What can you tell me about actor Dan Duryea, who starred in the Westerns “The Bounty Killer” and “Winchester ’73”?
—Roy Santa Cruz, Douglas, Arizona
A native of White Plains, New York, Dan Duryea earned an English degree at Cornell University and worked in advertising for six years until a heart attack forced him to switch careers. A hit on Broadway in “Dead End” and “The Little Foxes,” he shifted in 1940 to Hollywood, where his wicked grin and maniacal laugh made him one of the silver screen’s great heels, especially in film noir and Westerns. A nice guy and devoted family man in real life, Duryea died of cancer in 1968 at the age of 61. Among his other credits are “Mrs. Parkington,” “Criss Cross,” “Along Came Jones,” “Ride Clear of Diablo” and “Night Passage.”
