#Lionel barrymore charles durning professional

“You know, everybody who was there is in some state of denial,” Durning said in 1994. In addition to his Purple Hearts, he received a Silver Star for his actions during the war, but later in life, he refused to talk about the details of his service, describing the memories as too painful.

#Lionel barrymore charles durning professional

Throughout a career that spanned more than half a century, Durning appeared in over 200 films, television shows and plays-he reportedly never turned down a role-and was nominated for multiple Emmy and Academy Awards.ĭespite his professional success, Durning remained haunted by his wartime experiences. He received his third Purple Heart and discharged in 1946 with the rank of private first class.Īfter the war, Durning returned to acting. That bullet effectively ended Durning’s service he spent the rest of the war in the hospital recovering from his wounds. In March 1945, Durning was moving into Germany with the 398th Infantry Regiment when he took a bullet to the chest. For his injuries, Durning received his second Purple Heart. He was one of only a few soldiers to survive the Malmedy massacre when German soldiers opened fire on nearly 90 prisoners of war. During the Battle of the Bulge, Germans captured Durning. He couldn’t bring himself to shoot the young man, but when the soldier stabbed him with a bayonet, Durning defended himself and killed his attacker with a rock. While fighting in Belgium, Durning came face-to-face with a teenage German soldier.

He spent the next six months recovering from shrapnel wounds in England, received his first Purple Heart, and returned to the front lines. “I was the second man off my barge,” Durning said, “and the first and third man got killed.”ĭays after arriving in France, a German land mine injured Durning. Durning was the only member of his unit to survive the assault. He was part of the first wave of soldiers to land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. However, World War II interrupted Durning’s aspirations. From the moment he heard the audience laugh, Durning knew he wanted to become an actor. Durning, who had been studying the routines of comedians he saw on stage, took his place.

One night, a stand-up comic was too drunk to perform. His father, a World War I Veteran who had lost a leg and was exposed to mustard gas, could not work and died when Durning was 12.Īfter a high school counselor told him that he had no artistic talent and should train to become an office worker, Durning dropped out and began working as an usher at a burlesque theater at age 16. His mother was a laundress at West Point, washing the uniforms of cadets at the U.S. He had nine siblings, five of whom died during childhood of either smallpox or scarlet fever. Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Charles Durning, who served as an infantryman during World War II and later became a prolific actor.Ĭharles Edward Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, in February 1923.