Howard Duff

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

120

Gender

Male

Birthday

1913-11-24

Day of death

1990-07-08 (76 years old)

Place of Birth

-

Howard Duff

Biography

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.

Known For

  • The Mike Douglas Show

    The Mike Douglas Show

  • The Mike Douglas Show

    The Mike Douglas Show

  • Murder, She Wrote

    Murder, She Wrote

  • Knots Landing

    Knots Landing

  • The Virginian

    The Virginian

  • Mannix

    Mannix

  • Batman

    Batman

  • Batman

    Batman

  • The Rockford Files

    The Rockford Files

  • Magnum, P.I.

    Magnum, P.I.

  • Hotel

    Hotel

  • The Twilight Zone

    The Twilight Zone

  • The Twilight Zone

    The Twilight Zone

  • Climax!

    Climax!

  • Climax!

    Climax!

  • Charlie's Angels

    Charlie's Angels

  • The Golden Girls

    The Golden Girls

  • Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

    Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

  • St. Elsewhere

    St. Elsewhere

  • Combat!

    Combat!

  • Burke's Law

    Burke's Law

  • Burke's Law

    Burke's Law

  • Felony Squad

    Felony Squad

  • The Ed Sullivan Show

    The Ed Sullivan Show

  • Fantasy Island

    Fantasy Island

  • Scarecrow and Mrs. King

    Scarecrow and Mrs. King

  • Switch

    Switch

  • Tonight Starring Jack Paar

    Tonight Starring Jack Paar

  • The Streets of San Francisco

    The Streets of San Francisco

  • The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

    The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

  • The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries

    The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries

  • The Ford Television Theatre

    The Ford Television Theatre

  • Alias Smith and Jones

    Alias Smith and Jones

  • Studio 57

    Studio 57

  • Arrest and Trial

    Arrest and Trial

  • Ellery Queen

    Ellery Queen

  • The Mod Squad

    The Mod Squad

  • Judd for the Defense

    Judd for the Defense

  • Police Story

    Police Story

  • Mr. Novak

    Mr. Novak

  • No Way Out

    No Way Out

  • Lux Video Theatre

    Lux Video Theatre

  • I Spy

    I Spy

  • The Rogues

    The Rogues

  • Search

    Search

  • Sam Benedict

    Sam Benedict

  • Flamingo Road

    Flamingo Road

  • The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour

    The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour

  • Bus Stop

    Bus Stop

  • Mr. Adams and Eve

    Mr. Adams and Eve

  • War and Remembrance

    War and Remembrance

  • Ski Lift to Death

    Ski Lift to Death

  • Matt Helm

    Matt Helm

  • A Wedding

    A Wedding

  • $weepstake$

    $weepstake$

  • The Whistler

    The Whistler

  • Kramer vs. Kramer

    Kramer vs. Kramer

  • Valentine Magic on Love Island

    Valentine Magic on Love Island

  • Calhoun

    Calhoun

  • The Immortal

    The Immortal

  • Illegal Entry

    Illegal Entry

  • Shakedown

    Shakedown

  • Woman in Hiding

    Woman in Hiding

  • Medical Story

    Medical Story

  • Spy Hunt

    Spy Hunt

  • Red Canyon

    Red Canyon

  • Panic in the City

    Panic in the City

  • Johnny Stool Pigeon

    Johnny Stool Pigeon

  • Roses Are for the Rich

    Roses Are for the Rich

  • The D.A.: Murder One

    The D.A.: Murder One

  • Love on the Run

    Love on the Run

  • The Late Show

    The Late Show

  • Models Inc.

    Models Inc.

  • Boys' Night Out

    Boys' Night Out

  • East of Eden

    East of Eden

  • Steel Town

    Steel Town

  • Dante

    Dante

  • Blackjack Ketchum Desperado

    Blackjack Ketchum Desperado

  • Brute Force

    Brute Force

  • The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch

    The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • Young Maverick - Dead Man's Hand

    Young Maverick - Dead Man's Hand

  • Tanganyika

    Tanganyika

  • The Dream Merchants

    The Dream Merchants

  • The Lady from Texas

    The Lady from Texas

  • Tight as a Drum

    Tight as a Drum

  • Women's Prison

    Women's Prison

  • While the City Sleeps

    While the City Sleeps

  • Monster in the Closet

    Monster in the Closet

  • The Heist

    The Heist

  • Private Hell 36

    Private Hell 36

  • Los Angeles Plays Itself

    Los Angeles Plays Itself

  • Sierra Stranger

    Sierra Stranger

  • Calamity Jane and Sam Bass

    Calamity Jane and Sam Bass

  • A Little Game

    A Little Game

  • All My Sons

    All My Sons

  • Too Much Sun

    Too Much Sun

  • Double Negative

    Double Negative

  • This Girl for Hire

    This Girl for Hire

  • Roses Are for the Rich

    Roses Are for the Rich

  • The Naked City

    The Naked City

  • War Gods of Babylon

    War Gods of Babylon

  • In the Glitter Palace

    In the Glitter Palace

  • Actor

    Actor

  • Jennifer

    Jennifer

  • Battered

    Battered

  • Kung Fu

    Kung Fu

  • Kung Fu

    Kung Fu

  • Know Your Enemy: Japan

    Know Your Enemy: Japan

  • The Yellow Mountain

    The Yellow Mountain

  • Flame of the Islands

    Flame of the Islands

  • The Broken Star

    The Broken Star

  • In Search of America

    In Search of America

  • Settle the Score

    Settle the Score

  • Snatched

    Snatched

  • Spaceways

    Spaceways

  • Flamingo Road

    Flamingo Road

  • Roar of the Crowd

    Roar of the Crowd

  • Lily for President?

    Lily for President?