Duff, Howard

The first years of life

Howard Duff was born November 24, 1913 in Bremerton , Washington . He grew up in and around Seattle , where he attended school and played basketball . It was at this time that he began to play in school plays, and in 1932, after graduating from school, he began to study dramatic art, then became a member of the Seattle Repertoire Theater ^[1] . In 1941, with the outbreak of World War II, he was called up for military service, serving until 1945 in the US Air Force radio service ^[1] .

After being demobilized, Duff returned to his acting career. His first major success was the role of private detective Sam Spade in the radio series “The Adventures of Sam Spade” (1946–50), which was broadcast on three major networks ABC , CBS, and NBC ^{[6] [1]} , which was put on the basis of the books by Deshil Hammett . “In the end, he left the series when he began his career in the movie, and in the last season of 1950, the role of the detective took on Stephen Dunn ” ^[1] .

Film career in the 1940s and 1950s

In 1947, Duff “very successfully began his film career at the Universal studio with an energetic and impartial prison film noir “ Brute Force ”(1947), in which he drew attention to himself as the unfortunate cellmate Bert Lancaster , Charles Bickford and others. Pretty well-known at that time for his work on the radio, Duff was listed in the credits of the film as “Sam Spade with the Radio” ” ^[1] . This film was followed by a no less lively play in the semi-documentary film noir "The Naked City " (1948) and the tense gloomy family drama Arthur Miller's " All My Sons " (1948) with the participation of Lancaster and Edward Robinson " ^[1] .

Among the works in which “Duff rose above average, there were severe leading roles in the film noir“ Johnny Snitch ”(1949),“ Illegal Penetration ”(1949),“ Blackmail ”(1950),“ Spy Hunt ”(1950 ) and Woman on the Run (1950). In the last film, he first played with Aida Lupino . He plays the role of the hero who rescues Lupino from her husband-killer ( Stephen McNally ) ” ^[1] .

In 1951, Duff married Lupino, who at that time was already a Warner Brothers star and began directing ^[1] . Lupino and Duff played the main roles together in four cool noirs of the 1950s - the gothic Jennifer (1953), the police officer Personal Hell 36 (1954), the prison Women's Prison (1955) and the newspaper While the City Sleeps ( 1956) ^[1] .

After such a strong start, Duff began a period when “his films were more distinguished by their entertaining qualities and exciting action than psychologism. Among them were several routine westerns in which he played with the most charming ladies of Hollywood: The Red Canyon (1949) with Anne Blythe , Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949) with Yvonne de Carlo and The Lady of Texas (1951 ) with Mona Freeman ” ^[1] .

Other “more or less passable films” by Duff were the science fiction film “ Cosmic Ways ” (1953), the African adventure action “ Tanganyika ” (1954), the Western “ Yellow Mountain ” (1954), the melodrama “ Flame of the Islands ” (1956), the action of which occurs in the Bahamas , Westerns " Desperate Blackjack Ketchum " (1956) (title role), " Broken Star " (1956) and " Sierra Wanderer " (1957) ^[1] .

In the first half of the 1950s, Duff also played several roles on stage ^[1] .

Television career in the 1950s and 1960s

Since the mid-1950s, Duff has found himself no less widely used on television, playing in episodes of various TV shows, such as the Theater of Science Fiction (1955), Video Theater Lux (1956) and Culmination! ( 1954) ^[1] .

On television, “Duff's serious image softened to the level of the Sitcom buffoonery when in 1957 he began to play on television in the television series Mr. Adams and Eve . His partner was the then wife Aida Lupino , and the producer of the series was her previous husband, Colllier Young ” ^[2] . Duff and Lupino played an outgoing couple of movie stars named Howard Adams and Eva Drake. “Many of the episodes of the series, although greatly exaggerated for the comic effect, are said to be based on some experience from their own real life” ^[1] .

In 1959, Duff played Samuel Clemens , who arrived in the West as a young satirist journalist and public activist, in two episodes of the popular television series Bonanza .

