Charles Durning

Highest Rated: 100% The Music of Chance (1993)

Lowest Rated: 0% Solarbabies (1986)

Birthday: Feb 28, 1923

Birthplace: Highland Falls, New York, USA

Before he became an actor, Charles Durning, the son of an Army man, continued in his father's footsteps with valor and distinction, earning a silver star and purple heart in World War II. Durning held down several "joe jobs" -- iron worker, elevator operator, cabbie, waiter, and dance instructor -- until turning to acting in the late 1950s. Fresh from the national tour of The Andersonville Trial, Durning began his long association with Joseph Papp in 1962, distinguishing himself in Shakespearean roles. He made his earliest film appearance in Ernest Pintoff's Harvey Middleman, Fireman (1965). Durning's film roles increased in size and importance after his interpretation of a crooked cop in the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973). He went on to appear in several Burt Reynolds films, most memorably as the singing governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). That performance landed him an Oscar nomination, as did his spin on "Concentration Camp" Erhardt in the 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be. In 1975, Durning was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of ulcerated police lieutenant Moretti in the theatrical feature Dog Day Afternoon (1975); he finally won that award 15 years later for his work as "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in the TV miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts. Other notable film roles to his credit include Peter Stockmann in the Steve McQueen-produced An Enemy of the People (1978), Dustin Hoffman's "suitor" in the cross-dressing classic Tootsie (1982) (he later co-starred with Hoffman in the 1984 stage revival of Death of a Salesman), and the foredoomed Waring Hudsucker in the Coen Brothers' Hudsucker Proxy (1994).On television, Durning played Lt. Gil McGowan on the daytime soap Another World, officer Frank Murphy in The Cop and the Kid (1975), Big Ed Healey in Captains and the Kings (1976), Studs' dad in Studs Lonigan (1979), private-eye Oscar Poole in Eye to Eye (1985), the title character in PBS' I Would Be Called John: Pope John XXIII (1987), crooked industrialist Dan Packard (the old Wallace Beery role) in Dinner at Eight (1989), and Dr. Harrlan Eldridge in the Burt Reynolds TV vehicle Evening Shade (1990-1994), an assignment which afforded the far-from-sylph-like Durning his first nude scene.While his television and film career have continued to be prolific, Durning has also continued to earn acclaim for his stage work. In 1990, he won a Tony Award for his performance as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.He continued to work steadily well into his seventies in a variety of projects including Jodie Foster's dysfunctional family comedy/drama Home for the Holidays, the absurd comedy Spy Hard, and Jerry and Tom. At the beginning of the 20th century he reteamed with the Coen Brothers for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and was part of the impressive ensemble in David Mamet's State and Main. He was also part of the original cast of the firefighter drama series Rescue Me. Durning died at age 89 in late December 2012, two months before his 90th birthday.

