Charles Durning Net Worth

Charles Durning's Quotes

• Dancing came easy for me. Acting came hard.
• I would rather do a play because it's instantaneous. You go on the stage, and you know whether it's happening or not. Somebody asked me "what is acting?" And I said, "acting is listening." And if you ain't listening, nobody's listening.
• I can't count how many of my friends are in the cemetery at Normandy, the heroes are still there, the real heroes.
• [about arriving at Omaha Beach on D-Day] It's hard to describe what we all went through that day, but those of us who were there will understand. We were frightened all the time. My sergeant said 'are you scared, son?' and I said 'yes, I am', and he said 'that's good, it's good to be scared', he said 'we all are'. This guy in the boat, he turned to me and he threw up all over me, and I got seasick. He was scared. You're not thinking about anything, you're just thinking about you hope that shell that just went off isn't going to hit this boat. Even the guys who had seen a lot of action before, and this was my first time, they were just as ashen as I was, and I was frightened to death. I was the second man off my barge and the first and third men got killed. First guy the ramp went down, the guy fell and I tried to leap over him and I stumbled and we both slipped into the water. We were supposed to be able to walk into shore but they didn't bring us far enough. And I was in 60 feet of water with a 60 pound pack on, so I let it all go.
• [on reaching Omaha Beach after falling in the water] I came up and I didn't have a helmet, a rifle, nothing. I hit the beach, the guys pulled me in who were already there, I'd lost everything; but they said 'you'll find plenty of them on the beach, rifles, helmets, that belong to nobody'. Nobody knew where we were supposed to go, there was nobody in charge, you were on your own. All around me people were being shot at, I saw bodies all over the place; but you didn't know if they were alive or dead, they were just lying there.

Interesting Facts about Charles Durning

1. Was a ballroom dance instructor in his early career. He also studied Judo.
2. He played Santa Claus on television five times in his lifetime: in It Nearly Wasn't Christmas (1989), Mrs. Santa Claus (1996), Elmo Saves Christmas (1996), Mr. St. Nick (2002), and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004). Ironically, he died on Christmas Eve.
3. He died at his home in Manhattan (NYC). He was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.
4. Won Broadway's 1990 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for portraying Big Daddy in a revival of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
5. He met Mary Ann Amelio, his second wife, after his discharge from the army. He met her again while in "That Championship Season" on Broadway. They then married in 1974 and were legally separated in 2010.
6. His military records from the National Archives show that he arrived in Normandy on June 15, 1944 and was wounded the same day by shrapnel from an exploding German "S" mine. He received his first and only Purple Heart for this wound. Arlington National Cemetery recently recut his headstone to reflect the award of only one Purple Heart Medal. His medical records state that all the shrapnel was removed so there was no metal remaining in his body.
7. Was kicked out of the American Academy of Dramatic Art drama school because they thought he had no talent. Another famous thespian to be booted from the school was Jason Robards.
8. His first job in the entertainment field was as an usher at a burlesque house. His career officially started as a singer with a band at the age of 16, before going into acting. His first professional play was in Buffalo before he went off to war.
9. His breakthrough role occurred on Broadway in 1972 starring in "That Championship Season" where he was noticed by director George Roy Hill who cast him in his acclaimed Oscar-winning movie The Sting (1973).
10. Despite the wounds he received in WWII (he was shot in the legs and hip by machine-gun fire), he went on to become a professional dancer and dance teacher. He taught at the Fred Astaire studios and relied upon it when he couldn't find acting work.
11. Was considered for the role of General Worden in The Dirty Dozen (1967).
12. He was the ninth of ten children, but five of his sisters died of smallpox or scarlet fever in childhood, three of them within two weeks. His surviving siblings were James (1915-2000), Clifford (1916-1994), Frances (born 1919) and Gerald Durning (born 1926). His mother, Louise (Leonard), who was of Irish descent, was a laundress at West Point, and his father, James Durning, was an Irish immigrant who had been badly wounded in World War I, just as Charles would be in WW II. He died when Charles was 12.
13. He had three children with his first wife, Carole: daughters, Michele and Jeanine; and a son, Douglas Edward.
14. Passed away on same day as actor Jack Klugman.
15. Appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Tootsie (1982). Of those, The Sting (1973) is a winner in the category.
16. Developed an interest in Acting at the age of 28 when, while working as an usher, he was called onstage to replace a drunken Actor. Durning said he was hooked when he first heard the audience laugh.
17. In off-Broadway production of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui", Bertolt Brecht's Nazi Allegory set in Chicago. [October 2002]
18. Was the recipient of the 44th Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for 2007. [December 2007]
19. His life and military service honored as part of the 24th National Memorial Day concert, which features Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise. [May 2013]
20. Started his show business career in burlesque.