Indeed, he had met his first wife, Carol, when both worked at a dance studio. He brought joy and a smile to everyone's life.” Although he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen, Durning may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically corrupt governor in 1982's “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Many critics marveled that such a heavyset man could be so nimble in the film's show-stopping song-and-dance number, not realizing Durning had been a dance instructor early in his career. He taught me to believe that nothing was impossible. “Charlie lived the spirit of Christmas each and every day of his life. “He loved that holiday and played Santa Claus many times in films and TV shows,” Gregory said. Charlie loved Christmas and if he could have chosen a time to pass, he would have chosen this day,” said a statement from his stepdaughter, Anita Gregory, released Tuesday by Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “Not only was Charlie a World War II hero but he was also a hero to his family. “They're going to carry me out, if I go,” he said.ĭurning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan. He told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had no plans to stop working. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in “Tootsie.” Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. Len lives in Connecticut with his wife Debbie, and writes frequently for the Westport Unitarian Church Special Projects and Chamber choirs.LOS ANGELES (AP) - Highland Falls native Charles Durning, actor and decorated World War II hero, grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge. On the production end, Len has served as Music Supervisor for the ABC daytime television drama, "Loving." He has served as executive producer on albums by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Carl Perkins, Kansas, BB King, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zant, John Entwistle, Roger Miller, Bill Monroe, Renaissance and many more. Len's song "The Last Day of Forever" was recently featured in the film Sheeba, starring Ed Asner and Judge Reinhold. Schirmer, Novello, Boosey & Hawkes, Theodore Presser Co., and The Reader's Digest Association.Ī recent Emmy nomination for Best Original Song ("Fool's Gold") along with featured songs on network television dramas Guiding Light, Another World, and As The World Turns, have kept Len busy writing. Len has sat on both sides of the desk, having held full-time music editorial positions with G. 1 For Guitar and Orchestra was premiered by Claude Monteaux and the Haydn Festival Orchestra. Len toured nationally with the flute & guitar duo Herrick & Handler, and has been guitar accompanist for Lannie Kazan, Howard Keel, and Jerome Hines, as well as guitar soloist in stage productions with Charles Durning, Barbara Barrie, Ralph Waite and Jose Ferrer. As a performer, Len was stage guitarist for the original Broadway production of the musical Man of LaMancha, and has performed as guitar soloist with the New York City Ballet, New York Shakespeare Festival, and NBC's Mike Douglas Show. Len Handler studied music composition with Frederick Werle and classical guitar with Leonid Bolotine at the Mannes College of Music, as well as orchestration and choral writing with Edward Thompson.
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