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	BOX OFFICE	YEAR
25%	The Legend of the Chupacabras (La Leyenda del Chupacabras)	Actor	—	2016
No Score Yet	Scavenger Killers	Actor	—	2013
No Score Yet	Captured Hearts	Actor	—	2013
No Score Yet	The Life Zone	Actor	—	2012
No Score Yet	An Affirmative Act	Actor	—	2011
No Score Yet	The Great Fight	Judge Frier	—	2011
No Score Yet	Naked Run	Actor	—	2011
No Score Yet	The Waiter	Actor	—	2010
No Score Yet	A Bunch of Amateurs	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Break	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Shannon's Rainbow	Floyd	—	2009
28%	Chatham (The Golden Boys)	John Bartlett	—	2009
No Score Yet	According to Dom	Actor	—	2009
No Score Yet	Three Chris's	Actor	—	2009
50%	Good Dick	Charlie	—	2008
No Score Yet	iMurders	Actor	—	2008
3%	Deal	Charlie Adler	—	2008
No Score Yet	Mister Roberts	Actor	—	2008
No Score Yet	Miracle Dogs Too	Capt. Pete	—	2007
No Score Yet	Kinky Killers	Alexander Hathaway	—	2007
No Score Yet	Unbeatable Harold	Harold's Father	—	2007
No Score Yet	Forget About It	Eddie O'Brien	—	2006
No Score Yet	Stephen King's 'Desperation'	Tom Billingsley	—	2006
39%	Local Color	Yammi	—	2006
No Score Yet	Jesus, Mary and Joey	Teddy the Bartender	—	2006
No Score Yet	The Detective	Max Ernst	—	2005
7%	Dirty Deeds	Victor Rasdale	—	2005
38%	The L.A. Riot Spectacular	Steve Lerman	—	2005
No Score Yet	River's End	Murray Blythe	—	2005
No Score Yet	A Very Married Christmas	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	A Boyfriend for Christmas	Santa Claus	—	2004
75%	Death & Texas	Marshall Ledger	—	2004
No Score Yet	One Last Ride	Orlick	—	2003
No Score Yet	American Masters	Actor	—	2003
No Score Yet	Mr. St. Nick	Santa Claus	—	2002
No Score Yet	Mother Ghost	George	—	2002
No Score Yet	Turn of Faith	Philly	—	2002
33%	The Last Producer	Syd Wolf	—	2002
No Score Yet	Pride & Loyalty	Actor	—	2002
No Score Yet	Bleacher Bums	Scorekeeper No. 1	—	2001
No Score Yet	L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve	Stuart Steele	—	2001
No Score Yet	Steve Martini's 'The Judge'	Judge Harlan Radovich	—	2001
78%	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	Pappy O'Daniel	$45.2M	2000
85%	State and Main	Mayor Bailey	$5.8M	2000
83%	Lakeboat	Skippy	—	2000
No Score Yet	The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists	Archie	—	2000
No Score Yet	The Final Hit	Syd Wolf	—	2000
No Score Yet	Hostage Hotel	Charlie Duffy	—	1999
No Score Yet	Not For Ourselves Alone	Actor	—	1999
No Score Yet	Justice	Moe Ryan	—	1999
No Score Yet	The Premonition	Charlie Duffy	—	1999
No Score Yet	Hard Time	Duffy	—	1998
No Score Yet	A Chance of Snow	Earl Palmer	—	1998
83%	Hi-Life	Fatty	—	1998
75%	Jerry and Tom	Vic	—	1998
No Score Yet	The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest for Freedom	Actor	—	1998
No Score Yet	Shelter	Capt. Robert Landis	—	1997
51%	One Fine Day	Lew	—	1996
No Score Yet	Mrs. Santa Claus	Santa	—	1996
50%	The Grass Harp	Reverend Buster	—	1996
8%	Spy Hard	The Director	—	1996
63%	The Last Supper	Rev. Hutchens	—	1996
No Score Yet	Elmo Saves Christmas	Santa	—	1996
63%	Home for the Holidays	Henry Larson	—	1995
60%	The Land Before Time III: The Time of Great Giving	Actor	—	1995
42%	I.Q.	Louis Bamberger	—	1994
60%	The Hudsucker Proxy	Hudsucker	—	1994
100%	The Music of Chance	Bill Flower	—	1993
57%	When a Stranger Calls Back	Clifford	—	1993
No Score Yet	Brenda Starr	Newspaper Editor	—	1992
No Score Yet	Tales from Hollywood	Actor	—	1992
No Score Yet	The Water Engine	Tour Guide	—	1992
21%	V.I. Warshawski	Det. Lt. Bobby Mallory	—	1991
No Score Yet	The Return of Eliot Ness	Roger Finn	—	1991
No Score Yet	The Story Lady	Judge	—	1991
63%	Dick Tracy	Chief Brandon	—	1990
No Score Yet	Dinner at Eight	Dan Packard	—	1989
No Score Yet	Fatal Sky	Colonel Clancy	—	1989
No Score Yet	Prime Target	Mulcahaney	—	1989
40%	Cat Chaser	Jiggs Scully	—	1989
No Score Yet	Dr. Seuss: The Butter Battle Book	Actor	—	1989
No Score Yet	It Nearly Wasn't Christmas	Santa	—	1989
No Score Yet	Étoile (Ballet)	Uncle Joshua	—	1988
13%	Far North	Bertram	—	1988
83%	Cop	Dutch Peltz	—	1988
No Score Yet	A Tiger's Tale	Charlie Drumm	—	1988
No Score Yet	Unholy Matrimony	Samuel Corey	—	1988
No Score Yet	The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains	Warren Hardy	—	1987
No Score Yet	The Rosary Murders	Father Ted Nabors	—	1987
No Score Yet	Happy New Year	Charlie	—	1987
No Score Yet	Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues	Sen. Henry Colton	—	1987
0%	Solarbabies	The Warden	—	1986
57%	Tough Guys	Deke Yablonski	—	1986
60%	Where the River Runs Black	Father O'Reilly	—	1986
17%	Big Trouble	O'Mara	—	1986
No Score Yet	Private Conversations: On the Set of 'Death of a Salesman'	Actor	—	1985
100%	Death of a Salesman	Charley	—	1985
No Score Yet	Stand Alone	Louis Thibadeau	—	1985
47%	The Man with One Red Shoe	Ross	—	1985
38%	Stick	Chucky	—	1985
No Score Yet	Mass Appeal	Monsignor Burke	—	1984
No Score Yet	Hadley's Rebellion	Sam Crawford	—	1984
60%	To Be or Not to Be	Col. Erhardt	—	1983
18%	Two of a Kind	Charlie	—	1983
90%	Tootsie	Les	—	1982
45%	The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas	Governor	—	1982
No Score Yet	Working	Actor	—	1982
86%	Sharky's Machine	Friscoe	—	1981
50%	Dark Night of the Scarecrow	Otis P. Hazelrigg	—	1981
71%	True Confessions	Jack Amsterdam	—	1981
No Score Yet	The Best Little Girl in the World	Frank Powell	—	1981
53%	The Final Countdown	Sen. Chapman	—	1980
No Score Yet	Die Laughing	Arnold	—	1980
No Score Yet	Crisis at Central High	Actor	—	1980
No Score Yet	Attica	Commissioner Russell Oswald	—	1980
83%	Starting Over	Michael Potter	—	1979
41%	When a Stranger Calls	John Clifford	—	1979
84%	North Dallas Forty	Coach Johnson	—	1979
88%	The Muppet Movie	Doc Hopper	—	1979
No Score Yet	Tilt	Harold 'The Whale' Remmens	—	1979
No Score Yet	An Enemy of the People	Peter Stockmann	—	1978
77%	The Fury	Dr. Jim McKeever	—	1978
0%	The Greek Tycoon	Michael	—	1978
44%	The Choirboys	Spermwhale Whalen	—	1977
80%	Twilight's Last Gleaming	President David Stevens	—	1977
50%	Harry and Walter Go to New York	Rufus T. Crisp	—	1976
63%	Breakheart Pass	O'Brien	—	1975
96%	Dog Day Afternoon	N.Y. Detective Moretti	—	1975
80%	Queen of the Stardust Ballroom	Al Green	—	1975
36%	The Hindenburg	Capt. Pruss	—	1975
65%	The Front Page	Murphy	—	1974
94%	The Sting	Lt. William Snyder	—	1973
No Score Yet	The Connection	Actor	—	1973
No Score Yet	Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues	Murphy	—	1972
No Score Yet	Deadhead Miles	Director Red Ball Rider	—	1972
No Score Yet	Doomsday Voyage	Jason's First Mate	—	1972
No Score Yet	The Pursuit of Happiness	2nd Guard	—	1971
No Score Yet	I Walk the Line	Hunnicutt	—	1970
73%	Hi, Mom!	Superintendent	—	1970
No Score Yet	Stiletto	Actor	—	1969

