Charles Durning Dies At 89

Charles Durning Dies At 89

Charles Durning the famous character actor dies at the age of 89. Famous for his varied performances he himself said “I was born a character actor”, Durning is remembered for his fantastically varied performances, playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope.

However, his best remembered role was that of a corrupt yet amusing governor in the 1982 movie entitled “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”

Charles Durning impressed a lot of people with his role, especially critics because of his extremely precise dance moves. What those people didn't know was that Charles Durning was a dance instructor, meeting his first wife in a dance studio.

Charles Durning was born in 1923 in Highland Falls, New York, he had Irish ancestry and was born into a large family, having no less than 10 brothers.He was also a WW2 veteran, and was part of the first wave of soldiers to land on the beaches of Normandy. He was the only member of his army unit to survive the war, even though he was wounded in the leg, and bayoneted.

Charles Durning was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts for his service but declined to talk about his war experiences because he had "Too many bad memories," and "I don't want you to see me crying."

Posted by Kade Quinn on Wednesday December 26 2012, 4:29 AM EST. Ref: USA Today. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0