A Special Tribute to Pete Duel

Peter Ellstrom Deuel was born in Rochester, New York state on 24 February 1940. He was the eldest child of Dr Ellsworth Shaut Deuel, who was of French descent and known as Bob, and Lillian Marcella Deuel nee Ellstrom who was a first generation American of Swedish parents. His younger brother, Geoffrey Jacob, was born on 17 January 1943 and his sister Pamela Jane on 27 June 1945.

In 1947, the family moved to an old house in Penfield. Pamela described the house as having a couple of acres and being quite idyllic for raising a family. Peter's father was the town doctor and he had his offices in part of the house while the family lived in the other part. In fact, Peter came from a long line of doctors, not only his father but also his grandfather and great-grandfather were doctors. Two cousins and two great-uncles were also doctors and in addition, his mother was a nurse.

Coming from such a medical family, it was quite natural that his family would assume that Peter too would eventually train as a doctor.

"My family kind of assumed that I, too, would follow medicine as my vocation in life. But a few years ago, I came to a point where I had to decide, and pursued acting instead. Not everyone, to this day, can say that they feel that I made the right decision. I wouldn't, really, have been that happy as a doctor, it isn't creative enough for me. For others in my family, it was the ideal profession. But we are different as human beings from one person to another--and I just couldn't see myself as a doctor for the rest of my life. I made my choice calmly and objectively, and I've never had any cause for regrets on that score or any other, for that matter."

Peter said he didn't feel any pressure from his family though about his career choice. "I know my dad must have been disappointed when I decided on acting; but you'd have to ask him. He never let me think that he minded, which was a beautiful thing. He never let me know. Once, just a short while ago, when we were home for Christmas, he said something that makes me feel that perhaps he minded more than he let on. He just said something like, 'Why sure it would have been fun if you'd been a doctor,' but he just threw the line away in the middle of a paragraph."

In fact during his early childhood, his main interest was not medicine or drama, but airplanes and it is said that he could identify everything in the sky at a very young age. He had hopes of becoming an air force pilot but these hopes were dashed when he failed his medical due to less than perfect eyesight.

It seems that his interest in the stage and drama did begin early though and one news report on his funeral in Penfield mentioned his mother's memories of his stage debut as the Ugly Duckling.

Peter often described a happy childhood and home. Of his parents he said "I had good parents. My father dedicated his life to humanity, every real doctor does. My mother dedicated her life to my father and her children. I couldn't have had finer examples of human beings. I was given every possible advantage. There was love and happiness in our home. Lots of it. I liked my parents. I knew from the time I was a kid that they would always protect me, always give me affection and that they would always consider my welfare above their own. My parents did not run my life, they didn't smother me. Instead they tried to guide me to be the kind of person I had to be and at the same time they showed me what my obligations were to others."

"My parents are groovy people. They're parents a guy can talk to--about anything. And they listen. There was never any pushing to force me to do a thing. They always let me take my own road. When I decided to become an actor, there was never a word of objection. If anything, there was encouragement. Oh, Dad told me about the difficulties and disappointments and all the unhappy people in this business; and about how long it takes to get started and all that. But then he gave me his best wishes and sent me on my way. Maybe it's because Mom and Dad are young and they think young. They play golf together and my mother has a ball. Once she opened a women's shop just for kicks but after about seven years of it she found it was running her life. So she sold it. And now, she's out with my dad on the golf course almost every day."

In one interview, Peter told the story of the day he decided to annoy his mom in the kitchen. He was in ninth grade at the time and she grabbed a yardstick to swat him over the shoulders with. When the yardstick suffered more damage than his shoulders, Peter broke out laughing and he describes how his mom tried not to and failed.

"She was always very funny when she talked to me about life. My mother had a religious background--very church-going and all that. But she was hip--always had been--and had a heck of a time figuring out how to put across a point to me. 'What I mean, Petey,' she'd say, 'is that I don't think these things are right, you understand, but . . .' And then she'd realize she'd gotten herself into a corner and couldn't get herself out of it. And I'd grin, and then she'd get mad. But she was liberal and understanding, and above all, a good woman."

Pete attended Penfield High School and in his early years there, up to second year high, Pete seems to have found studying easy. "I got good marks with very little effort, I got through my homework fast because I wanted time to myself, time to be free. I wanted the most of each of my days. I was curious. I still am. I asked questions and tried to remember the answers."

However, in his later school years and college years, it seems this wasn't the case. "I dislike school. My study habits weren't just poor--they just weren't. I had no study habits." he said. "I thrived on trouble. It always got me out of that boring classroom and into something interesting like finding a chink in the principal's armor."

He did however fill his high school years with many activities, being a member of the Junior Baseball team, the Assembly Committee, the National Thespians and the National Honor Society.

One article of the time describes Pete's involvement in two road accidents around this time. The first was reportedly in 1958 when he was injured as a passenger in a car crash on an icy road. He required stitches in his tongue and suffered a broken pelvis which lead to four weeks spent in hospital in a cast and a further eight weeks on crutches.

There was another accident when he came of his motorcycle coming downhill on a mountain road. This time his right leg was split open from knee to ankle and he was reportedly in surgery for nearly three hours, followed by several months of skin grafting. Luckily he had been wearing a crash helmet "Thanks to my helmet, I didn't even have a headache. Not at the time of the accident, and not afterwards."

It seems though, that as he approached graduation from high school, he become depressed, not really knowing what he wanted to do. This statement which he made in 1967 about his high school years, now seems particularly chilling.