TV

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	YEAR
89%	Rescue Me 2004-2011	Johnny Gavin Sr. Tommy's father Tommy's Dad John Gavin Sr. John Gavin, Sr. Michael Gavin Johnny Gavin, Sr.	2011 2009 2007 2006 2005 2004
No Score Yet	Family Guy 1999	Voice	2009 2007 2005 2001
91%	Monk 2002-2009	Hank Johansen	2007
93%	Everwood 2002-2006	Eugene Brown	2006
No Score Yet	NCIS 2003	Ernie Yost	2004 2003
No Score Yet	Touched by an Angel 1994-2003	Father Madden	2003
No Score Yet	American Masters 1986	Actor	2003 2001
21%	First Monday 2002	Henry Hoskins	2002
No Score Yet	Everybody Loves Raymond 1996-2005	Father Hubley	2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
62%	Arli$$ 1996-2002	Actor	2001
No Score Yet	Citizen Baines 2001	Clifford Connelly	2001
No Score Yet	Early Edition 1996-2000	Judge Romick	2000
No Score Yet	The Practice 1997-2004	Stephen Donnell	2000 1998
91%	Homicide: Life on the Street 1993-1999	Actor	1998
No Score Yet	Evening Shade 1990-1994	Dr. Harlan Elldridge	1994 1993 1992 1991 1990
No Score Yet	American Playhouse 1982-1996	Actor	1982
No Score Yet	All in the Family 1971-1979	Leo Vogel	1973
No Score Yet	The High Chaparral 1967-1971	Hewitt	1970
No Score Yet	Orleans 1997	Frank Vitelli

Quotes from Charles Durning's Characters

Vic:	You had to be insane not to shoot Reagan.

Pappy O'Daniel:

Thank God, your mama died givin' birth. If she'd have seen you, she'd have died of shame.

Sonny:	Kiss me. Kiss me on the lips.
N.Y. Detective Moretti:	What for?!
Sonny:	When I'm getting fucked I like to be kissed.

John Clifford:

[to Tracy, about Curt's murders] After the coroner's investigation the bodies were taken to the mortuary where the undertaker took one look at them and said their bodies couldn't be reconstructed for the burial without six days of steady work. Then he asked what had been the murder weapon, because looking at the mess in front of him he couldn't imagine what had been used. The coroner told him there had been no murder weapon. The killer had used only his hands.

Father Ted Nabors:

We're saving souls, not lives.