Dan Duryea

Dan Duryea was an American actor born on January 23, 1907, in White Plains, New York, who built a career across stage, film, and television before his death on June 7, 1968. He graduated from White Plains High School in 1924 and went on to Cornell University, where he earned his degree in 1928. At Cornell, Duryea majored in English, was elected to the Sphinx Head Society — the university's oldest senior honor society — and in his final year succeeded Franchot Tone as president of the college drama society. Despite this early passion for performance, he entered advertising at his parents' urging and spent six years as an advertising executive before a heart attack sidelined him for a year and prompted his return to acting.

Duryea's Broadway career spanned 1935 to 1939 and included four productions: Dead End, The Little Foxes, Many Mansions, and Missouri Legend. His appearance in Dead End established his name on Broadway, and in The Little Foxes he portrayed the role of Leo Hubbard. Many Mansions followed in 1937 and Missouri Legend in 1938. In 1940, he moved to Hollywood to appear in the film adaptation of The Little Foxes, carrying his stage role to the screen.

His film career developed through supporting and secondary roles, including The Pride of the Yankees in 1942 and None But the Lonely Heart in 1944. Duryea co-starred opposite Gary Cooper in three films during the 1940s: Ball of Fire, Pride of the Yankees, and Along Came Jones. As the decade progressed, he became closely associated with film noir, appearing in Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window, The Great Flamarion, Criss Cross, Too Late for Tears, and Johnny Stool Pigeon, as well as Westerns including Along Came Jones and Black Bart. In 1946, exhibitors voted him the eighth most promising star of tomorrow. He also took on more sympathetic parts in films such as Black Angel and One Way Street.

In the 1950s, Duryea co-starred with James Stewart in three films: Winchester '73, in which he played the antagonist Waco Johnny Dean; Thunder Bay; and Night Passage. He appeared in additional Westerns including Silver Lode, Ride Clear of Diablo, and The Marauders, and in further noir productions such as 36 Hours, Chicago Calling, Storm Fear, and The Burglar. In his later years, he reteamed with Stewart for The Flight of the Phoenix, playing a mild-mannered accountant stranded in the Sahara desert following a plane crash. He also appeared twice on screen alongside his son, character actor Peter Duryea, in the low-budget Westerns Taggart in 1964 and The Bounty Killer in 1965. His overseas film work included the British neo-noir thriller Do You Know This Voice? in 1964, the Italian Western The Hills Run Red in 1966, and the spy thriller Five Golden Dragons in 1967, filmed in West Germany.

On television, Duryea starred as the lead character China Smith in the series China Smith from 1952 to 1953 and its continuation, The New Adventures of China Smith, from 1954 to 1956. His guest appearances were extensive and included the Wagon Train episodes "The Cliff Grundy Story" in December 1957 and "The Sacramento Story" in June 1958, in which he reprised the same character. He appeared in the third episode of The Twilight Zone, "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," in 1959, playing an alcoholic gunfighter. That same year he guest-starred on The Barbara Stanwyck Show, appeared in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Executioner," and played the outlaw Bud Carlin in "Stage Stop," the premiere episode of NBC's Laramie. He returned to Laramie on October 25, 1960, as Luke Gregg in "The Long Riders." In November 1960, he played a mentally unstable pioneer in the Wagon Train episode "The Bleymier Story," and was cast twice as Captain Brad Turner in consecutive episodes of Riverboat. He spoofed his tough-guy screen persona in a comedy sketch on The Jack Benny Program on December 4, 1960, and guest starred in a 1962 episode of Tales of Wells Fargo as Marshal Blake opposite Dale Robertson. In 1963, he portrayed Dr. Ben Lorrigan on NBC's medical drama The Eleventh Hour. He appeared in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "Three Wives Too Many" in 1964, and from 1967 to 1968 held a recurring role as Eddie Jacks on the soap opera Peyton Place. A 1967 television version of Winchester '73 cast him as Bart McAdam, uncle to the film's central characters, alongside John Saxon.

In his personal life, Duryea was married for 35 years to his wife Helen, until her death in January 1967. The couple had two sons: Peter, who worked as an actor, and Richard, who became a talent agent. Duryea lived in the San Fernando Valley, where he devoted time to gardening, boating, and community involvement, including membership in the local parent-teacher association and service as a Scoutmaster. He died of esophageal cancer on June 7, 1968, at the age of 61, and is interred at Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.