Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over half a century and more than 200 films, plays, and TV shows.
Durning had a rough childhood; his father died when he was 12 years old and five of his nine siblings died of smallpox and scarlet fever. He fought in World War II, landing in one of the first waves at Omaha Beach on D-Day and also fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, eventually earning three Purple Hearts. He began acting in the early 1950s, appearing in various off-Broadway plays and in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He made his film debut in 1965 and by the early 1970s was a well-known character actor.
Among his better-known films were The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon, The Muppet Movie, Tootsie, Dick Tracy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He was also a regular on the TV sitcom Evening Shade and had a recurring role on Rescue Me. His performances in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and To Be or Not to Be earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and he won a Tony Award for a 1990 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Selected Filmography:
- Sticky My Fingers...Fleet My Feet (1970): Football player
- Sisters (1973): Joseph Larch
- The Sting (1973): Lt. William Snyder
- The Front Page (1974): Murphy
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975): Det. Sgt. Eugene Moretti
- Breakheart Pass (1975): O'Brien
- The Hindenburg (1975): Capt. Pruss
- Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977): President David Stevens
- The Fury (1978): Dr. Jim McKeever
- An Enemy of the People (1978): Peter Stockmann
- The Muppet Movie (1979): Doc Hopper
- When a Stranger Calls (1979): John Clifford
- The Final Countdown (1980): Sen. Samuel Chapman
- Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981): Otis P. Hazelrigg
- Sharky's Machine (1981): Friscoe
- True Confessions (1981): Jack Amsterdam
- The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982): Governor
- Tootsie (1982): Leslie "Les" Nichols
- To Be or Not to Be (1983): Col. Erhardt
- Two of a Kind (1983): Charlie
- The Man with One Red Shoe (1985): Ross
- Stand Alone (1985): Louis Thibadeau
- Tough Guys (1986): Deke Yablonski
- Solarbabies (1986): The Warden
- Cop (1988): Dutch Peltz
- Brenda Starr (1989): Editor Francis I. Livright
- Cat Chaser (1989): "Jiggs" Scully
- Dick Tracy (1990): Chief Brandon
- The Hudsucker Proxy (1994): Waring Hudsucker
- IQ (1994): Louis Bamberger
- Home for the Holidays (1995): Henry Larson
- Spy Hard (1996): The Director
- Elmo Saves Christmas (1996): Santa Claus
- Mrs. Santa Claus (1996): Santa Claus
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000): Pappy O'Daniel
- State and Main (2000): Mayor George Bailey
- First Monday (2002): Justice Henry Hoskins
- Dirty Deeds (2005): Victor Rasdale
- Evening Shade (1990–94): Dr. Harlan Elldridge
- Everybody Loves Raymond (1998–2002): Father Hubley
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1998): Thomas Finnegan
- Family Guy (1999–2009): Francis Griffin (voice)
- Now and Again (1999–2000): Narrator (voice)
- Rescue Me (2004–11): Michael Gavin
- NCIS (2004): Corporal Ernie Yost
Tropes:
- Typecasting: He played Santa Claus in six different productions (It Nearly Wasn't Christmas, Elmo Saves Christmas, Mrs. Santa Claus, A Boyfriend for Christmas, Three Chris's and Bleeding Hearts). Ironically, he passed away on Christmas Eve.
