CINEFILER

Howard Duff

Born
November 24, 1913
Died
July 8, 1990
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Howard Duff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia​
Known For
No Way Out
(1987)
Senator William 'Billy' Duvall
Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979)
John Shaunessy
The Naked City
(1948)
Frank Niles
Brute Force
(1947)
Robert 'Soldier' Becker
Shakedown
(1950)
Jack Early
While the City Sleeps
(1956)
Lt. Burt Kaufman
Los Angeles Plays Itself
(2004)
Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City (archive footage)
The Late Show
(1977)
Harry Regan
Snatched
(1973)
Duncan Wood
All My Sons
(1948)
George Deever
Full Filmography
Acting
Know Your Enemy: Japan
(1945)
Narrator
Brute Force
(1947)
Robert 'Soldier' Becker
The Naked City
(1948)
Frank Niles
All My Sons
(1948)
George Deever
Illegal Entry
(1949)
Bert Powers
Johnny Stool Pigeon
(1949)
George Morton
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
(1949)
Sam Bass
Red Canyon
(1949)
Lin Sloane
Woman in Hiding
(1950)
Keith Ramsey
Shakedown
(1950)
Jack Early
Spy Hunt
(1950)
Steve Quain
The Lady from Texas
(1951)
Dan Mason
Models Inc.
(1952)
Lennie Stone
Steel Town
(1952)
Jim Denko
Jennifer
(1953)
Jim Hollis
Spaceways
(1953)
Dr. Stephen Mitchell
Roar of the Crowd
(1953)
Johnny Tracy
Private Hell 36
(1954)
Police Sgt. Jack Farnham
Tanganyika
(1954)
Dan Harder
The Yellow Mountain
(1954)
Pete Menlo
Women's Prison
(1955)
Dr. Crane
Flame of the Islands
(1955)
Doug Duryea
While the City Sleeps
(1956)
Lt. Burt Kaufman
The Broken Star
(1956)
Thornton W. Wills
Blackjack Ketchum Desperado
(1956)
Tom "Blackjack" Ketchum
Sierra Stranger
(1957)
Jess Collins
Boys' Night Out
(1962)
Doug Jackson
War Gods of Babylon
(1962)
Sardanapolo
Calhoun
(1964)
Sid Rayner
Panic in the City
(1968)
Dave Pomeroy
The D.A.: Murder One
(1969)
Lynn D. Compton
In Search of America
(1971)
Ray Chandler
A Little Game
(1971)
Dunlap
The Heist
(1972)
Lieutenant Nicholson
Snatched
(1973)
Duncan Wood
Tight as a Drum
(1974)
Hollister
The Late Show
(1977)
Harry Regan
In the Glitter Palace
(1977)
Raymond Dawson Travers
A Wedding
(1978)
Dr. Jules Meecham
Ski Lift to Death
(1978)
Ben Forbes
Battered
(1978)
Bill Thompson
Actor
(1978)
Winfield Sheehan
Kramer vs. Kramer
(1979)
John Shaunessy
Double Negative
(1980)
Lester Harlen
Valentine Magic on Love Island
(1980)
A.J. Morgan
Flamingo Road
(1980)
Sheriff Titus Semple
The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch
(1982)
Col. Samuel Isaacs
Lily for President?
(1982)
General
This Girl For Hire
(1983)
Wolfe Macready
Love on the Run
(1985)
Lionel Rockland
Monster in the Closet
(1986)
Father Martin Finnegan
No Way Out
(1987)
Senator William 'Billy' Duvall
Roses Are for the Rich
(1987)
Denton
Settle the Score
(1989)
Cy Whately
Too Much Sun
(1990)
O.M.
Los Angeles Plays Itself
(2004)
Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City (archive footage)
Art
Data provided by TMDB