Durning, king of character actors, dies in NYC

By Bob Thomas

Published December 25, 2012 10:42pm ET

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Durning, king of character actors, dies in NYC — FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 file photo, in Los Angeles file photo, actor Charles Durning accepts the life achievement award at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Durning, the two-time Oscar nominee who was dubbed the king of the character actors for his skill in playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope, died Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 at his home in New York City. He was 89. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) | Mark J. Terrill

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge.

His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman’s would-be suitor in “Tootsie.”

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