William Duell
Encyclopedia
Darwin William Duell is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical 1776, Jim Sefelt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975) and Johnny the Snitch on the 1982 crime
comedy
series Police Squad!
.
He also had a small part in the film Cradle Will Rock
as a butler
.
He is described as a short, odd-looking character actor with a Shakespearean background.
He had many minor roles in plays, films and TV series. His last work was a cameo in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
.
Duell graduated at the Green Mountain Junior College (now Green Mountain College) (Illinois), Illinois Wesleyan University
, and Yale University
. A theatre scholarship at GMC is named after him.
He portrayed Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair
in the Broadway version of 1776, which made him the one actor who stayed throughout the entire run of the show and was never understudied. In the 1997 Broadway Revival of 1776, Duell was a replacement member of the cast, filling the role of Caesar Rodney
after Michael McCormick took on the role of John Adams. In 2010, he appeared in an one-night only concert semi staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim
.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
(1975) and Johnny the Snitch on the 1982 crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series Police Squad!
Police Squad!
Police Squad! is a television comedy series first broadcast in 1982, created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and starring Leslie Nielsen. A spoof of police procedurals, the series was packed with ZAZ's usual sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs...
.
He also had a small part in the film Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein...
as a butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
.
He is described as a short, odd-looking character actor with a Shakespearean background.
He had many minor roles in plays, films and TV series. His last work was a cameo in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a 2003 romantic comedy film, directed by Donald Petrie, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It is based on a short cartoon book of the same name by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long.-Plot:...
.
Duell graduated at the Green Mountain Junior College (now Green Mountain College) (Illinois), Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...
, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. A theatre scholarship at GMC is named after him.
He portrayed Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair
Andrew McNair
Andrew McNair is best known for being the custodian who served the Continental Congress. A member of the Masonic Order, he served as official ringer of the Liberty Bell from 1759 to 1776, and he rang it to announce independence, on July 8, 1776...
in the Broadway version of 1776, which made him the one actor who stayed throughout the entire run of the show and was never understudied. In the 1997 Broadway Revival of 1776, Duell was a replacement member of the cast, filling the role of Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney was an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, east of Dover...
after Michael McCormick took on the role of John Adams. In 2010, he appeared in an one-night only concert semi staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
.