Howard Duff

Howard Duff

Birth : 1913-11-24, Charleston, Washington, U.S.

Death : 1990-07-08

History

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​

Profile

Howard Duff
Howard Duff

Movies

Too Much Sun
O.M.
A multimillionaire, whose son is gay and daughter a lesbian, leaves a will with one clause: His children will inherit his money only if at least one of them produces him a grandchild within a year of his death.
Settle the Score
Cy Whately
Katherine Whately, a tough, young Chicago cop, comes home to her small town to settle her teenage rape. She is welcomed by her brother but shunned by her father. Josh, the town doctor, is her only ally in her quest for the truth. Together Katherine and Josh find the bloody trail of a serial murderer and shatter the lie that is two decades old.
No Way Out
Senator William 'Billy' Duvall
Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell , and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.
Roses Are for the Rich
Denton
In a small town in Appalachia, Autumn's young husband is killed in a suspicious mine explosion. She vows vengeance on mine owner Douglas Osborne and dedicates her life to destroying him, even at the cost of her own happiness. When her attempts at financial ruin fail, she manipulates Osborne into marriage by claiming she is carrying his child. After Osborne dies from cyanide poisoning, Autumn is arrested for his murder, but she professes her innocence.
Monster in the Closet
Father Martin Finnegan
After several people and a dog are found dead in their closets a "mild-mannered" reporter, a college professor, her son and a befuddled professor band together to uncover the mystery but not without involving the U.S. Army and mass panic.
Love on the Run
Lionel Rockland
A criminal lawyer goes on the run with her new lover — a convict she had as a client and whom she helped escape from prison.
This Girl For Hire
Wolfe Macready
In this pilot for a proposed TV series, B.T. Brady is a flippant, but somewhat klutzy female private detective in Hollywood who sets out to solve the murder of a obnoxious mystery writer. Along the way, Brady gets help from her flamboyant mother Zandra, a washed-up actress, as well as Brady's live-in boyfriend Wolfe who runs a memorabilia shop.
The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch
Col. Samuel Isaacs
It's quiet in Chastity Gulch, a small town in the Wild West. The men of the village are all in the army and fight their battles far away. The women are getting very bored! At once a bunch of robbers drops into the saloon. They love the beer but are also looking for beautiful women. Will the town whores keep these delightful men for themselves or will the doctor's wife and the mayor's wife also get a part of the fun?
Night of the Juggler
Props
An ex New York cop is desperate to find his kidnapped daughter.
Flamingo Road
Sheriff Titus Semple
A carnival drifter marries into an aristocratic family and unwillingly takes on a ruthless sheriff who fancies himself a political kingmaker in this pilot film to the later series.
Double Negative
Lester Harlen
Mentally tortured photojournalist attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
Valentine Magic on Love Island
A.J. Morgan
Janis Paige presides over the proceedings at a posh resort, using magical powers to help eight attractive, amiable vacationers discover one another, aided by her nephew and niece in this unsold pilot variation of "Fantasy Island."
Kramer vs. Kramer
John Shaunessy
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.
Battered
Bill Thompson
Gritty drama of three interweaving stories of three women of various backgrounds and ages whose marriages are complicated by spouse-abuse by their husbands.
A Wedding
Dr. Jules Meecham
Muffin's wedding to Dino Corelli is to be a big affair. Except the ageing priest isn't too sure of the ceremony, only the families actually turn up as the Corelli Italian connection is suspect, security guards watch the gifts rather over-zealously, and Dino's grandma expires in bed just as the reception starts. Could be quite an occasion.
Ski Lift to Death
Ben Forbes
A sports promoter tries to matchmake for a pair of ski champions and, as a result, they end up trapped in a derailed ski-lift car along with a gangster and the hitman sent to kill him.
Actor
Winfield Sheehan
A musical play based on the early years of actor Paul Muni.
In the Glitter Palace
Raymond Dawson Travers
The ex-girlfriend of a laywer, who left him for a lesbian lover, asks him to defend her lover in a murder case.
The Late Show
Harry Regan
Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who had gotten himself involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
Tight as a Drum
Hollister
