Charles Durning gets Hollywood star

Charles Durning gets Hollywood star







LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- From World War II hero to dancer and award-winning actor, Charles Durning has lived a storied life. The 85-year-old added to that resume Thursday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to one for his idol, James Cagney.
Charles Durning accepts his Walk of Fame star Thursday in Hollywood.





"Cagney was my favorite actor and favorite person," Durning told The Associated Press after the ceremony unveiling the Walk of Fame's 2,366th star. "I met him once and he was very kind to me. I never got a chance to tell him what I thought, that he was my hero."
Durning's more than 100 movie credits include "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Tootsie," "Dog Day Afternoon," "To Be or Not To Be," "The Sting" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
A who's who of actors joined him at the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard, including Ed Begley Jr., Jon Voight, Angie Dickinson, Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise, Elliott Gould, Lee Purcell and Doris Roberts.
"I never thought this would happen," Durning told the AP. "This is one of the secret awards I wanted. I was hoping this would happen in my lifetime and it did."
Born in Highland Falls, New York, Durning said he was 17 when he went to war, along with his three brothers.
"They dropped down the age (to enlist) to 18. I signed my mother's name and she was not happy about that," he said.
During the war, Durning was seriously wounded as a member of the first wave of soldiers to land on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. He was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge and was one of a few survivors of the attack on American POWs at Malmedy, Belgium. Durning was honored with three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star.
Despite his legs being hit by German machine-gun fire, Durning went on to box, ballroom dance and become a dependable character actor.
"I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director," he said.
Durning has been nominated for an Emmy nine times, including this year for his guest role as the father of Denis Leary's character on the FX drama "Rescue Me."
He has garnered two Academy Award nominations -- for 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and 1983's "To Be or Not to Be."
Durning won a best supporting actor Golden Globe for the 1990 miniseries "The Kennedys Of Massachusetts." He snagged a Tony in 1990 for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
The Screen Actors Guild honored Durning with a life achievement award in January.
Thursday's ceremony marked a high moment for the actor and his family.
"There's so much magic in this whole moment," said his stepdaughter Anita Gregory, who with Purcell nominated Durning for the star.
"He has a passion for acting. To survive a war, that gives you enough determination that anything is possible. ... He believes life will go on forever."

Charles Durning gets Hollywood star - CNN.com

 

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!!!! Outstanding

 

Well deserved, I always liked him appearing. I had no idea of his military service

 

You deserve it Charles, no question about it! Congrats!

Must admit me neither had any idea of the man´s WW2 past so excellent posting!

 

Yes well done Charles, his character in Rescue Me is brilliant again did not know he was a Ranger and he sure lived up to the Ranger creed.

 

Military service
Durning served as a soldier in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star, three Purple Heart medals, and a Good Conduct Medal. He was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 21, and landed on D-Day in the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944. Some sources state he was in the 1st Infantry Division at the time, but it is unclear if he was a rifleman or in an artillery unit by 1944.
On Omaha Beach itself, Pvt. Charles Durning was among the first troops to land. Drafted early in the war, he was first assigned as a rifleman with the 398th Infantry Regiment, but later served overseas with the 3rd Army Support troops and the 386th Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion. Durning was wounded by an “S” Mine on June 15, 1944, at Les Mare des Mares. He was transported by the 499th Medical Collection Company to the 24th Evacuation Hospital. By June 17, he was back in England at the 217th General Hospital. Although severely wounded by shrapnel in the left and right thigh, right hand, the frontal region of the head and the interior left chest wall, Durning recovered quickly and was determined to be “fit for duty” on December 6, 1944. Durning was present for the Battle of the Bulge, the German counter-offensive in December 1944.[1] He was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge, and was one of the few survivors of the infamous Malmedy massacre of American POWs, perpetrated by a battlegroup under Joachim Peiper of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. "He escaped with two others, and returned to find the remainder murdered."[1]
After being wounded in the chest, Durning was repatriated to the United States where he remained in army hospitals, receiving treatment for both physical and psychological wounds, until discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.
Durning has said that he still suffers from nightmares about his war experiences (which is common among veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder, although Durning himself is not confirmed to have suffered PTSD).[citation needed] He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his extraordinary portrayal of a Marine veteran in "Call of Silence", an unusual episode of the television series NCIS, first broadcast November 23, 2004. Clearly drawing on his first-hand knowledge of the lingering effects of battle-induced stress, Durning's character turns himself in to authorities, insisting that he must be prosecuted for having murdered his buddy during ferocious combat on Iwo Jima six decades earlier.[2] The real truth of the incident only becomes known for certain when the guilt-stricken veteran goes through a cathartic reliving of the battlefield events.
Durning is well-known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. He was the chairman one year of the U.S. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans.[3]

Charles Durning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think this is pretty much the closest to being an accurate discription of his service in WWII.

 

He is one of the few people in Holly-weird I have any respect for. Him and Steve Buscemi....Y'all know what he did, right?

 

Hey Charles Durning certainly deserves the "star" on the walk. While I enjoyed his performances in many movies over the years, still find his work with Peter Falk in "Happy New Year" to be my favorite.

His performance in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" as the governor and the "little side-step" dance are priceless. I loved his "hat move", laughted every time I saw it!

Here is a truncated list of most "celebrities" who served in WW2, but if a person looks through them and then "googles" the name the full story will emerge.

http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html#R

Bye, bye, buy bonds!