Alain Delon

In 1969, Delon and his wife were at the center of a massive scandal when their bodyguard was found shot dead in a garbage dump. Durning received Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 and for To Be or Not to Be in 1983. After a string of box office disasters in the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the unexpected failure of Patrice Leconte's film Une Chance sur deux, Alain Delon announced his decision to give up acting in 1997. More recently he has played a benevolent father to Holly Hunter in Home for the Holidays (1995), and a savvy southern state governor ("Pappy" O'Daniel) in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. His later work has not reached these hights, and his decline is characteristic of the nouvelle vague of French actors, such as Jean-Paul Belmondo. In Tootsie he played a suitor to a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman, and worked again with Hoffman in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman. He also gave tremendous performances in Lucino Visconti's "The Leopard" and, perhaps his finest moment, "Le Samourai". Since then he has amassed over 100 film and TV credits, including Dog Day Afternoon (with Al Pacino), the sci-fi classic The Final Countdown, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

His breakthrough as a film star came with Plein Soleil, a 1962 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr Ripley. One of Durning's best-known roles is the crooked bunco cop Lieutennant Snyder who doggedly pursues the young con artist Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) in the 1973 classic The Sting. Delon was born in Sceaux, France. He has since performed in some 32 plays, including the Tony Award-winning That Championship Season. Alain Delon (born November 8, 1935) is a French actor, one of the best known outside his native country. While working as a ballroom dance instructor (he had some training in classical dance) he was noticed and cast in the New York Shakespeare Festival. After the war, Durning worked various jobs.

He has said he still suffers from nightmares about his war experiences. Durning is well-known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. He also participated in the Normandy Invasion. One of his injuries took place in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was one of the few to survive an attack on American POWs.

Army Ranger in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star and three Purple Heart medals. Durning served as a U.S. An eminent character actor, Durning is known for his versatility and for sometimes outperforming the main actors in his films. Charles Durning (born February 28, 1923) is an American actor of stage and screen.