A military school graduation ceremony is interrupted when a student's dope-smuggling father is killed in the gym.
Snatched
Duncan Wood
The wives of three wealthy men are kidnapped and held for a $3 million ransom, but one of the men doesn't want to pay his share.
The Heist
Lieutenant Nicholson
An armored-car guard must convince the authorities he is innocent after he is forced to rob his own company.
A Little Game
Dunlap
A hostile youngster who will stop at nothing to break up his mother's marriage is suspected of homicide, and his stepfather fears that he may be the boy's next victim.
In Search of America
Ray Chandler
Michael (Jeff Bridges) drops out of college with the intention of finding himself. When his parents (Carl Betz and Vera Miles) balk, he talks them into joining him in traveling the country and educating themselves about the state of things. They, along with Grandma (Ruth McDevitt) trick out an old Greyhound bus and hit the road. The picaresque plotline brings the family into contact with a variety of colorful characters. The producers of In Search of America never declared outright that the made-for-TV film was intended as a series pilot, but it ends on an ambiguous note with plenty of loose plot ends. In Search of America was first telecast March 23, 1971.
Panic in the City
Dave Pomeroy
An American agent is assigned to track down a renegade Soviet spy who is building an atomic device in Los Angeles and plans to destroy the city with it.
Calhoun
Sid Rayner
Unaired pilot for a drama/adventure series about a county agent.
War Gods of Babylon
Sardanapolo
Noble, wise King Sardanapolo and his more soft and naive younger brother Prince Sammash get into a bitter feud over the affections of sweet and alluring innocent peasant girl Mirra. Meanwhile, the treacherous and ruthlessly ambitious General Arbace plots against both siblings.
Boys' Night Out
Doug Jackson
Fred, George, Doug and Howie are quickly reaching middle-age. Three of them are married, only Fred is still a bachelor. They want something different than their ordinary marriages, children and TV-dinners. In secret, they get themselves an apartment with a beautiful young woman, Kathy, for romantic rendezvous. But Kathy does not tell them that she is a sociology student researching the sexual life of the white middle-class male.
Sierra Stranger
Jess Collins
A prospector becomes a small town outcast after he rescues a man about to be lynched.
While the City Sleeps
Lt. Burt Kaufman
Newspaper men compete against each other to find a serial killer dubbed "The Lipstick Killer".
Blackjack Ketchum Desperado
Tom "Blackjack" Ketchum
A former gunslinger comes to the aid of ranchers battling a murderous land baron.
The Broken Star
Thornton W. Wills
A deputy sheriff defies local ranchers to investigate a Mexican's murder.
Flame of the Islands
Doug Duryea
A café singer buys a gambling casino and several men fall in love with her.
Women's Prison
Dr. Crane
A crusading psychiatrist battles a sadistic female warden to improve conditions at a women's prison.
The Yellow Mountain
Pete Menlo
A formula brawling-buddies western where one goes bad and then returns to the fold. Pete Menlo owns some gold claims in Nevada where he is joined by his old friend Andy Martin. Crooked mine-owner Bannon wants to merge their interests so they can create a monopoly but is turned down. Pete is interested in "Nevada" Wray, daughter of mine-owner "Jackpot" Wray, but she has eyes only for Andy. The rejected Pete joins forces with Bannon and they learn that, because of location, "Jackpot" Wray may be the owner of all the gold in the respective veins. Bannon and his men try to get rid of Andy.
Private Hell 36
Police Sgt. Jack Farnham
In New York, a bank robbery of $300,000 goes unsolved for a year, until some of the marked bills are found in a Los Angeles drugstore theft. Police detectives Cal Bruner and Jack Farnham investigate and are led from the drugstore to a nightclub, where singer Lili is another recipient of a stolen bill. With Lili's help, the partners track down the remaining money, but both Lili and Frank are dismayed when Cal decides he wants to keep part of it.
Tanganyika
Dan Harder
A landowner in colonial Africa leads a safari through Nukumbi territory in order to capture an escaped criminal.
Jennifer
Jim Hollis
A young woman is hired to take care of an eerie old mansion, where she finds herself entangled with an enigmatic murderer.
Spaceways
Dr. Stephen Mitchell
The test launch for the first inter-planetary research station goes wrong when the satellite station is inadvertently set up instead of returning to earth. Two people attached to the secret project are missing, presumed murdered, and all suspicions fall on the cuckold husband, the scientist responsible for the lack of fuel aboard the rocket. The theory is he murdered his wife and her lover, depositing the bodies on the errant rocket. Desperate to prove his innocence he volunteers for the next mission to link up with the satellite and clear his name.
