Pete Duel

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Pete Duel
Duel as John Cooper in Gidget
Born	Peter Ellstrom Deuel February 24, 1940(1940-02-24) Rochester, New York, U.S.
Died	December 31, 1971 (aged 31) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Peter E. Deuel Peter Deuel Pete Deuel Peter Duel
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–1971

Pete Duel (February 24, 1940 – December 31, 1971) was an American actor, best known for his role in the television series Alias Smith and Jones.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early life

Peter Ellstrom Deuel was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in nearby Penfield.

He attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he majored in English. Still, he preferred performing in the drama department’s productions to studying for his classes during his two years there. When his father came to see him in The Rose Tattoo, he realized that his son was only wasting time and money at the university, and told him to follow a career in acting.^[1] Moving to New York, Duel landed a role in a touring production of the comedy Take Her, She's Mine. In order to find work in the movies, Duel and his mother drove across the country to Hollywood. in 1963 with only a tent to house them each night.^[2]

[edit] Career

In Hollywood, he found work in television, making small guest appearances in comedies like Gomer Pyle, USMC and dramas, such as ABC's Channing with Jason Evers and Combat! with Rick Jason and Vic Morrow. In 1965 he was cast in the comedy series Gidget. Duel played Gidget's brother-in-law, John Cooper, on the series and appeared in twenty-two of the thirty-two episodes. Gidget was canceled after only one season in 1966, but Duel was immediately offered the starring role of Dave Willis, a newlywed apprentice architect, in an upcoming romantic comedy called Love on a Rooftop. Although the show earned good ratings, ABC decided to not bring it back after its first season. Duel wished to move from sitcoms to more serious roles.^[3] He a[[eared in The Psychiatrist, The Bold Ones, Ironside, and Marcus Welby, M.D.. He also made feature films during this time, beginning with the important role of Rod Taylor’s best friend and co-pilot, Mike Brewer, in The Hell with Heroes in 1968 and the next year in Generation. Following that movie, he went to Spain to film Cannon for Cordoba (1970), a western in which he played the mischievous soldier, Andy Rice.

In 1970 Duel was cast as the outlaw Hannibal Heyes, alias Joshua Smith, opposite Ben Murphy, in Alias Smith and Jones, a light-hearted western about the exploits of two outlaws trying to earn an amnesty. During the hiatus between the first and second seasons, he starred in the television production of Percy MacKaye’s 1908 play, The Scarecrow.

[edit] Personal life

Duel became involved in politics during the primaries for the 1968 presidential election, campaigning for Eugene McCarthy, in opposition to the Vietnam war.^[4] He attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and witnessed the violence that erupted.^[5]

[edit] Death

In early hours of December 31, 1971, Duel apparently shot himself, after drinking heavily that evening.^[6] At the time, his girlfriend, Dianne Ray, was in the house but not in the same room, and did not witness what happened. In October 1970 he had been the driver in a car wreck in which another person was injured, and was facing legal problems; an astrologer had then told him that 1972 was going to be a difficult year for him. After his death, his role in Alias Smith and Jones was taken over by Roger Davis (previously, the series' narrator) but, with another man in the part and the focus shifted to "Jones" (Ben Murphy), many fans lost interest, and the series was cancelled in 1973.

Duel is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Penfield, New York.^[7]

[edit] Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1966	W.I.A. Wounded in Action	Pvt. Myers
1968	The Hell with Heroes	Mike Brewer
1969	Generation	Walter Owen	Alternative titles: A Time for Caring A Time for Giving
1970	Cannon for Cordoba	Andy Rice	Alternative title: Dragon Master
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Channing		1 episode
1964	Combat!	Szigeti	1 episode
	Mickey	Crazy Hips McNish	1 episode
1964–1965	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	1st Man Marine at dance	2 episodes
	Twelve O'Clock High	Lt. Benning Lt. Ditchik	2 episodes
1965–1966	Gidget	John Cooper	22 episodes
1965	Diamond Jim: Skulduggery in Samantha	Wild Youth	Television movie
	The Fugitive	Buzzy	1 episode
1965–1967	The F.B.I.	Wayne Everett Powell Mike James	2 episodes
1966–1967	Love on a Rooftop	David Willis	30 episodes
1968	Ironside	Jonathan Dix	1 episode
1968–1969	The Virginian	Jim Dewey aka Thomas Baker Denny Todd	2 episodes
1968–1971	The Name of the Game	Chernin Ted Sands	2 episodes
1969	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Lew Sawyer	Television movie
1970	The Young Country	Honest John Smith	Television movie
	Insight	Edward	1 episode
	Matt Lincoln	Father Nicholas Burrell	1 episode
	The Interns	Fred Chalmers	1 episode
	The Young Lawyers	Dom Acosta	1 episode
	The Bold Ones: The Lawyers	Jerry Purdue	1 episode
	The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children	Casey T. Poe	Television movie
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith	Television movie
	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Roger Nastili	1 episode
	The Psychiatrist	Casey Poe	1 episode
	How to Steal an Airplane	Sam Rollins	Television movie
1971–1972	Alias Smith and Jones	Hannibal Heyes/Joshua Smith	33 episodes
1972	The Scarecrow	Richard Talbot	Television movie

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pete Duel at the Internet Movie Database
• The Pete Duel Memorial Site
• Article on "Pete Duel - A Biography"
• Pete Duel at Find a Grave

Persondata
NAME	Duel, Pete
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Deuel, Peter Ellstrom; Deuel, Peter
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	February 24, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rochester, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH	December 31, 1971
PLACE OF DEATH	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.