Val Dufour

Albert Valéry Dufour II, known professionally as Val Dufour, was an American actor born on February 5, 1927, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Dufour, were of Parisian French descent. Dufour studied education, music, and speech at Louisiana State University before pursuing a career in performance.

Dufour relocated to New York in 1949, where he built his early career through theater work, minstrel shows, and nightclub performances. To support himself financially during this period, he worked as an elevator operator and taught acting. Among his early stage work was a role in Best Foot Forward, performed in summer stock theater in Guilford, Connecticut. He also appeared in the Chicago company of Mr. Roberts.

His Broadway career spanned 1952 to 1954 and included two productions. In The Grass Harp, which opened in 1952, Dufour portrayed the sheriff. He followed that with a role as Abraham Levy in Abie's Irish Rose in 1954.

Dufour made his first television appearance in episodic programming in 1952 and went on to accumulate credits across more than a dozen series. He became a recognizable presence in daytime drama, playing Andre Lazar on The Edge of Night and Walter Curtin on Another World from 1967 to 1972. His most prominent television role was John Wyatt on Search for Tomorrow, a part he held from 1972 to 1979. His performance in that role earned him a Daytime Emmy Award in 1977.

Dufour died in New York City on July 27, 2000, of cancer, at the age of 73.