"My father took great pains to get me ready for college, but I had been watching the world and I didn't see one thing in my future that I really wanted. Everything seemed phony. I was down, terribly depressed. I knew that if I went to college I'd be educated like every other guy who ever went to college. I'd be given little chance to become Peter Deuel. People I didn't even know, would never even meet, had planned my life for me. I said the devil with it. That's when I decided to commit suicide. I thought about it a long time. I felt useless. I was ambitious for nothing. I kept feeling I was on the wrong track and would never get off. I didn't know what was going to happen to me if I died, but it seemed the only sensible thing to do. Then I discovered there was one thing I didn't have--the guts to take my own life. So, in truth, I just chickened out and after a while the urge went away. I finally went to college, St. Lawrence University. I majored in drinking and girls. Today there's nothing I regret more than having wasted all that time and my father's money."

He did graduate in 1957 and he did go to college, to St Lawrence University in Canton, New York where he majored in English, Drama and Psychology. He wasn't a member of the Drama Department and yet he managed to appear in every production. Toward the end of his sophomore year, he appeared in the lead role in a production of The Rose Tattoo which his family came to see.

His father was impressed and Pamela later described what happened next. "I think at that time when Dad saw what Peter had, that he wouldn't be really furthering himself to stay at St Lawrence. I think that Daddy just did say "Listen, you're wasting your time and my money, go be an actor." Pete took his father's advice and went on to enrol at the American Theatre Wing in New York City.

In 1960, Pete successfully auditioned for the American Theatre Wing in New York City where he spent 2 years studying Shakespearean drama, Restoration comedy, fencing, dancing, speech, elocution and body movement. During this time he also started his search for acting, landing parts with the Master Playhouse summer theatre at Standing Stone, the Shakespearwrights Repertory Theatre and the Players Theatre off-Broadway.

"I finally made it and got into Actors Equity by landing a small role in an off-Broadway production of Electra at the Players Theatre in Greenwich Village--they put me on as assistant stage manager. I'm still not sure to this day if they were trying to tell me something about my acting when they gave me the job of assistant stage manager. I certainly learned a lot of useful things working at that job."

Other modest parts followed and then in 1961 he made his first network TV appearance on The Armstrong Circle Theatre, a major dramatic anthology series. Sometime around 1962 he also made a small appearance in a theatrical movie called Wounded in Action which was filmed in The Philippines. His earliest appearance which remains on film is from a US Department of Defense training film called Espionage Target - You!

In 1963 he toured with the National Road Company production of Take Her She's Mine (the Broadway comedy hit starring Tom Ewell) where he played the role of Donn Bowdry. The tour covered the whole of the US over the course of the year before ending in Washington DC.

"I went on the national tour of Take Her, She's Mine with Joanna Pettit and Tom Ewell. It was a great experience, and I finally began feeling like a member of the acting fraternity. After the play closed in Washington, D.C., I went home for a summer of decision. I couldn't make up my mind if I should try the Broadway scene or head for Hollywood and try my luck there. But after a few months of serious thinking, I decided to head for the Hollywood casting offices and the open spaces."

His first small TV role came late in 1963 on Channing (The Last Testament of Buddy Crown) and this was followed by small roles on some of the most popular shows of the time - Combat (Vendetta), Gomer Pyle USMC (Gomer and the Dragon Lady and Dance Marine, Dance), 12 O'Clock High (Appointment at Liege and The Hero) and Mickey (Crazy Hips McNish) as well as a decent sized role on The Fugitive in Fun and Games and Party Favors.

By 1965 he was under contract to Screen Gems and he won a recurring role in the Gidget series which starred Sally Field. He played Gidget's somewhat square brother in law John Cooper, a psychology student who liked to practice on the family. Pete appeared in 22 of the 32 episodes and although the series was not renewed the following year it had given Pete good exposure and he won his first co-starring role in a series the following year.

It also brought him a Most Promising Male Star award from the Motion Picture Almanac and he impressed producer William Sackheim so much that he decided that he wanted Duel (and nobody else) for his next sitcom, Love on a Rooftop.

"But I still had to make a test and I wanted the part so badly, I was jumpy as a cat." commented Pete.

"We tested a number of actors and Peter was by far the best." said Bernard Slade, one of the writers of Love on a Rooftop. "Peter was a natural actor, enormously talented who could play both comedy and drama."

So he was chosen to play the role of David Willis in Screen Gems Television's Love on a Rooftop, with the British actress Judy Carne playing his wife Julie.

The show was about a young, newly married couple living on a shoestring in San Francisco and was filmed in colour - unusual at that time. "It could be about any young couple," Peter said, "and we think viewers of all ages will find something to identify with."

Dave was an apprentice architect earning $85.37 a week who discovers, after he has married her, that Julie comes from a rich family. "I try hard to bring a lot of myself into the role of David Willis." said Pete. "But, in many respects, he's a nicer person than I am. But then, you never see the mean side of TV characters. What I mean is, you see them angry, but not ugly. And they only get their comeuppance rather than being utterly defeated. Outside of this, I think one of the charms of Love On A Rooftop is that the two characters were realistic. Dave even gets petulant--sarcastic."


Love on a Rooftop Video Clip	Love on a Rooftop Video Clip

Peter had a reputation for being late on the set - he was even late on the very first day of filming according to Bernard Slade. This may have been one of the reasons for what was at times a somewhat fiery relationship between Pete and Judy Carne. Pete admitted "I suppose there's nothing more frustrating for a well-organized, schedule-conscious person like Judy than to come up against an all round mess of loose ends like me. I tease her a lot about her temper, maybe too much. But I will say this, her temper isn't the obnoxious kind. We have some pretty spicy words for each other, but she fights at a man's level and we never leave the set at night bearing grudges. Of course, I might add that we rarely leave the set together."

