Actor Charles Durning Dies

Death and Taxes

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1225/breaking8.html

A great actor, played some really memorable roles, particularly in Dog Day Afternoon, and O Brother where Art Thou?
RIP Charles Durning.

smcgiff

Good actor indeed.

Btw, is it my imagination or do a lot of celebs die around christmas?

Wibbs

Bloody hell, I didn't realise he was on Omaha beach on D Day. :eek:

arybvtcw0eolkf

Wibbs wrote: »

Bloody hell, I didn't realise he was on Omaha beach on D Day. :eek:

Were you there too?...

Stovepipe

He was also a survivor of the Malmedy Massacre

Rented Mule

He lived an incredible life.

He lost 5/9 siblings to disease as a child.

He was one of the first American soldiers on the beach at Normandy.

He was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge

You can then add his acting career in Hollywood.

The World is a lesser place without a character like this in it.

Sunnyisland

RIP.

Biggins

Durning was part of the US force that landed at Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion in June 1944. A few days later he was shot in the hip - he said he carried the bullet in his body thereafter - and after six months of recovery was sent to the Battle of the Bulge.

Durning, who was wounded twice more, was captured and was one of the few survivors of the Malmedy massacre when German troops opened fire on dozens of American prisoners. In addition to three Purple Heart medals for his wounds, Durning was presented the Silver Star for valor.

At an observation of the 60th anniversary of D-Day in Washington, Durning told of the terror he felt and carnage he saw when hitting the beach on D-Day. He said he had to jettison his weapon and gear in order to swim ashore and saw mortally wounded comrades offering themselves as human shields.

"I forget a lot of stuff now but I still wake up once in a while and it's still there," he said. "I can't count how many of my buddies are in the cemetery at Normandy."

Besides his acting careerer - which was great - respect to the man and those that went before him, that had to suffer through the above and fight on!

Now thats a man any family could be proud of!

arybvtcw0eolkf

Rented Mule wrote: »

He lived an incredible life.

He lost 5/9 siblings to disease as a child.

He was one of the first American soldiers on the beach at Normandy.

He was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge

You can then add his acting career in Hollywood.

The World is a lesser place without a character like this in it.

I'll be honest, when I seen the post I thought 'meh another celebrity death', although I did like his acting.

I'd normally never give such things a second thought, but he's worth looking at later.. Thanks for the info, I'll look up his story later.

We can't even begin to understand what people like him went through on the beaches of Normandy and the battle fields of WWII.

Wibbs

Caleb Black Strength wrote: »

Were you there too?...

Yea on the wrong side.

Cuttlefish

R.I.P. Charles, great in "O, Brother..."

Profiler

The last thing he was in that I can remember was Rescue Me. He played Denis Leary's characters father, a family of hard living hard drinking Fire Fighters. He was perfect for the role.

I never knew he did all those things he did that Rented Mule mentions, seems to me that he sure packed a hell of a lot into one lifetime.

He has earned his rest.

Rented Mule

Rented Mule wrote: »

He lived an incredible life.

He lost 5/9 siblings to disease as a child.

He was one of the first American soldiers on the beach at Normandy.

He was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge

You can then add his acting career in Hollywood.

The World is a lesser place without a character like this in it.

When people say someone has lived life to its fullest, this is what I'll think of in future.

What an incredible life to have led so well.

cantdecide

The kind of guy that makes you think you should be trying harder. RIP.