![Alias Smith and Jones 1971](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Alias_Smith_and_Jones_1971.jpg)
Peter Ellstrom Deuel (February 24, 1940 – December 31, 1971), known professionally as Pete Duel, was an American stage, television, and film actor, best known for his starring role as outlaw Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith) in the television series ''
Alias Smith and Jones
''Alias Smith and Jones'' is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, outlaw cousins who are tryin ...
''.
Early life
Duel was born in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, the eldest of three children born to Dr. Ellsworth and Lillian Deuel (née Ellstrom). His brother
Geoffrey Deuel was also an actor, best known for his role in ''
Chisum
''Chisum'' is a 1970 American Western film directed by Andrew McLaglen, starring John Wayne in the titular role, and adapted for the screen by Andrew J. Fenady from his short story "Chisum and the Lincoln County War." The supporting cast featu ...
'' (1970) and numerous episodic television appearances of the 1960s and 1970s; their sister's name was Pamela.
He attended
Penfield High School
Penfield High School (PHS) is a public high school in Penfield, New York, United States. It offers a comprehensive curriculum for students in grades 9–12.
History Penfield Seminary
The predecessor of Penfield High School was the Penfield Semi ...
, where he worked on the yearbook staff, campaigned for student government, and was a member of the National Thespians Society. He graduated in 1957 and attended
St. Lawrence University in
Canton, New York
Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administr ...
, where he majored in English. He was a member of
Phi Sigma Kappa
Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...
fraternity. 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
''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by ...
'', he realized that his son was only wasting time and money at the university, and told him to follow a career in acting.
Moving to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Duel landed a role in a touring production of the comedy ''
Take Her, She's Mine
''Take Her, She's Mine'' is a 1963 American comedy film starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee based on the 1961 Broadway comedy written by Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron. The film was directed by Henry Koster with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnso ...
''. To find work in the movies, Duel and his mother drove across the country to
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
, in 1963, with only a tent to house them each night.
Career
In Hollywood, he found work in television, making small guest appearances in comedies such as ''
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''The show (and CBS) renders the title as ''Gomer Pyle – USMC''. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of ''The Andy Griffith Sho ...
'' and dramas such as ''
Channing'', ''
Combat!
''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...
'', and ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
''. In 1965, he was cast in the comedy series ''
Gidget
Gidget () is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner (based on his teenaged daughter, Kathy) in his 1957 novel, ''Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas''. The novel follows the adventures of a teenaged girl and her surfing frie ...
'' as Gidget's brother-in-law, John Cooper; he appeared in 22 of the show's 32 episodes.
After ''Gidget''s cancellation, Duel was quickly offered the starring role of Dave Willis, a newlywed apprentice architect, in the romantic comedy series ''
Love on a Rooftop
''Love on a Rooftop'' is an American sitcom about a newlywed couple, Dave and Julie Willis, and their humorous struggles to survive in San Francisco on Dave's apprentice architect's salary of $85.37 a week. Matters were complicated by the fact ...
''. Although the show earned good ratings, ABC decided not to bring it back after its first season. Duel wished to move from sitcoms to more serious roles. Around 1970, he changed the spelling of his last name from Deuel to Duel.
Duel appeared in ''
The Psychiatrist'', ''
The Bold Ones
''The Bold Ones'' is the umbrella title for several television series. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast on NBC from 1969 to 1973. It was a wheel format series, an NBC programming approach also used by that network in serie ...
'', ''
Ironside'', and ''
Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to:
* Marcus (name), a masculine given name
* Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name
Places
* Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44
* Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...
''; he also made feature films during this time, beginning with ''
The Hell with Heroes
''The Hell with Heroes'' (''A Time for Heroes'' and ''Run Hero Run'') is a 1968 American drama film directed by Joseph Sargent (his first feature directorial effort) set in Africa immediately after World War II. The film stars Rod Taylor, Claudia ...
'' in 1968, playing
Rod Taylor
Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ''The Time Machine'' (1960), ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), '' The Birds'' (1963), and ''In ...
’s best friend and co-pilot, Mike Brewer, followed the next year by ''
Generation
A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and gr ...
''. After that film, he went to Spain to make ''
Cannon for Cordoba
''Cannon for Cordoba'' is a 1970 American Western film. Filmed in Spain, the larger part of the movie takes place in Mexico in 1912. Directed by Paul Wendkos, it stars George Peppard, Pete Duel, Giovanna Ralli, and Raf Vallone, and features a m ...
'' (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's Kid Curry, in ''Alias Smith and Jones'', a light-hearted Western about the exploits of two outlaws trying to earn their amnesty. During the hiatus between the first and second seasons, he starred in the television production of Percy MacKaye’s 1908 play ''
The Scarecrow''.
According to
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
, Duel was one of the inspirations for the character of
Rick Dalton
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
in the film ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...
''. In Tarantino's
novelization of the movie, Duel and Dalton worked together, "enjoyed... each other's company" and were both "undiagnosed bipolar."
Personal life
Duel became involved in politics during the primaries for the
1968 presidential election, campaigning for
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...
, in opposition to the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. He attended the
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
in Chicago, and witnessed the violence that erupted.
Death
In the early hours of Friday, New Years Eve 1971, Duel died at his
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains.
The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...
home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Duel's girlfriend Dianne Ray was at his home at the time of his death and discovered his body. Ray later told police the couple had watched Duel's series ''Alias Smith and Jones'' the previous evening. She later went to sleep in another room while Duel stayed up. Sometime after midnight, Duel entered the bedroom, retrieved his revolver and told Ray "I'll see you later." Ray then said she heard a gunshot from another room and discovered Duel's body.
[
According to police, Duel's friends and family said he was depressed about his drinking problem. He had been arrested and pleaded guilty to a ]driving under the influence
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
accident that injured two people the previous June.[ Duel's death was later ruled a suicide.
Duel's funeral was held at the ]Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and legally incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1935, to serve as Yogananda's instrument for the preservation ...
Temple on January 2, 1972, in Pacific Palisades. At the service, his girlfriend Dianne Ray read a poem he wrote, titled "Love". An estimated 1,000 friends and fans attended. His body was flown to Penfield, New York
Penfield is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 36,242 at the 2010 census.
The town was incorporated in 1810 by the proprietor Daniel Penfield, who purchased the town lands in 1795 and moved to the area in 1809 ...
, where he was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
After his death, his role in ''Alias Smith and Jones'' was taken over by Roger Davis, who was previously the narrator over the opening theme of the show. The loss of Duel proved too great for the series to sustain and it
was canceled in early 1973.
Filmography
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
Pete Duel Memorial Site (approved by Pete Duel's family)
*
Article on "Pete Duel — A Biography"
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duel, Pete
1940 births
1971 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Rochester, New York
St. Lawrence University alumni
Suicides by firearm in California
California Democrats
New York (state) Democrats
1971 suicides