Biographies: Duncan Renaldo - Actor

Biographies

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A Romanian actor, born in Oancea, Romania, as Renault Renaldo Duncan. He died in Goleta, California, USA, on September 3, 1980, from lung cancer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his television work. He got married to Suzette Echard (1924-1940) and after their divorce, he married Audrey M (1956-1980) and remained with her until his death. He had no children from his two wives. Among his most important works are The Gay Amigo (1949), Trader Horn (1931), Satan's Cradle (1949), and The Daring Caballero (1949). He was an orphan who did not know his real parents and was not sure of his true place and date of birth, and his first childhood memories were of Spain. He was raised and educated in many countries in Europe, before going to the United States of America in 1917, as a worker on a Brazilian coal ship, with papers stating that he was of Romanian nationality. He worked in the production of short films, then he worked as an actor with MGM, and after several silent films, he made his first sound film, Pals of the Prairie (1929). Then he made his most famous film, Trader Horn (1931), which was filmed in the jungles of Kenya. In 1933, he was arrested as he was considered an illegal immigrant and was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of claiming American citizenship, forging a passport, and perjury, but Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin Roosevelt, acquired one of Duncan’s paintings and learned of his problem, and she was convinced of his case, so she convinced her husband to pardon him after a year of his imprisonment. He returned to acting again and played secondary roles in B-category films such as Moonlight Murder (1936) and Spawn of the North (1938). He excelled in performing Western films during the thirties and forties. In 1945, he presented the Cisco Kid series of films, which he turned into a television series in 1950 that lasted for 6 years, of which he presented 157 episodes. It was his last work, the one for which he is best known, and it is his only television work, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

• 16 April 2024
• farah ashraf