Yet, several years after Peter's death, in her autobiography, Judy Carne described how they confided in each other about their personal lives, how Peter was fiercely protective of her if he thought she was being mistreated and how they laughed together and indeed slept together on their trips to San Francisco to film the outdoor scenes for the series.

It would seem though that whatever they truly thought of each other, they didn't let it interfere with filming. "Regardless of what our personal feelings are for each other, we do work well together." said Pete. "I think being complete opposites helps us get into our respective roles. After all, David and Julie don't have a great deal in common except their love for each other. They have different backgrounds. As newlyweds, they're still getting to know each other, learning how to cope with their problems, etc. I guess Judy and I are in much the same kind of situation. Maybe someday we'll find out that we really do like each other--or that we can't stand each other completely.

Bernard Slade doesn't remember there being any particular problems on the set. "I don't remember it being a tense set. Swack ran a tight ship but liked actors so I believe it was a happy group."

Pete obviously took his career very seriously, and whilst filming Love on a Rooftop he commented about the "glamor" of stardom. "Acting is much harder work than most people realize. By the time we get done filming a day's sequence, I'm too bushed to do anything but go to bed early. After all, if I stayed up late, and then had to be on the set at eight the next day, I couldn't do the best job I was capable of. I love acting. But to me it is a profession, not a game. I want to be at my best all the time. If that cuts into the glamorous part of the profession it's okay with me. The show comes first."

Love on a Rooftop was cancelled at the end of its first season after a run of 30 episodes. Judy Carne explained "By the time we finished shooting the last episode of the season in the spring of 1967, ABC had not yet told us whether the show would be renewed. This was unusual, since our reviews had been excellent and the ratings as strong as another new show on ABC, "That Girl." After weeks in limbo the network announced it was canceling "Love on a Rooftop." It had obviously been a tough decision-at the time, ABC was the poorest of the networks financially, and we had simply been unable to outrate our principal opposition, NBC's Petticoat Junction. Peter and I were devastated. It wasn't just that we were out of work, it was the frustration of losing out to such dubious competition. ABC received a flood of mail in protest of our cancellation, but it was to no avail."

Bernard Slade described his thoughts on its cancellation. "It is baffling why we weren't picked up because we had a higher rating than That Girl which got the nod over us. This maybe was because Marlo Thomas had a close relationship with one of the executives at ABC. This could be sour grapes but I believe we were a far superior show to That Girl. Yes, I was disappointed but my career was in full flower and I simply went on to writing other shows. Swack however, was devastated and vowed never to do another series again. And he never did."

Pete also commented on its cancellation some years later "Someone else wanted that time slot and had enough muscle to get it, which left us out in the cold. The show was well liked and the ratings were good enough to go on for another year. But it didn't have a chance."

In 1967, after Love on a Rooftop was cancelled, he had a strong support role in the feature film, The Hell with Heroes which starred Rod Taylor. His performance in this film was enough to win him a 7 year contract with Universal Studios which he signed in July 1967. A studio contract meant that he was paid every week, not per episode. It also means that the studio will give an actor work to build them up before putting them in a series.

Between 1967 and 1970, Pete enjoyed what he was later to describe as a "carefree" time, making guest appearances on many major shows, playing his favourite dramatic roles, for which he also received recognition from the industry.

"It's easier for me when I'm acting in a heavy dramatic role rather than a comedy," Pete said. "It just fits my personality better. Comedy takes more effort but a good dramatic role gets my juices going, and it just happens--it's just kind of natural for me."

Two roles that he especially identified with were The Psychiatrist, where he guest starred in the pilot and the first episode of the series, and Matt Lincoln.

"There have been two roles that have been close to portions of my personality. Never the whole guy. But you zero in on those facets you recognize. On "The Psychiatrist,'' I played an ex-junkie named Casey Poe, who was very clear to me. He was a loner. There was much about life he didn't understand. He had a lot of hostility, felt himself misunderstood, the victim of circumstances. I could identify with that, with Casey's fears---the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of other human beings we all have to a greater or lesser degree. He was my age and spoke the way I'd speak, and I was able to get right into it. I wore my own beard and my own clothes, no makeup, nothing to distract me. I would just drive to work, get out of my car, walk onto the stage and start shooting. Another thing that helped was that I had read Louis Lablanky's book, Synanon, The Tunnel Back, and for the first time really understood that junkies were human beings. I hadn't been prejudiced, but that book made me understand that all human beings are basically alike, have similar problems and simply take different ways out. When it came time to play Casey Poe, it was a snap."

"The other role was that of the priest I played in Matt Lincoln, who fell in love with a girl and wanted to leave the Church, but, in the end, decided to wait and see it through. I could understand this man, the doubts he had. I played him very peacefully, without having to strain. I allowed myself to relax the way I am capable of relaxing if I choose to hard enough. Sometimes I'm just not able to relax. In this town there are always so many things on my mind, things that have to be done. I could relax in this character without any feeling of guilt because I was working. I could be cool and quiet through the period of time I did the role, even after work. I'm not usually like that."

He impressed in several other dramatic roles, displaying a totally different side to his talents than was seen in his lighter, comedy roles such as Love on a Rooftop and Alias Smith and Jones.

His guest appearance on The Bold Ones is considered by many to be one of his strongest performances. He plays a Vietnam veteran accused of the murder of his best friend and refuses to give evidence at his own hearing because what he has to tell will dis-honour his friend. The scene where he finally relents and tells his lawyer what happened is extremely powerful and moving.

He also made two guest appearances on Marcus Welby MD. The first was in the pilot episode where he played an aphasiac, left only able to say one word "mother" after a car accident. Again, he showed great versatility in the way he used that one word to express everything. His second appearance in Marcus Welby was as a Native American (in full body makeup) who was unsure about his medical training. There are parts of this appearance which seem especially poignant considering Pete's own life - his character even contemplates suicide in the final scene.

His appearance in The Interns was another dramatic one. His character needs treatment on a kidney machine but as there just aren't enough machines available, he is left without the treatment he needs. The Young Lawyers is also a favourite with many. This time his character is an ex junkie full of anger at the terms of his parole which prevent him from seeing his wife or friends.

In an episode of The Virginian he played an outlaw with a good heart and although the role of Jim Dewie at first appears to have some things in common with Hannibal Heyes, Pete displays his true talent and plays the role so differently that Jim Dewie can never be confused with Hannibal Heyes. In another episode of The Virginian he plays a misguided young man who means well, but doesn't know how to show it.

In an episode of Ironside he plays his most evil character, something he makes obvious within seconds of appearing on screen. Two episodes of The Name of the Game, one with his real-life brother Geoffrey Deuel playing the role of his brother, and one where he plays a Czech revolutionary, plus appearances in Insight, The FBI and two further pilots (The Young Country and How to Steal an Airplane) complete his guest appearance roles.

As Pete explained though, it was at times not easy to persuade producers that he could play these heavy roles. "The producer didn't want me for The Psychiatrist. He thought all I could play was light comedy, because of my association with Gidget and Love on a Rooftop. Then someone up top showed him film of me as a Czech revolutionary in Name of the Game."

Looking back on Love on a Rooftop, Pete wasn't sure whether it was or wasn't good for him. " I got a lot of work from it, and that helped. It attracted attention from people in the business. But I also encountered resistance because some people thought I couldn't play serious roles, that all I was good for was fluff."

In 1969 he co-starred in Avco Embassy's film Generation with David Janssen and Kim Darby, with whom he developed an off-screen romance. Pete played Walter Owen, a rebellious young husband whose wife, Doris, is nine months' pregnant when they marry. Together they plan a natural, home birth, but when Walter meets his new father-in-law, things don't go to plan. This is also the first appearance in which Pete used his new screen name of Pete Duel, rather than Peter Deuel (his real name).

The following year, he appeared in another movie, Cannon for Cordoba which was filmed in Spain and starred George Peppard. Pete's character (Andy Rice) is part of the US Army's mission to subdue the viscious bandit Cordoba during the Mexican Revolution.

Then in 1970 came a pilot for a new western comedy-adventure, Alias Smith and Jones, co-starring with Ben Murphy. Hannibal Heyes was to become the role for which the public would remember Pete and he brought a great deal of charm and charisma to the role. He admitted though, that it took him a while to "discover" who Heyes was.

"I still haven't found my way in playing Hannibal Heyes. I know what Heyes should be, at least I did in the pilot. He favors sweet talking, card playing and safe cracking and needs situations to display those attributes. But when you put a series together in a hurry, it's hard to get scrappy dialogue for such occasions. That's difficult to do even with plenty of time. I make it a point never to criticize writers--they have the hardest job going--so I often work around the situation and dialogue, trying to have fun."

One of the most memorable things about the show was the on-screen chemistry between Pete and his co-star Ben Murphy who played Kid Curry. Ben later described it as a good chemistry which began at the audition and said that that was what he thought people liked about the show. "The chemistry between Peter and I was wonderful. I have never quite had it since. It was a marvellous chemistry."

In October of that year, Universal offered Pete a co-starring role as Hannibal Heyes in the series and it was brought in as a mid-season replacement for the ailing Matt Lincoln.

Pete was not keen to become involved in a series but he had already turned down two previous ones and if he had said no, the studio could have put him on suspension which meant he would not be paid and would be unable to work elsewhere. What he really wanted to do, was to continue the dramatic roles he had been doing on other series, but as his brother Geoffrey later explained "He really had no choice. That's the way it is; that's the rule of the game. Certain other actors would just love to have a series - they would be on cloud nine."

Pete himself admitted "Some actors sign contracts hoping they'll land in a series. I signed hoping I could restrict my work to movies. However, a legal hassle developed and I wound up suffering from battle fatigue. They sweetened the pot a little bit and here I am."

Clearly he was not on cloud nine. By the end of the first season he was, by his own account, close to a breakdown.

"Yeah. I've been pretty outspoken about how I feel about this television series. I hate it. I never wanted to do it. But, I'm stuck. I'm under contract. I think last season I hated everything and everyone. I hated the series and the whole idea of being in a television series. In fact, looking back I think I was as close to a nervous breakdown as I ever want to be. I realize that's a very dramatic statement, but day by day, week by week, inch by inch, I was getting more and more unhappy, more and more frustrated."

During the break in filming between the first and second series of Alias Smith and Jones, he filmed a version of the stageplay The Scarecrow by Percy MacKaye, co-starring with Gene Wilder. Pete claimed that this was the work he was proudest of.

In September 1971, during filming of the second series of Alias Smith and Jones, he said "This series, any series, is a big fat drag to an actor who has any interest in his work. It's the ultimate trap. You slowly lose any artistic thing you may have. It's utterly destructive." By November he was becoming even more disenchanted and unhappy. "Contractually, I have to do this series - or some other trash."

Despite his feelings about the series, he never gave anything but his best. Roger Davis, who took over the role of Heyes after Pete's death, also guest starred on an episode with Pete and his co-star Ben Murphy. "He was a complete natural" he commented. "He didn't even have to learn his lines until just before he went on. Such a complete absence of nerves gives you great strength as an actor.' He remembers one scene in particular. "Pete and Ben were at a poker table and Pete had the script on his lap. He kept having to get up and in the end just let it fall to the floor and got on and did the scene. It was great ensemble acting. Nobody wanted to let the other two down and Pete knew he could always rise to the occasion."

In fact, he had a reputation of wanting perfection and of raising hell if a script was inadequate. He would also pester the directors with pertinent questions about character motivation. As one producer said "He's a stickler about having everything perfect with his acting--he'll raise hell if something is off or if the acting is not up to his standards."

"I like the challenge of being his agent," said Marc "Butch" Clavell. "He is terribly headstrong and willing to take a suspension at the drop of a hat if the property is not up to par. He's not afraid to fight with the biggest people, but he's honest and a beautiful friend. When I was in the hospital, he offered to finance my three children's education in a private school."

Pete did keep his feet firmly on the ground throughout his career and never became "affected" by his stardom, never played "the star". He didn't like press interviews, but understood their importance - and their danger. "These interviews with the press can be fun, but they can also be a little scary. Sometimes they can build up your image to the point where you don't know yourself if it is a myth or reality."

Alias Smith and Jones had enjoyed only minor success in the US, due in great part to its being scheduled against the country's favourite show, Flip Wilson, on a Thursday night. Despite this, it was renewed for a second and indeed a third season. As Pete explained "When you throw somebody to the wolves, and they don't get devoured, you keep them on. After all, it's cheaper. You save money by not trying with a new baby.

On the other hand, the series was a major success abroad in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and Japan. In fact, to this day many still remember the series, and Pete Duel, in the UK.

The series would not, however, survive without Pete for very long. As Egbert "Swack" Swackhamer said "He was the real star. A lot of the success of the series was due to him."

On the day of his death, Executive Producer Roy Huggins had assumed the show would be cancelled but the studios instructed that filming would continue and a replacement would be found to take over the role of Heyes. Filming even continued that very afternoon as they shot sequences involving Kid Curry but not Hannibal Heyes. Three days later, Roger Davis arrived on the set as the new Hannibal Heyes. The final five episodes of the second series were completed but after only 12 episodes of season three, the show was cancelled mid-season in 1973.

One final ironic comment from Pete Duel: "It would be funny if the series runs a couple of years, then the film is re-released, and the new audience that hasn't seen the movie will say, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' resembles Alias Smith and Jones."

I don't know what Pete would say to this, but I remember clearly as a nine year old sitting down to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with my parents and my father saying that I would probably like the film because it was "kind of the film version of Alias Smith and Jones." Maybe Pete just never quite knew what an impact he was making?

Pete Duel grew up in the small town of Penfield, New York, along with his younger brother, Geoff, and sister, Pamela. "We lived in a big, old house with lots of lawns around it and chestnut, maple, and elm trees," he recalled. "Behind the house were woods where we used to spend most of our spare time, playing cowboys and Indians. We had a wonderful childhood. So we grew up with a sense of values that was based on the natural beauty that so many kids today just never see."

After moving away to Hollywood, Pete would return home for occasional visits. Penfield was no longer the small, rural community it was during his youth, however, and Pete's unhappiness over the changes in his home town were reflected in his Ecology recording made in 1971. He was upset by the loss of open spaces and woods surrounding his home in the name of progress. Considering Pete's love of ecology, it must have hurt him deeply to see the beauty surrounding his childhood home disappear bit by bit, destroyed by man's desire to build.

When Pete first moved to Hollywood in 1964, he lived in an apartment above a garage on Fuller Avenue, a modest residential street. He paid $65/month to rent this apartment and he stayed there until 1971. The space was small and Pete made three rooms out of one with partitions. He felt comfortable there in his own space where he could pursue his hobbies. One article quoted Pete as saying this, "It's a nice neighborhood, a good atmosphere for easy living." The author of this article described his home as "cluttered, crowded quarters (with) several attractive oil paintings of hometown scenes by J. Erwin Porter, including one of his (Peter's) home and the church next door."

The apartment was filled with things that spoke of Pete's personality and interests. A bed took up most of the space in the tiny apartment along with a sofa covered with a red and white Indian cotton cloth. Classical records and books filled the shelves against the walls. Some of the books in his collection included "The Psychology of Self-Esteem" by Nathaniel Branden, "House Made of Dawn" by N. Scott Momaday, "How to Buy Stocks," "Look Homeward, Angel," and the complete works of Shakespeare.

Paintings decorated the walls, including Pete's own sketches, described by the writer of the article as being delicate and whimsical. Clippings on civil rights covered one door panel.

In 1971, Pete, with the help of Diane Ray, moved into a new home in Hollywood Hills at 2552 Glen Green Street. Pete was nervous about the move at first, seemingly reluctant to leave the comfort and familiarity of the apartment he had lived in for so long. He said about the Fuller apartment, "The place was me. It was old and funky and warm and lived-in. It looked as if I'd been living there for 40 years, really interesting…cluttered with paintings and book cases and funky old furniture-it was a true delight." So it was no wonder that he might have desired to remain where he was, but the place was small, hemmed in by apartment buildings and a lot of cement and concrete. He needed to move but he didn't have time.

Finally, Diane found him a place and moved him out. The new home was a rustic, comfortable house tucked into a dead-end street on a hill behind Hollywood. Pete moved in on a Friday night. His first impulse was that he should just leave and go back to the Fuller apartment, but once the move was complete and he was settled in the new, more spacious quarters, he was happy there. The morning after the move he reportedly was up watching the sunlight filter through the leaves in his backyard, watching his dogs romp through the grass.

Pete had three dogs that lived with him during his Alias Smith and Jones days; a black-and-blue Australian sheep dog named Shoshone, a toy poodle called Champagne and a mixed breed dog named Carroll (after Lewis Carroll). John Napier, Pete's agent, had this to say about the dogs: "They weren't anything too sensational to look at. They didn't have pedigrees, or anything posh...They weren't the sort of dogs that anybody would take a second look at in the street-except maybe to notice that they looked (like) mighty happy, healthy animals. It was Pete who gave them that health and that happiness."

Pete was a great friend to animals, often taking in strays and rescuing them if they were in need of saving. Dave McHugh, a New York composer, spoke of a time when he and Pete both ran into the icy Hudson River to save a puppy. Roy Thinnes, who worked with Pete on two episodes of The Psychiatrist told the story of an injured bird that Pete found and took home to care for.

Pete's love for animals can be seen just by watching an episode or two of Alias Smith and Jones and observing how he, the actor, treats his horses. On more than one occasion, Pete can be seen reaching out to give a horse an affectionate rub or pat. Pete's compassion for animals of all kinds was just one aspect of his love for the planet earth and all God's creations.

It's been noted that in all the years since his death, no one has ever had a bad thing to say about Pete Duel. Monty Laird, a stunt man and stand-in on Alias Smith and Jones said Pete was the most outgoing, most personable person he ever met. Monty said that Pete loved to see a smile on everyone's face. He said that Pete was cordial to everyone. When fans showed up on the Universal set, Pete always took the time to talk to them and give them autographed photographs. When an interviewer asked Monty, "What stands out in your mind when you think about Pete Duel?" he gave this reply, "Pete always told me whatever happens in your life, pick up, don't despair, and go down the road with it. Use it to the best of your ability."

One writer described Pete's stand-in, Harold Frizzell as Pete's closest friend. Whether this is true or not is difficult to establish, but Harold did have some interesting things to say about Pete after his death. For instance, "He was one of the greatest guys you could ever meet. He was a hard person to understand---but I could read him. He just had so much love that he wanted to spread it. He loved people in general, everybody. His attitude was that people were human beings and entitled to be treated as human beings. He loved kids. He wanted to settle down with a good woman who would look after him and give him kids--a whole house full of kids."

Frizzell also had this to say about Pete. "The simple things in life were what Pete loved--so simple that most other people would not like them. 'Let's take a walk in the woods,' he would say, and we would sit out all day beside a lake and fish. He was just about the best-liked person who ever worked at Universal Studios." As of 1975, Frizzell still worked at Universal, but he never found another Pete Duel. "You only meet a guy like that once in a lifetime."

Pete's true best friend had to be his younger brother, Geoff. Pete talked about his relationship with his brother in several interviews. He was quoted as saying, "My brother and I are very close. We were close as children growing up in the lovely little town of Penfield, NY. We're still close now." When questioned about any rivalry that might exist between the two of them, Pete said, "Geoff and I find ourselves judging, comparing-but we handle it well with each other. We have always talked about it. He is my best friend, my brother."

Geoff once said, "Pete felt there were other things he wanted to do. Acting was not enough in itself. He wanted to do other things for people that he considered more meaningful--and he wanted to have better parts. Possibly, that was a shame, because he forgot how much happiness he gave to so many people." Truer words have never been spoken...

In 1966, Pete was quoted as saying, "I like girls who are natural. The girl I'll marry will have to be unaffected. If I were to sum it up in one word, I'd say that honesty was the most important quality anyone could have." This love of 'natural, unaffected' women continued throughout most of Pete Duel's long-term relationships. Most of the women he was linked with shared these characteristics. In a world where he was surrounded by beautiful, young women looking for stardom, Pete chose women who shared his love of the simple, down-to-earth things in life.

There are lots of interesting quotes attributed to Pete on the subjects of love and marriage. His views of marriage changed significantly, but not unexpectedly, during the time he was in Hollywood. As a young man in his twenties, Pete did not show much interest in getting married. He was enjoying the single life and all the freedom that goes with it. By 1971, the year he died, a lot of what was written reflected a man who was ready to start thinking of settling down with the right woman and raising a family. Unfortunately, that was never meant to be and Pete never married.

In 1967, Pete said, "I never make ridiculous promises of undying love. Nor do I expect them from the girl. But when I find myself in love, well, that's what I am, a man in love. I don't want marriage now. I'm not ready for it. I like living the way I live. Someday I won't. Someday I'll meet a girl I can't live without. Maybe, I can't say for sure. Nothing is for sure."

In another interview from July 1967, Peter says, "I would probably be a terrible husband. I'm just not the kind of man that takes too many things very seriously. At least not at this time. Perhaps I'm too involved with myself; I really can't say for sure. But I do know that having a wife until I'm a little older would be a mistake.' He went on to say, "The girl that took the chance on me would be in for a disappointment."

Around the same time, June 1967, it was reported that Pete had been dating a recently divorced Jill Andre for about a year and a half. Jill was an actress and former model who lived in West Hollywood with her two children, Gabriel and Pascal. When questioned about their relationship, Pete admitted that they were in love but had no plans for marriage. Again, he told the reporter that he had no interest in getting married at that time and probably wouldn't for several more years.

Describing their relationship, Pete was quoted as saying, "What first attracted me was her spontaneity, her great open-faced enjoyment of things. Jill has a wide range of appreciation." He added, "Before I fell in love with Jill, I wasn't the most faithful guy in the world. I run the straight and narrow with her now. When we were first going together---well, let me put it this way---there have been periods in our relationship when I was less faithful than I am now."

He also said, "When I do get married, I definitely hope it will be to Jill or a girl like her. I have a hard time imagining marrying anyone but Jill because of what she is and what she means to me." Repeating the same sentiment he had expressed in previous interviews, Pete went on to say he was not emotionally ready for marriage at the time of this interview.

Pete's next significant relationship appears to have been with Mary Beth Griswold. They met in 1967. At some point, they got engaged. There wasn't a lot written about Pete and Mary Beth's time together but it seems that by mid- to late-1968, they had broken up. It is believed that the relationship hit a snag because the two lovers spent too much time apart from each other. During much of their time together, Pete was either busy working or campaigning for the candidacy of Senator Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 Presidential race.

By early spring 1969, Pete was involved with his next great love, Kim Darby. She had recently been divorced from her first husband, James Stacy. She was a young 22 at the time and they were co-stars in the movie "Generations".

They became friends on the set and this friendship led to dating, but Kim was afraid of falling in love with Pete on the rebound from her failed marriage. Their romance was not without problems and they decided not to see each other any more at one point, an action both of them later regretted so they rekindled their relationship a few weeks later.
Pete had to fly to Spain to film "Cannon for Cordoba" for ten weeks. Once there, he convinced Kim to take a trip to Europe to visit him on the set.

It's clear that Pete's feelings about marriage had changed quite a lot by this time. He was quoted as saying, "All I can say is that I love her and a marriage date is up to her." And also, "I'm ready to be a husband and father."

In a shocking turn of events, Kim suddenly married James Westmoreland on February 6th, 1970. She called Pete a few days before the wedding to tell him. "I just want you to know before you read it in the papers," she reportedly told him. "I'm getting married." And Pete, said friends, was very upset. Apparently, he did feel he had a future with Kim up until then. But it appears that even when she was seeing Pete, she couldn't make up her mind. There were rumors that she was seeing her ex-husband during that time as well as her co-star in another movie, Bruce Davison.

In February 1970, Pete met Diane Ray. She was a production secretary at Universal Studios when they started dating. When she was laid off in May, Diane went to work for Pete, taking care of his fan mail, doing his secretarial work and handling all the details of his professional life.

Diane got Pete interested in health food. She was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist and had been a vegetarian before meeting Pete. Before long, he was experimenting in health foods she put before him and found he liked it.

In the same way that Diane got Pete interested in health foods, he got her interested in ecology and taking care of the earth's resources. Pete was passionate about doing what he could to take care of the world he lived in. Pete was quoted saying "I don't see how I could become interested in a woman who didn't give a damn about ecology."

Diane and Pete split up at least once during their relationship. In response to an interviewer's question about why they weren't together any longer, Pete answered, "If a relationship has lasted a long time, there's never one particular thing. There's no specific reason why." The couple tried for a reconciliation shortly before he died. In the same interview, Pete speaks of their attempt at getting back together--"This will be a new feeling," he reportedly said. "We've both changed quite a bit. We've both learned quite a lot from whatever we've done before. And we're going at it just one step at a time. Whatever happens will happen--that's all. If it works out to our mutual benefit, we'll be together. Otherwise, no. We don't want to be a part of something that will destroy one or the other of us."

Diane and Pete were still trying to get past their problems so they could be together right up until the night he died. Diane was with him that night, asleep in his bedroom. Pete never found the lasting happiness that he spent his life longing for. The face he showed the world was one of a carefree, handsome young man. But deep in his soul, he was troubled by things that he saw happening in the world around him. Perhaps, if he could have cared less, he would have survived and lived a long and contented life. But maybe, if he had cared less, he would never have been the man that we know and remember as Pete Duel.

The physical nature and lively mind of Pete Duel meant that his interests went far beyond acting.

It appears that his first interest, from an early age, was aircraft. By the age of five, at the end of the Second World War, he could identify and list the features of every plane in the sky and was enrolled at a very early age in one-boy flight training. Pete’s sole aim during his teenage years was to enlist in the air force, however on applying when he was seventeen he failed the physical due to less than perfect eyesight.

Disappointed by his rejection from the air force Pete turned his attention to cars and speed on the ground. This fascination continued throughout his life despite a car accident, which left him with a partially severed tongue and broken pelvis, and motorcycle accident, which resulted in a severe leg injury. In fact his obsession with racing was a matter of some concern for his friends, one commenting, “he attended as many road races as he could and it was clear he was fascinated by speed,” and another that “he has such a wonderful future ahead of him……if he would only take stock of the situation as objectively as he does with everything else in his life, he would realise what the truth is, namely that he could die anytime just because he likes to taste the thrill of racing.” Pete himself commented in an interview aptly titled “don’t dare me I may do it” written in 1967, “Cars and motor cycles are a weakness I watch, I’m mechanical and revel in the quality of a fine car and cycle.”

Although this love of fast cars and racing seems in many ways to be at odds with his love of nature and solitude, perhaps Pete found it a release, a way of dealing with the mounting pressures in his life, but according to his friends he took it to an extreme level; “it’s fortunate in one way that he never went to drugs or wild sex or any of those extremes, but what he’s involved in now can be just as dangerous.”

Pete developed an interest in nature and ecology during his childhood. He was lucky enough to grow up in a small country town with lots of woods and fields surrounding it and his father introduced him to camping and hiking. “It’s my main hobby, I just love it. I spend much of my free time exploring the back country of California’s High Sierras and sometimes spend weeks at a time driving through this – to me – wonderfully uncharted country.” He had a camper van and trailer in which he travelled most of the continent, sleeping in it much of the time; he was described in one magazine feature as a melancholy figure who liked to camp alone in the wilderness. “ I’d rather be out camping in the wilderness than anything else I can think of. I like to load up my jeep with provisions, tent and stove and head out to some remote areas of California or Nevada. It’s fun out there exploring old mines and ghost towns.” This love of camping was based on two main motivations; the thrill of discovery and adventure and also the chance to take time out from the stress of his life, “I also use these moments to contemplate. I think it is very important for each of us that we have time away from the demands of everyday life. Such can make us terribly neurotic if we aren’t careful, and that’s a trap I very much want to avoid.”

Pete spent much of his free time in the mountains and in 1970 bought a twenty acre piece of land in a secluded area, near Sonora, surrounded by national forest, describing the air, view and seclusion as fantastic. “The only problem is that it’s so high up – 8500 feet – and gets so much snow that it’s only accessible for six months out of the year. Once last winter when I went up I had to walk the last three miles.” He admitted that he bought the property “to escape to, it kind of reminds me of back home in Penfield although it’s a lot more rugged."

This love of nature meant that Pete became very involved in issues of ecology and the damage being done to the countryside. “I’m very interested in preserving the environment and always have been, even when I was a small boy I worried about people and factories moving in and taking over and eventually destroying my fields and woods. Nobody thought about the environment too much then and when it finally happened it was considered progress.” He became increasingly frustrated about pollution, noise and overcrowded cities, commenting, “we’ve gotten ourselves into a really tough situation now. We’ve all sat back and enjoyed our easy and carefree non-returnable, super-amplified society without ever thinking about the damage we’re causing ourselves. I know it’s hard to change but we just have to.” In fact in an interview at his parent’s home he claimed that pollution was much more worth talking about than his career. “There isn’t much to smile about anymore with air and water pollution, oil smeared beaches, DDT, over population, racism and the deliberate killing off of species.” One interviewer commented that Pete carried with him a double-edged awareness of the world’s problems, his terrible concern for the future of mankind. In 1970, he narrated for free a documentary about ecology issues called Ah Man See What You've Done.

His home life with Diane Ray was completely bound by ecological considerations, from the type of food they bought, recycling and conserving water and electricity. Nothing made Pete so uptight than the ravage of nature, he had an almost evangelical fervour regarding ecology; assailing public ignorance and apathy, government complacency and corporate ruthlessness, insisting that “conserving our resources is essential if we’re going to stay out of trouble.” He wrote fierce poetry about “Beer Can Highways” and often signed his autographs ‘Peace and ecology now.’ He also signed with Ben Coopers Celebrity Speakers Bureau on the coast to spread the word, pleading for action on the pollution crisis and airing some controversial views including that for the human race to survive people should be limited to one child per couple either through moral persuasion or failing that law.

Pete became very involved with the campaign of anti-war president Gene McCarthy in 1968. He saw McCarthy as the “philosopher king” he wanted for president, someone with the vision and awareness of a philosopher plus political acumen. He worked at the McCarthy headquarters addressing and stuffing envelopes, giving out leaflets and generally running errands and stayed on right through to Chicago where he found himself face to face with a terrified young National Guardsman wearing a gas mask and pointing a bayonet at him, “Chicago was the closest I ever want to come to war, I couldn’t put a price on the education I got from that campaign.” Friends of Pete agree that his political interests jinxed his relationship with Mary Beth Griswold, commenting that when he wasn’t on set he was vigorously campaigning around the country.

Along with his interest in nature came a deep love of animals. He had two dogs, Shoshone, named after the Indian tribe and Caroll, named after Lewis Caroll. Dave McHugh, a New York composer recalled the time he and Pete both plunged into the icy Hudson river to save a puppy and Roy Thinnes mentions the wild bird with a broken leg that Pete took home while filming on location with The Psychiatrist. Some time later Pete arrived on set looking disturbed and the emotion spilled over into his scene. Thinnes asked what was wrong and learned that the bird had died that morning.

Pete’s list of personal belongings gave a clue as to the kind of person he was. He loved to read and his library included everything from art books, the poetry of Dylan Thomas, political essays, the complete works of Shakespeare and Thoreau’s writings on nature.

In between his acting and ecological involvement he found time for piano lessons, writing free verse, guitar playing and sketching. Pete was something of an accomplished artist, often using a felt pen for drawings ranging from semi-cartoon caricatures to abstract lines that had no meaning other than that their relationship on paper was interesting. He loved art, and his paintings and sketches reflected his simple yet varied feelings towards life, being whimsical and colourful and speaking out on the world very directly.

Much of his poetry however was strong and driving and reflected his beliefs, tending to be dark and bewailing the mass destruction of the environment. He was exposed to classical music from an early age. His parents belonged to a record club and Pete eagerly awaited the mailman so he could be the first to play the new discs. This love of music never left him, by his own admission he loved anything “that’s solid and genuine, a good violin concerto turns me to the wall.”

In summary Pete was an intensely creative, truly involved human being, with a strongly developed social conscience and the drive to act upon his beliefs.

Pete had many interests, about which he was passionate. He also struggled with a tendency to drink heavily at times, something that had gotten him into trouble with the law and for which he went to Alcoholics Anonymous. He also became despondent through 1971 over the type of work he was doing. He disliked being in a series, considering it to be restrictive and repetitive. As has been said earlier, he preferred to do dramatic roles, with character, but he felt obliged to complete Alias Smith and Jones.

However, what led to the events of the night of December 30th 1971 is only speculation. A lot has been written about that night. The facts are few. The undisputable one: by the early hours of the morning of December 31st, Pete was dead, killed by a gunshot; which the police determined to be self inflicted, either by accident or suicide.

A memorial service was held on January 2nd 1972 at the Self Realization Fellowship Shrine, a place suggested by his friend and manager, John Napier. His family and many of his friends were there, though Ben Murphy was too upset to attend. Pete was buried, after a private service, in his hometown of Penfield.

Why and exactly how the fatal shooting occurred, no one can say. The press have speculated in dozens of articles. None of that speculation can ease the loss of the talented young man.

His parents wrote to their local paper and asked them to print a poem written by a friend of Pete’s – its final verse a fitting tribute: