Pete Duel

[lindapinda]

Anybody else here a Pete Duel fan?Do you still find that every time you see a repeat of Alias Smith and Jones,you just think he had that special something that sets him apart from any other actor?

[luckyboy]

Didn't he shoot himself dead, while the show was in its prime.? early 70s..

[kev100]

I remember being amazed when he committed suicide he was only 31 I think and a millionaire, cant imagine why someone who is rich handsome and famous and had girls by the thousands drooling after him would think he had nothing to live for.

[elgroucho]

Pete was gay and sadly never quite came to terms with it. He killed himself because of this apparently. I love Alias Smith And Jones, and long may he be remembered.

[Susan123]

Wow!! I was just thinking the same things a few days ago and was going to post a question - you beat me to it!

[lindapinda]

Elgroucho,where did you hear he was gay?I've read lots about him and never heard that before.

[elgroucho]

Heard that from an older friend. I'm only 26 so Pete was dead before I was born, and I kind of took that as being a well known fact. If you read his biog on imdb.com you'll see that he was alcoholic and depressive, all apparently linked, from what I've heard(though it doesn't say it on that site), to his repressed feelings.

I'll try and find something more concrete, but I really thought this was all common knowledge.

[elgroucho]

Can't find anything at all that would back up that theory. He was with his girlfriend when he killed himself, though of course many gays get married to women as we all know. I will ask my friend again and post back here afterwards, it may take a day or two though.

[FurryFeet]

He was the first hero i had i was quite upset when he died

[luckyboy]

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/drama/duelstory.htm

I cannot find anything about him being gay either.

I think people throw about the gay tag whenever something like this happens to an actor who appeared to have everything in his life.

My own view, is that duel a highly talented actor had higher ambitions, movies and theatre, and got depressed and felt his career had stalled and that he thought he had wasted his talent appearing in a tv western series...the night he died he had watched a episode of alias smith and jones and had been far from happy about the edition...

Its only a theory...

[lindapinda]

Thanks Luckyboy,that was a brilliant link! A lot of info that I had heard before,and a lot of stuff I hadn't.It really is a testament to him that he is still remembered so well,and thought of so highly even after all these years.

[eupraxia]

Thanks for that link Luckyboy I enjoyed reading about Pete. He sounds like a really great guy. What a shame it ended when it did.

[elgroucho]

So I spoke to my friend and he stood by what he told me originally and and also said there was a rumour of bribery too.

To be honest it all sounds like scandalous rumour, and given that googling throws up nothing, and that the net is the biggest rumour-mill ever, I would so there is absoulutely no substance in them whatsoever.

I go along with luckyboy, he was depressed and drinking too much and decided to end it all. Why oh why did he have to make a permanent solution to a temporary problem?

I hear the Smith and Jones movie is on today too. How much do I wish I had set the vcr this morning!

[lindapinda]

Thanks for getting back elgroucho! I agree with you,reckon someone 's just been stirring it.Am at home here,and have the gorgeous man himself to help me through the ironing!

[dothawkes]

I have been a Pete Duel Fan since the tv show first aired in the Uk in  1970.  I have never forgotten his birthday, the anniversary of his death and I use his poetry on many occasions, including on the funeral sheet for my Dad.s funeral in Feb, this year.  I still have a huge framed poster of him on my living room wall.

Yes, Pete did have something, a facial expression that seemed intense, look at the shots from Cannon for Cordoba and you can see how seriously he concentrated on his art.

Dothawkes

[dothawkes]

Plus, I have never heard that he was gay, I still have the newspaper cuttings from the day after he died and his fiance Diane and his baby son were on the front cover.

dothawkes

[dothawkes]

I have a thought in the back of my mind that his younger brother Geoffrey (Chisum) may have been the cause of the confusion over the previous question.  I have not seen Geoff on TV or in films for many years, he did some guest star stuff for Universal in the mid seventies after the John Wayne movie, I think he did Ironside for one, but he seems to have disapeared.

If anyone would like me to put Pete's poetry on here I can.  It is quite asimple style but suited the time, when he was trying to get back to the real things in life that mattered.

dothawkes

[lindapinda]

Hi Dothawkes! Great postings! I always think about him too on feb,24th and Dec.31. I never knew they had a child! I read and copied down, the beautiful poem Life.I just thought it was such a comforting way of looking at death.Is that the one you had at the funeral? I would love to read some more of his poetry certainly! By the way,I lost 2 gorgeous posters that I had held on to,during a house move some years ago,and then a few years ago I discovered the scrap book that I thought I had lost also! Was I delighted?

[Artful]

I have just found this thread and really enjoyed reading it. I too was such a fan of Pete Duel's. I cried and cried and cried - my father has always said, and still does, if I cry only half as much for him he will be happy!

I remember getting the Pete Duel Memorial Collection when I read about it in FAB 208 which has been an important possession ever since, could even be classed as part of the family heritage!

At the start of Alias Smith and Jones, VCRs weren't in your regular family's home and I recorded them onto cassette and would listen to them every night B4 going to sleep, now when I see an episode I can talk along with them. Since my Dad has recorded nearly all of them for me onto VHS but I want them on DVD, why oh why don't they bring them out!

[lindapinda]

Hey Artful,I did the same with the cassettes! There was one bit that I really loved,where the song"Take a look around"was playing in the background,while he showed someone around the devil,s hole gang area.I used to listen to that over and over! My mother used to call my bedroom "The Shrine",and boy did I do some crying up there! Don't understand why there aren,t any dvds yet,imagine if there was behind the scenes stuff available!