In Dog Day Afternoon, Sidney Lumet, 1975.
Not to be glib, but it’s been a lousy day for great character actors who worked with Lumet (the previously discussed Jack Klugman, of course, was in S.L.‘s Twelve Angry Men.)
Charles Durning, 1923-2012
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“Not to be glib, but it’s been a lousy day for great character actors who worked with Lumet”
To be glib, Martha Plimpton, Bob Balaban, Ned Beatty, and Jack Kehoe should all stay in bed surrounded by soft pillows for the next 48 hours to be on the safe side…
Isn’t “great character actor who worked with Lumet” kind of redundant? Didn’t they all work with him?
I love him best here –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJG75FJkjr8
The man did know how to make an exit…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6dtasEqpLM
Durning made saying “Tough titty toenails!!!” sound cool.
Charles Durning will be missed. I saw ‘True Confessions’ for the first time this year, and was very taken aback by what a badass Durning is in his small but important role as a corrupt community leader. He was also very funny as the big Big Lebowski.
That’s two commenters now who’ve mistaken David Huddleston for Durning. Do all hefty men look alike or something?
Durning should’ve been Oscar-nominated for DOG DAY AFTERNOON (John Cazale, too, but only Chris Sarandon made the cut). TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING and TOOTSIE, too. A bit surprising that his sole nominations were for THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS and TO BE OR NOT TO BE.
“That’s two commenters now who’ve mistaken David Huddleston for Durning. Do all hefty men look alike or something?”
Of course not. But Durning was GREAT as Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski.
Even though I know better, I often find myself picturing Durning as the Big Lebowski as well. Something about that role seems like it was written for him.
Of course, Durning actually worked with the Coens in The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Thank you for pointing out the mistake. I should have checked IMDB or Thomson first!
I enjoyed performances in two of Durning’s lesser-known films, “Lake Boat” and “Home for the Holidays”. The former film isn’t really worthy of him, and the second is nicely enriched by his performance.
As they are childhood faves, I always remember Durning best from THE STING and THE MUPPET MOVIE. Of course, he was capable of more varied performances than those two (Durning’s performance grounds TOOTSIE), but comic villains are very tricky to pull off, and in those films, he did it without letting the seams show at all.
And I happen to really like LAKEBOAT, as well as Durning’s work in it.
Loved him in De Palma’s SISTERS–as the movie gets crazier and crazier, he’s a lifeline to “reality.” And his character is kinda manic-bonkers, too.