Today is the 105th birthday of one of the best of the "bad guys"...Dan Duryea (January 23, 1907-June 7, 1968).
Dan Duryea, who totally excelled at playing the nasty, is my daughter's favorite of the "bad guy" actors. She once read somewhere that he was known as "the heel with appeal." I definitely agree with that statement, as even when he's playing the heavy, there is something quite appealing about him. From what I've read about him, he was a gentle, kind, likeable man---very definitely light years away from the kinds of men he portrayed on screen. Additionally, he is defined as a "model husband and father." His gravestone, which I discovered through the website Find a Grave, bears the inscription, "Our Pop, a man everybody loved."
Though Mr. Duryea was most often a supporting star in each of his films, he always gave a top-notch performance. My absolute favorite of his films is The Pride of the Yankees, the Gary Cooper flick about Lou Gehrig. In that film, though, Mr. Duryea was only an extremely minor player; therefore, I will list five other movies of his which I really like..and in which he has much more of a role than he did in that one.
1. Killer Bait (a film noir with Lizabeth Scott and Don DeFore---reviewed HERE)
2. Black Angel (with June Vincent)
3. The Woman in the Window (film noir with Joan Bennett and Edward G. Robinson)
4. Lady on a Train (with Deanna Durbin and Ralph Bellamy)
5. Scarlet Street (another film noir with Joan Bennett and Edward G. Robinson)
So, Mr. Dan Duryea, here's to you on your 105th birthday!! Most definitely, you were "the heel with appeal." Thanks for being so good at being so bad!