Howard Duff
Howard Duff
Hardcase leading man Howard Duff built his reputation on radio, where among several other assignments he was cast as Dashiell Hammett's two-fisted private eye Sam Spade. He made so vivid an impression in this role that, when cast in his first film Brute Force (1947), he was given special billing in the credits as "radio's Sam Spade." His burgeoning film career was slowed down in the early 1950s by the iniquities of the Hollywood Blacklist. Duff's no-nonsense image was softened into sitcom buffoonery when, in 1957, he was cast in TV's Mr. Adams and Eve. His co-star was his then-wife Ida Lupino, and the series' producer was Lupino's previous husband Collier Young. Ida was a frequent director for Duff's subsequent TV series Dante (1960), in which he more-or-less reprised his Sam Spade characterization. Duff's later TV assignments included a three-year starring stint on Felony Squad (1966-69) and supporting roles in the prime time serials Flamingo Road and Knot's Landing. In the 1970s, Howard Duff returned to filmmaking as a character actor, scoring critical successes with his roles as an eternally inebriated relative in Altman's A Wedding (1978) and as Dustin Hoffman's attorney in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Howard Duff:
- No Way Out with Kevin Costner , Gene Hackman , Sean Young , Will Patton , George Dzundza , Iman , Fred Dalton Thompson , Jason Bernard , David Paymer
- In Search of America with Vera Miles , Carl Betz , Jeff Bridges , Ruth McDevitt , Tyne Daly , Kim Hunter , Sal Mineo
- Brute Force with Burt Lancaster , Hume Cronyn , Charles Bickford , Yvonne DeCarlo , Ann Blyth , Jeff Corey , Jay C. Flippen , John Harmon , John Hoyt , Sam Levene , Charles McGraw , Ray Teal , Crane Whitley , Herbert Heywood , Al Hill , Kenneth MacDonald , Frank Marlowe , Howard M. Mitchell , Gene Roth , Glenn Strange , Billy Wayne
- The Late Show with Art Carney , Lily Tomlin , Bill Macy , Eugene Roche , Joanna Cassidy
Howard Duff Trivia
