Howard Duff

Howard Duff

1913-11-24 – 1990-07-08 (age 76)
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Biography

Howard Green Duff (November 24, 1913 – July 8, 1990) was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.

Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team. His first film role was as an inmate in Brute Force. His other movies include The Naked City (1948), All My Sons (1948), Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), Panic in the City (1968), In Search of America (1971), A Wedding (1978) and No Way Out (1987).

He appeared in a number of films with his first wife, actress/director Ida Lupino. One of Duff's later performances was as Dustin Hoffman's attorney in the Academy Award-winning Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

On radio, Duff played Dashiell Hammett's private eye Sam Spade from 1946–1950, starring in The Adventures of Sam Spade on three different networks - ABC, CBS and NBC. In 1951 Steve Dunne took over the role of Sam Spade. Duff also appeared in an episode of Climax! entitled Escape From Fear in 1955.

On television, Duff appeared with his then wife Ida Lupino in the CBS comedy Mr. Adams and Eve from January 1957 through September 1958, in which they played husband and wife film stars named Howard Adams and Eve Drake. He played the young Samuel Langhorne Clemens, in his early life in the West as a satirical and crusading journalist, in the TV series Bonanza ("Enter Mark Twain," season 1, episode 5, 1959). In 1960 he played the male main character in The Twilight Zone episode "A World of Difference" as Arthur Curtis/Jerry Raigan. From October 1960 through April 1961, Duff played Willie Dante, owner of the San Francisco nightclub, Dante's Inferno, in the NBC adventure/drama series Dante. In 1964, Duff guest starred as Harold Baker on the episode "Prodigy" of NBC's medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour, starring Jack Ging and Ralph Bellamy. In 1990, he guest starred on an episode of The Golden Girls (episode: The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present).

From September 1966 through January 1969, Duff portrayed Detective Sergeant Sam Stone in the ABC police drama Felony Squad with costar Dennis Cole. In the 1980s, he appeared on dramas such as NBC's Flamingo Road and Knots Landing, and Dallas, both on CBS.

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Known For

No Way Out
No Way Out

1987

as Senator William 'Billy' Duvall

Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer

1979

as John Shaunessy

A Wedding
A Wedding

1978

as Dr. Jules Meecham

Brute Force
Brute Force

1947

as Robert 'Soldier' Becker

The Naked City
The Naked City

1948

as Frank Niles

Too Much Sun
Too Much Sun

1991

as O.M.

While the City Sleeps
While the City Sleeps

1956

as Lt. Burt Kaufman

Boys' Night Out
Boys' Night Out

1962

as Doug Jackson

The Heist
The Heist

1972

as Lieutenant Nicholson

All My Sons
All My Sons

1948

as George Deever

The Late Show
The Late Show

1977

as Harry Regan

Monster in the Closet
Monster in the Closet

1986

as Father Martin Finnegan

In Search of America
In Search of America

1971

as Ray Chandler

The Lady from Texas
The Lady from Texas

1951

as Dan Mason

Snatched
Snatched

1973

as Duncan Wood

Lily for President?
Lily for President?

1982

as General

Red Canyon
Red Canyon

1949

as Lin Sloane

Private Hell 36
Private Hell 36

1954

as Police Sgt. Jack Farnham

Flamingo Road
Flamingo Road

1980

as Sheriff Titus Semple

In the Glitter Palace
In the Glitter Palace

1977

as Raymond Dawson Travers