Towards the end of the 1950s, with the destruction of the studio system, "the flow of offers for film roles began to dry out," and the 1960s were more fruitful for Duff on television than in movies. In 1960, Duff played the role of the owner of a nightclub with a criminal past, Willy Dante in the 26-episode ironic series Dante (1960), "which lasted less than a season" ^[1] . Lupino directed one of the episodes of the series as a director ^[2] .

Duff appeared as a guest star in such prime time TV shows as the mystical anthology Twilight Zone (1960), the crime action movie Burke 's Justice (1963), and the military action movie In Battle (1962) ^[1] . In 1964, Duff starred in one episode of the psychiatric drama "The Eleventh Hour ", and in 1965 - in an episode of the teacher series " Mr. Novak ."

From September 1966 to January 1969, Duff “paired with handsome newcomer Dennis Cole played the lead role in 73 episodes of the series that is probably remembered the most today - in the police drama Crime Detection Unit , which was shot in Los Angeles and its surroundings ” ^[1] . In 1968, Duff staged one of the episodes of this series, and a little earlier - seven episodes of the "weak sitcom" Ranemak Camp "(1965-66)" ^[1] . These works were Duff's only directorial experience ^[7] . In 1968, Duff, along with Lupino, played in one of the episodes of the television series “ Batman ” (in all, he appeared in three episodes of the series).

Careers in film and television in the 1970s and 80s

In the 1970s and 80s, Duff played various characteristic roles in both film and television ^[3] . “Although much of Duff’s work in the 1970s and 1980s was pretty standard, if not forgotten, from time to time he showed how talented he was.” ^[1] His best films of this period include the role of a sexually preoccupied, hard drinking relative in Robert Altman ’s black comedy “ The Wedding ” (1978) and the role of lawyer Dustin Hoffman in the Oscar-winning drama “ Kramer vs. Kramer ” (1979) ^[1] , and a little later - the role Senator in the spy thriller No Exit (1987).

Duff also appeared in episodes of such popular crime television series as Mannix (1973), Shaft (1973), Police Story (1973-77, 6 episodes) and Detective Rockford Dossier (1977). In 1980, he played private investigator Harrigan in the fourth episode of Charlie 's Angels , and in 1984 in the series She wrote the Murder .

In 1980-1982, Duff successfully played the role of the corrupt Sheriff Titus Temple in the 38-episode soap opera Flamingo Road , which takes place in a small town in Florida ^{[1] [3]} . In the 1984-1985 season, Duff worked in 11 episodes of the soap opera Quiet Pier ^[1] , a successful offshoot of the famous Dallas series. In 1988, Duff was captain Thomas Magnum, the grandfather of the main character Thomas Magnum (played by Tom Selleck ), in two episodes of the television series Private Detective Magnum , and also played in two episodes of the popular soap opera Dallas .

Personal life

In the 1940s, Duff had "novels with some of the most magnificent movie stars, including Ava Gardner and Gloria DeHaven " ^[1] .

In 1951, he married Aide Lupino , and over the years they were connected not only by marital, but also by their closest professional contacts. Together they starred in films such as Woman on the Run (1950), Jennifer (1953), Private Hell 36 (1954), Women's Prison (1955), and While the City Sleeps (1956) ), in the television series " Mr. Adams and Eve " (1957-1958) and in episodes of several other series ^[8] . In 1952, the couple had a daughter, Bridget Duff. In 1966, after 15 years of marriage, Duff's marriage with Lupino broke up, and they began to live separately, although they officially divorced only in 1984. Duff later married Judy Jenkinson, with whom he lived until his death. ^[1]

Throughout his life, Duff was an active member of the Democratic Party ^[9] . In the early 1950s, for his political views, he was included on the Red Channels list of McCarthyism supporters, including people collaborating with the Communists ^{[1] [2]} .

Duff died July 8, 1990 from a heart attack at the age of 76 in Santa Barbara , California ^[1] .

• Howard Duff on Allmovie
• Howard Duff at Turner Classic Movies