Pete Duel (originally spelled Peter Deuel) has been in our hearts for more than 50 years—and for some, even longer. But Pete continues to collect fans as reruns of Alias Smith & Jones are shown on television and the series was released on DVD. And so, for many people doing their research, they only recently learned that Pete died tragically at an early age and at the height of his career.

I designed the Pete Duel Memorial Site (PDMS) in 2004 to celebrate the life and talent of this remarkable man.

Pete Duel was someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle, someone’s friend, someone’s colleague, someone’s cousin, someone’s lover, and someone’s hero. He is still admired by his fans around the world. What has come out from everything ever said or written about him is that he was a man with heart and soul. Despite his absence, his powerful presence is still with us.

I hope you find the Pete Duel Memorial Site a dignified expression of the love and respect Pete Duel deserved and hopefully had a glimpse of sensing before he left. In the meantime, more than 50 years later, Pete is still winning and breaking hearts around the world.

He is as forever loved as he is forever missed.

–Laura, the Pete Duel Memorial Site Creator

Note about Pete’s death: Pete was prescribed the drug Dilantin for his epilepsy, a drug with the side effects of depression and suicide. Epileptics have 5 times the risk of suicide. We don’t know what role his epilepsy and its treatment played in his death, except that he told his brother the Monday before he died that he was ‘terrified,’ and said he didn’t know why he was so scared.

Perhaps it was an internal, prescription drug-influenced compulsion he literally had no power over, one that set him up for drinking and ultimately his death. To learn more, read here about anti-seizure medications and here about the risk of suicide among epileptics.