Dan Duryea was a renowned American actor of film, stage, and television, born on January 23, 1907, in White Plains, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1928, where he was elected into the prestigious Sphinx Head Society.
Duryea's early career on Broadway was marked by his impressive performances in plays such as Dead End and The Little Foxes, in which he played the memorable role of Leo Hubbard, a dishonest and not particularly bright weakling. He made his Hollywood debut in the 1940 film adaptation of The Little Foxes, reprising his role as Leo Hubbard.
Throughout the 1940s, Duryea established himself as a talented character actor, often playing secondary roles as the foil, frequently portraying weak or annoyingly immature characters in films such as The Pride of the Yankees. As his career progressed, he began to carve a niche for himself as a violent, yet sexy, bad guy in numerous film noirs, earning a significant female following and, over time, a cult status.
Some of his notable works during this era include Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window, Criss Cross, Black Angel, and Too Late for Tears. From the 1950s, Duryea transitioned to Westerns, showcasing his charisma as a villain in Winchester '73 (1950). Other notable roles in the latter part of his career include Thunder Bay (1953),The Burglar (1957),The Flight of the Phoenix (1965),and the primetime soap opera Peyton Place.
Duryea also made memorable appearances on television, including a guest role in one of the first Twilight Zone episodes, "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," written by Rod Serling, and a stint on NBC's anthology series The Barbara Stanwyck Show. In 1963, he appeared as Dr. Ben Lorrigan in the episode "Why Am I Grown So Cold" on the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour.
Duryea was married to his wife, Helen, for thirty-five years, until her passing on January 21, 1967. The couple had two sons, Peter and Richard, both of whom worked in the entertainment industry. Dan Duryea passed away on June 7, 1968, at the age of sixty-one, due to cancer. He was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
