It has long been reported that the Christmas and New Year period sees a shockingly high rate of people falling into depression and even committing suicide. This is easy to believe, with the cheer and goodwill experienced by many manifesting itself as deep sadness in others, but in actual fact the idea that suicide rates go up around the holidays is false. There are exceptions, of course, and certainly in the case of actor Pete Duel, Christmas 1971 was neither merry nor bright, and the sadness he had felt for many years came to an abrupt and tragic conclusion.
Born on 24 February 1940, Peter Ellstrom Deuel grew up in Penfield, New York, where he paid no real attention to his studies, but had a very keen interest in performing in school plays and taking part in sports. He was a scout, enjoyed counselling others, loved aeroplanes, and had a great fascination with nature and the countryside. Summer vacations at a log cabin in Canada were something both Peter and his siblings greatly looked forward to, especially since it was one of the only times they could have the full attention of their busy doctor father.
When he turned seventeen, Peter tried to join the Air Force but was rejected due to vision impairment. He took the news badly as it had been his dream to join up, though he eventually pulled himself together and headed off to college to study liberal arts. Unfortunately, what should have been a carefree time as a student turned to tragedy when his life was almost ended in a horrific car crash, which broke his pelvis and almost severed his tongue. The crash shook his entire world, but luckily he made a complete recovery, and ultimately it changed his life by forcing him to realize that what he really wanted to do was move to New York and study to be an actor. He did well and it wasn’t long before his ambitions took him to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune under the name of Pete Duel.
Out in California, Duel managed to find regular work in television programmes such as Channing with Jason Evers and a comedy series entitled Gidget. Another sitcom followed in the shape of Love on a Rooftop, although when that was cancelled after just one series, Duel decided to expand his career by trying his hand at more serious roles and movies.
It was a good move and Duel became very successful in both television and movies, before also dabbling in politics in the late 1960s. However, his private life was not easy; he suffered from epilepsy which was made worse by drinking alcohol, and despite having various female admirers over the years, Duel never seemed to find the right person with whom to settle down. He once told a reporter, “Having a marriage when you’re in show business and making it work is damn hard. It’s damn hard for anybody. We weren’t built to be with just one person all the time.”
In spite of his pessimism in the area of love, Duel finally found love with Kim Darby, an actress he had met while working on the film Generation. However, despite introducing her to his parents and declaring that she was “the one”, his world came crashing down in early 1970 when she broke the news that she was to marry a man she had only just met. Duel was extremely distraught, particularly when reporters started knocking on his door for a statement and then describing the spurned lover’s failed relationship in all its glory in their newspapers.
For reasons known only to herself, Kim Darby had decided to marry the virtual stranger over Duel, but as one might expect, it did not work out the way she had thought. Just a short time after her wedding the relationship broke down and Darby immediately began contacting Pete Duel again. Her attempts at reconciliation were futile, however, as he had by now moved on to a relationship with a woman called Dianne Ray, and was said to be happily settled.
Around this time, Duel was offered the role of outlaw Hannibal Heyes, aka Joshua Smith, in Alias Smith and Jones. Unfortunately, the glow of winning another acting job quickly wore off when faced with the long and tiring hours involved in working on the series. Having no time for a social life was stifling and it wasn’t long before Duel was complaining that he had no time for anything outside of work. Inevitably this meant that there was virtually no time for his love life either, and his relationship with Dianne Ray slowly became increasingly strained.
Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, devastation came when Duel crashed his car into another vehicle while intoxicated. Fortunately he had not been physically injured in the crash, but the people in the other car were hurt, and this knowledge played on his conscience for the rest of his days. He felt so bad, in fact, that during his subsequent trial, the actor sat down to write a long, heartfelt letter about his feelings regarding the tragedy, and presented it to the judge. The actor was then placed on two years’ probation and his licence was understandably revoked.
Professionally things were becoming a nuisance for Pete Duel, and the long hours spent on the set of Alias Smith and Jones were increasingly getting him down. It wasn’t so much the nature of the show that bothered him, but the regimented system of working on one programme one day, then another the day after. Duel wished he could have more time to prepare, but the schedule just would not allow it and the frustration took its toll. Added to his frustration was the fact that he now had to be driven to and from work, which made him feel as though he had no freedom in his life whatsoever; every day seemed to be controlled from morning until night by the studio.
In December 1971, he spoke to columnist Cecil Smith, and expressed his dislike for working on television: “Any series is a big fat drag to an actor who has any interest in his work,” he said. “You slowly lose any artistic thing you may have. It’s utterly destructive.” When asked if he would be happier working on another series, he shrugged. “Exchange one kind of trash for another,” he replied and complained that the whole thing made him weary.
Then as the year started to draw to a close, the actor became more and more tired and depressed over what he saw as the lack of fulfilment in his career. He had applied to become a member of the board of directors at the Screen Actors Guild, but shortly before Christmas received a telegram breaking the news that he had been unsuccessful. Distraught, he pulled out his .38 calibre revolver and took a shot at the unwelcome telegram.
The Christmas season was depressing; his health had been failing during the last year; and he had become despondent due to heavy drinking and flashbacks of the car accident earlier in the year. He expressed his concerns to both his brother, Geoffrey, and girlfriend, Dianne, both of whom were particularly concerned by his state of mind.
On 31 December 1971, Pete Duel spent the evening at his home, watching television with Dianne Ray. Both the day and the year came to an end, and Duel’s girlfriend retired to the bedroom for what she hoped would be a good night’s sleep. However, this was not to be, when Duel later entered the room himself. According to police reports, he walked over to some drawers and took out his pistol. “I’ll see you later,” he told Ray, before quietly leaving the room.
Not long after, Dianne Ray heard a gunshot coming from the living room, rushed in and found her boyfriend lying next to the Christmas tree, with the gun at his feet. He was dead.
The sudden death of Pete Duel was ruled a probable suicide, with the coroner concluding that the single gunshot wound to the head was consistent with a self-inflicted wound. Unbelievably, just twelve hours later the cast and crew were back on the lot of Alias Smith and Jones at the instructions of ABC. The script was rewritten and a hurried announcement came that the actor would be replaced by Roger Davis for the remainder of the series.
The fact that the series was hurried back into production so soon after his death seems to prove that Duel was correct in his feelings about working on the television show, expressed just months before. “It’s the ultimate trap,” he said. It is unfortunate that, in the end, he felt that his only means of escape was by taking his own life.