Charles Durning

Born February 28, 1923, in Highland Falls, New York, Charles Edward Durning was the son of Louise and James E. Durning. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he earned a Silver Star for valor along with three Purple Hearts. While building his acting career, he taught at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in New York City. He married Carole Doughty in 1959; he and his second wife, Mary Ann Amelio Durning, separated in 2010. He is survived by three children.

His film credits include "The Sting," "North Dallas Forty," "True Confessions," "Tootsie," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Dick Tracy," "Home for the Holidays," "Twilight's Last Gleaming," and "To Be or Not to Be." On television, he appeared in "Evening Shade," "First Monday," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Rescue Me," "Captains and the Kings," "Attica," "Death of a Salesman," and "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom."

In 1999, Charles Edward Durning was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame on Broadway. He received the Life Achievement Award at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony in 2008 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that same year. Over the course of his career, he appeared in 35 New York Shakespeare Festival productions. The Academy Film Archive houses the Charles Durning Collection. On December 27, 2012, the marquees of Broadway houses were dimmed in his honor.