Biography
Actor and vocalist Don Durant found achievement in both performance arenas. Previously a vocalist with the orchestras led by Frankie Carle and Tommy Dorsey, he collaborated in the late 1950s with Ray Anthony—one of the final big-band singers—on Anthony’s weekly television program and the 1956 album Dream Dancing. As a composer he wrote the theme for the western series Zane Grey Theater.
Durant gained wider recognition through his acting work. His screen debut came in the Aldo Ray vehicle Battle Cry!, after which he served as a supporting performer for CBS-TV in minor parts on programs that included The Jack Benny Show, The Red Skelton Show, Shower of Stars, General Electric Theater, and Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life. Following his first starring feature, She Gods of Shark Reef—where he performed his own underwater stunts—he made guest appearances on Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, and Maverick.
His most prominent role arrived as the lead in Johnny Ringo, the Aaron Spelling-produced series concerning a onetime gunslinger who becomes an Arizona sheriff and aired from 1959 to 1960. Although the program ended after one season, Durant kept appearing publicly in the character until 1964.
Having signed with Universal Pictures’ Revue Studios in 1962, he grew dissatisfied with the obligations imposed on contract players. He purchased the remaining portion of his agreement, stepped away from acting, and established a realty and investment firm. Apart from hosting the mid-1960s summer-replacement variety series Youth Panorama, he stayed clear of further entertainment work.
Durant gained wider recognition through his acting work. His screen debut came in the Aldo Ray vehicle Battle Cry!, after which he served as a supporting performer for CBS-TV in minor parts on programs that included The Jack Benny Show, The Red Skelton Show, Shower of Stars, General Electric Theater, and Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life. Following his first starring feature, She Gods of Shark Reef—where he performed his own underwater stunts—he made guest appearances on Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, and Maverick.
His most prominent role arrived as the lead in Johnny Ringo, the Aaron Spelling-produced series concerning a onetime gunslinger who becomes an Arizona sheriff and aired from 1959 to 1960. Although the program ended after one season, Durant kept appearing publicly in the character until 1964.
Having signed with Universal Pictures’ Revue Studios in 1962, he grew dissatisfied with the obligations imposed on contract players. He purchased the remaining portion of his agreement, stepped away from acting, and established a realty and investment firm. Apart from hosting the mid-1960s summer-replacement variety series Youth Panorama, he stayed clear of further entertainment work.
Albums