Roar of the Crowd
Johnny Tracy
Johnny Tracy, son of veteran race driver Pop Tracy, is working his way up on the racing circuit, but is urged by his sweetheart, Marcy Parker, to give up the track if he wants to marry her. He persuades her to marry him on the promise that he will quit after racing once in the Indianapolis 500, but he is injured in a qualifying race and goes to work as a spark plug salesman for Mackey, an old family friend. He is a failure at selling but Marcy changes her attitude towards his racing, and he qualifies for the 500.
Steel Town
Jim Denko
Steve Kostain (Lund), nephew of the owner, begins working at a steel mill to learn the business from the bottom up. He rooms with a steel working family, the McNamaras, and falls for the daughter, "Red" (Sheridan), who is already involved with another steelworker, Jim (Duff.) Although he is at first has a hard time with his co-workers, he eventually wins them over, and also wins the girl.
Models Inc.
Lennie Stone
The wealthy owner of a modeling agency keeps a new student in the high life, unaware that she and a recently released convict share a criminal and personal history.
The Lady from Texas
Dan Mason
An eccentric Civil War widow is accused of being insane.
Shakedown
Jack Early
Jack Early is a photographer who will stop at nothing to climb his way to the very top of the success ladder. On the strength of his sheer tenacity, he gets a job with a major newspaper, and it's not long before he's made a name for himself by charming a notorious crime boss, Nick Palmer, into allowing himself to be photographed. Palmer takes him under his wing, but Early decides to bite the hand that feeds him and sets Palmer and another crime boss, Colton, against one another.
Spy Hunt
Steve Quain
Roger Quain, escorting two zoo-bound black panthers on the train from Milan to Paris, is unaware that a Western agent, Catherine Ullven, has hidden a microfilm in the collar of one of the animals. But when the train is derailed in the Swiss Alps and the panthers escape, she is forced to involve him in her mission, which now includes enemy agents hunting the microfilm, the animals, Catherine and Roger. Corrected from an original submission by Guy Bellinger.
Woman in Hiding
Keith Ramsey
As far as the rest of the world is concerned, mill heiress Deborah Chandler Clark (Ida Lupino) is dead, killed in a freak auto accident. But Deborah is alive, if not too well. Having discovered a horrible truth about her new husband (Stephen McNally), Deborah is now a “woman in hiding,” living in mortal fear that someday her husband will catch up with her again. When a returning GI (Howard Duff) recognizes Deborah, however, she must decide whether or not she can trust him.
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass
Sam Bass
Drifter Sam Bass shows up in Denton, Texas (soon to host a great horse race) looking for work. Before long, he attracts the attention of pretty storekeeper Katherine Egan (the sheriff's sister) and that wild frontiers woman, Calamity Jane. Circumstances make Sam richer by a very fast race horse. But his seemingly good luck with horses and women leads him to disaster. Will he be forced into a life of crime?
Illegal Entry
Bert Powers
Long before he became producer/director of The Tonight Show, Fred DeCordova helmed the Universal meller Illegal Entry. Howard Duff, who later worked with DeCordova on the TV series Mr. Adams and Eve, stars as Bert Powers, an undercover agent for the U.S. Department of Immigration. While attempting to bring a vicious gang of alien smugglers to justice, Powers falls in love with Anna Duvak (Marta Toren), a gang member who is Not What She Seems.
Red Canyon
Lin Sloane
A former outlaw goes straight and is determined to catch and tame a wild stallion. Western.
Johnny Stool Pigeon
George Morton
A federal agent infiltrates a crime syndicate.
All My Sons
George Deever
During WWII, industrialist Joe Keller commits a crime and frames his business partner Herbert Deever. Years later, his sin comes back to haunt him when Joe's son plans to marry Deever's daughter.
The Naked City
Frank Niles
The Naked City portrays the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. A veteran cop is placed in charge of the case and he sets about, with the help of other beat cops and detectives, finding the girl's killer.
Brute Force
Robert 'Soldier' Becker
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Know Your Enemy: Japan
Narrator
Frank Capra-directed propaganda film produced during World War II depicting the United States' new enemy: Japan.