www.army.mil/soldiers/apr1999/news/index.html, http://www.army.mil/Soldiers/apr1999/news/index.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Charles_Durning&oldid=1084065080, This article has not yet received a rating on the project's, This article has been checked against the following, A news item involving Charles Durning was featured on Wikipedia's, Reading the remarks by the French Consul General (no doubt prepared by a careless researcher using limited references to accomplish the job in a rapid period) only mentions. May he Rest in Peace! In 1972, director George Roy Hill, impressed by Durning's performance in the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season, offered him a role in The Sting (1973). Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the . He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and To Be or Not to Be (1983). A lot of that is released through acting. Durning received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French Consul in Los Angeles in April 2008. before D-Day), it and the Third Army were still in England, not yet having been in combat. the relation of the facts, how things happened. The ceremony took place in Los Angeles and the presenter was Philippe Larrieu, Consul General of France. However, I just recently found out about his heroism during WWII which included being in the first wave on Omaha Beach at Normandy, being one of the few survivors of the Malmedy Massacre and being awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. I've posted on this in the Military History WikiProject in the hope that maybe some better sourcing can be found. Wikipedia says no primary sources and the military record is a primary source. Durning married his second wife, Mary Ann Amelio, in 1974. Then when you read about the increased skepticism these days in the legal system of the value of eye witness accounts of crimes, you do kinda wonder. He noted that 1) It appears Durning did not leave the replacement system till March 44 (well after Malmedy); 2) Durning was nominally assigned to the 159th Inf Regt, then transferred to the 398th Inf Regt when the former was shipped stateside in the Fall of 45; 3)Although he was nominally assigned to those infantry regiments, he actually was on temporary duty with the 20th Special Services Bn (an entertainment unit); and 5) Mr. Karras says he knows for a fact that Arlington has cut a new headstone for Durning which omits the Bronze Star medal and two of his supposed Purple Hearts. The rest of the Wikipedia article on World War II service is, as others have noted here, quite inconsistent. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charles Durning, a World War Two hero who became one of Hollywood's top character actors in films like "The Sting," "Tootsie" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," has. he and the rest of his company were captured and forced to march through a pine forest at Malmedy, the scene of an infamous massacre in which the Germans opened fire on almost 90 prisoners. Below the table, you can find all the information about his birthday. Howell's threads since he came on the old Shooters site before it closed down and he has been a lightning rod from day one. - Are we supposed to believe - as some accounts hold - that after being levied out of the 386th AAA (AW) Bn, after being sent to Normandy as a replacement, after being wounded and after spending five months in a hospital recovering, that Mr. Durning returned back to the very same 386th AAA (AW) Bn he joined in '43? I'd also hope that other identified incorrect entries be removed from the article, such as earning 3 Puprple Hearts (he earned just one); serving with the 1st Division (he did not) and receiving campaign credit for the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Campaign - which, again, he did not); Oldbubblehead's research has proven those elements invalid. To Be or Not to Be. Mr. Steve Karras, among other researchers, has accessed primary sources such as Durnings discharge papers, his medical records, unit personnel rosters and morning reports, Army General Orders, and other records, as well as secondary sources such as unit official histories, to assemble an accurate record of Durnings military experiences. he and the rest of his company were captured and forced to march through a pine forest at Malmedy, the . Durning first got his start in guest appearances in early 1960's TV shows. [10] Additional awards included the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Arrowhead device and two bronze service stars, and the World War II Victory Medal. You were getting a salary for performance plus a rehearsal salary. Charles Durning will be honored for lifetime achievement by the Screen Actors Guild. Durning continued a regular on screen association with Burt Reynolds appearing in several more feature films together and as "Dr. Harlan Elldridge" in the highly popular TV series Evening Shade (1990). Veteran character actor Charles Durning died yesterday in his Manhattan home. Durning does not appear in either the muster reports or morning reports of any of the units involved. Memorability Metrics. Durning was equally entertaining in the Billy Wilder production of The Front Page (1974), he supported screen tough guy Charles Bronson in the suspenseful western Breakheart Pass (1975) and featured as "Spermwhale Whalen" in the story of unorthodox police behavior in The Choirboys (1977).The versatile Durning is equally adept at comedic roles and demonstrated his skills as "Doc Hopper" in The Muppet Movie (1979), a feisty football coach in North Dallas Forty (1979), a highly strung police officer berating maverick cop Burt Reynolds in Sharky's Machine (1981), and a light footed, dancing Governor (alongside Burt Reynolds once more) in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 - December 24, 2012) was an American actor, with appearances in over 200 movies, television shows and plays. Durning's character turns himself in to authorities, insisting that he must be prosecuted for having murdered his buddy during ferocious combat on Iwo Jima six decades earlier. [6][7] Durning was the ninth of ten children. What I know now, was and is still a missed opportunity for us to discuss this event, because like Mr. Durning, my Grandfather, Brigadier General, Norman Cota was an assistant Commander of the 29th. [13] The real truth of the incident only becomes known for certain when the guilt-stricken veteran goes through a cathartic reliving of the battlefield events. He was transported to the 24th Evacuation Hospital. See: The Pursuit of Happiness. And he was one of the few survivors of the infamous Malmedy massacre of American POWs. Although severely wounded by shrapnel in the left and right thighs, the right hand, the frontal region of the head, and the anterior . A report from the 12th Replacement Depot has him in England on December 20th, 1944. Durning's memorable roles included the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the . We would do three plays in Central Park for the summer. Best Answer. Charles Durning served his country with honor and with great personal sacrifice. Durning's unit guarded German POW's in Krippe, Germany until after VE Day, June 23, 1945. They had three children together before divorcing in 1972. Historical Popularity Index (HPI) 44. His birthplace is Highland Falls, New York. Working through Hollywood contacts we heard that veteran character actor Charles Durning was a keen Democrat (even though his wife was a staunch Republican and literally tried to keep him from associating with us). Before I make any changes to his page, I have asked for some clarification from the Wikipedia powers that be. During the German attack, Durning reported that a particularly young soldier charged him, but Durning couldnt bring himself to fire. Actor. Charles Durning Born: 28-Feb - 1923 Birthplace: Highland Falls, NY Died: 24-Dec - 2012 Location of death: New York City Cause of death: unspecified Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Actor Nationality: United States Executive summary: The Muppet Movie Military service: US Army (Ranger, WWII) a former professional boxer and a decorated world war veteran who took part in the d-day invasion at omaha beach, the battle of the bulge and was one of few survivors of the malmedy massacre,. Born in Highland Falls, New York, on February 28, 1923, Durning became an actor relatively late. Other film roles include Henry Larson, the benevolent father of Holly Hunter's character in Home for the Holidays (1995) and Waring Hudsucker in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). The Cat!" Other film credits include Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino; When A Stranger Calls; The Final Countdown; The Hindenburg; Twilight's Last Gleaming with Burt Lancaster; True Confessions with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall.