Pete Duel

Pete Duel

Pete Duel (February 24, 1940 – December 31, 1971) was born in Rochester, New York, the eldest of three children born to Dr. Ellsworth and Lillian Deuel (née Ellstrom). He had a younger brother, Geoffrey, who also became an actor, and a sister, Pamela. He attended Penfield High School, where he worked on the yearbook staff, campaigned for student government, and was a member of the National Thespians Society. Moving to New York, Deuel landed a role in a touring production of the comedy Take Her, She's Mine. To find work in the movies, Deuel and his mother drove across the country to Hollywood, California in 1963, with only a tent to house them each night. In Hollywood, he found work in television. Deuel was quickly offered the starring role of Dave Willis, a newlywed apprentice architect, in a romantic comedy called Love on a Rooftop. Although the show earned good ratings, ABC decided not to bring it back after its first season. Deuel wished to move from sitcoms to more serious roles. Around 1970, he also changed his name, dropping the "r" from Peter and the first "e" from "Deuel". In 1970, Deuel was cast as the outlaw Hannibal Heyes, alias Joshua Smith, opposite Ben Murphy, in Alias Smith and Jones, a light-hearted western about the exploits of two outlaws trying to earn an amnesty. During the hiatus between the first and second seasons, he starred in the television production of Percy MacKaye’s 1908 play, The Scarecrow. Deuel became involved in politics during the primaries for the 1968 presidential election, campaigning for Eugene McCarthy, in opposition to the Vietnam War. He attended the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and witnessed the violence that erupted. In the early hours of December 31, 1971, Deuel died at his Hollywood Hills home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Deuel's girlfriend, Dianne Ray, was at his home at the time of his death and discovered his body. Ray later told police the two had watched Deuel's series Alias Smith and Jones the previous evening. She later went to sleep in another room while Deuel stayed up. Sometime after midnight, Deuel entered the bedroom, retrieved his revolver and told Ray, "I'll see you later." Ray then said she heard a gunshot from another room and discovered Deuel's body. According to police, Deuel's friends and family said he was depressed about his drinking problem. He had been arrested and pleaded guilty to a DUI accident that injured two people the previous June. Deuel's death was later ruled a suicide. Deuel's funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple on January 2, 1972, in Pacific Palisades. At the service, Deuel's girlfriend read a poem he wrote, titled "Love". An estimated 1,000 friends and fans attended. His body was flown to Penfield, New York, where he was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. After his death, his role in Alias Smith and Jones was taken over by Roger Davis who was previously the narrator over the opening theme of the show. The loss of Deuel proved too great for the series to be sustained; fans were slow to accept Davis, who looked too much like fellow actor Ben Murphy, and the series was cancelled in 1973.

  • Title: Pete Duel
  • Popularity: 2.695
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1940-02-24
  • Place of Birth: Rochester, New York, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Peter Ellstrom Deuel, Peter E. Deuel, Peter Deuel, Pete Deuel, Peter Duel
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Pete Duel Movies

  • 1964
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    Espionage Target: You

    Espionage Target: You

    1 1964 HD

    Intended for military personnel and civilians in sensitive positions abroad, the film shows three playlets involving foreign agents maneuvering...

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  • 1970
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    The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children

    The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children

    1 1970 HD

    A hip psychiatrist teams up with an ex-addict to combat drug addiction in a small town in this pilot for "The Psychiatrist."

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  • 1969
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    Generation

    Generation

    4.5 1969 HD

    Newlyweds shock the bride's father with plans for natural childbirth in a Greenwich Village loft.

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  • 1970
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    Cannon for Cordoba

    Cannon for Cordoba

    5.6 1970 HD

    In 1912, during the Mexican Revolution, the border between Texas and Mexico is on flames due to savage raids by Mexican bandits who call themselves...

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  • 1971
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    How to Steal an Airplane

    How to Steal an Airplane

    1 1971 HD

    Two pilots are hired to reclaim a stolen jet from the son of a South American dictator.

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  • 1969
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    Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

    Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities

    1 1969 HD

    The pilot film for the long-run series introduced the kindly small-town general practitioner who, following a mild coronary, grudgingly brings in an...

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  • 1968
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    The Hell with Heroes

    The Hell with Heroes

    5.2 1968 HD

    In 1946 North Africa, two former US Air Force pilots are forced to work for an international smuggler to get money needed for their return to...

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  • 1972
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    Scarecrow

    Scarecrow

    8 1972 HD

    Just before the Salem Witch Trials, an embittered old woman, who has learned witchcraft, teams up with the Devil, and brings a scarecrow to life as...

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  • 1970
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    The Young Country

    The Young Country

    8 1970 HD

    An adventurous young gambler searches for the owner of a mysterious fortune.

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  • 1971
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    The Day They Hanged Kid Curry

    The Day They Hanged Kid Curry

    1 1971 HD

    Hayes visits con-artist Silky O'Sullivan at his San Francisco mansion and discovers that Kid Curry is on trial for murder in Colorado. Heyes rushes...

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  • 1966
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    Love on a Rooftop

    Love on a Rooftop

    5 1966 HD

    Newlyweds Dave and Julie Willis struggle to survive in San Francisco on Dave's apprentice architect's salary of $85.37 a week. Matters are...

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  • 1965
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    Gidget

    Gidget

    6.4 1965 HD

    Gidget is an American sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field...

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  • 1965
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    The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

    5.4 1965 HD

    The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the...

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  • 1964
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    Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

    Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

    7.1 1964 HD

    Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff...

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  • 1971
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    Alias Smith and Jones

    Alias Smith and Jones

    6.9 1971 HD

    Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben...

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  • 1962
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    Combat!

    Combat!

    7.6 1962 HD

    Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American...

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  • 1964
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    Mickey

    Mickey

    1 1964 HD

    Mickey is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from September 1964 to January 1965. Created and produced by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, the...

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  • 1967
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    Ironside

    Ironside

    6.9 1967 HD

    When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to...

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  • 1963
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    The Fugitive

    The Fugitive

    7.2 1963 HD

    Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes,...

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  • 1965
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    The F.B.I.

    The F.B.I.

    5.4 1965 HD

    The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the...

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  • 1968
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    The Name of the Game

    The Name of the Game

    6.8 1968 HD

    The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC,...

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