Charles Durning

[PegLeg45]

I saw this Christmas Eve, but got sidetracked from posting it then. He's another WWII hero who went on to entertain America with a great career in acting.
He was a favorite character actor of mine.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Durning.

Charles Durning Dead: Beloved Character Actor Dies At 89


LOS ANGELES -- Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge.

His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in "Tootsie."

Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing.

He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. "They're going to carry me out, if I go," he said.

Durning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan.

"Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day," said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory, released Tuesday by Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

"He loved that holiday and played Santa Claus many times in films and TV shows," Gregory said. "Charlie lived the spirit of Christmas each and every day of his life. He taught me to believe that nothing was impossible. He brought joy and a smile to everyone's life."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/25/charles-durning-dead-dies_n_2362130.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2012/12/25/charles-durning-dies-actor/1790203/

A true American Hero, actor Charles Durning, died yesterday, Dec 24, at the age of 89. Durning, who became one of Hollywood's top character actors in films like "The Sting," "Tootsie," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Dog Day Afternoon" and "O Brother Where Art Thou?," enlisted in the US Army during WWII and served with the 398th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Army Support Troops and 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery.

He was in the first wave of troops to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day and his unit’s lone survivor of a machine-gun ambush, was shot in the hip a few days later and was wounded by a German landmine on June 15. After a brief recovery he was at the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded again by a bayonet and was the only member of his patrol who survived the Battle. Durning was also one of he few to survive the Dec 16 Malmedy Massacre. During his time in service, he was awarded a Silver Star for valor and three Purple Hearts and spent months in hospitals being treated for physical and psychological trauma.

Durning's father was a wounded veteran who died when Charles was 12 due to the effects of mustard gas exposure in WWI. His mother, Louise, worked as a laundress at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

We thank and honor him for his service and thank him for the entertainment he has provided to us.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-charles-durning-dies-appreciation-20121229,0,4576341.story