Peter Duel's Last Interview, Right Before Dying... by Charles Belden; Silver Screen, April 1972 Pete Duel hated to see anything destroyed — to see anything die. He contemplated life and its meaning. Yet in the twinkling of an eye, his own was snuffed out. In the waning days of 1971, we talked, Pete and I. I was one of the last reporters to talk with him, shortly before the awful tragedy. He was bowed down by the troubles around him and the troubles within his own heart. "If you're in the public eye, it very often makes for trouble within your private life," ... Read More

Was He Only Trying To Grab Some Peace? by Brooke Scott; TV Radio Talk, April 1972 He said he had only a few friends, yet hundreds turned out to bid him a last goodbye. The Windmill Chapel at the Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles was full to overflowing, and outside, sober-faced mourners listened via a loud-speaker to Reverend Brother Dharmanda's final prayers. "He was a man who loved ... who cared ... perhaps too deeply ..." Peter Duel was dead by his own hand at 31. "We are all basically alike," he had said. "We all have similar problems, fears — ... Read More

by Army Archerd; TV Radio Talk, April 1972 The tragedy of Peter Duel lived on at the studio as the series continued to shoot after his death. The set was almost in a constant state of mourning. And I can tell you it barely got through filming in the remaining segments of the season. It was a tremendously difficult job for everyone in the company, but for Roger Davis, who replaced Peter, it was the most difficult of all. On the first day, everyone was in such a state of shock they really didn't know what they were doing — but ... Read More

by Brenda Shaw; TV Radio Mirror, April 1972 For years, Pete Duel had wrestled with a demon, a demon that threatened to destroy him. In the end, the demon won, but only after a struggle in which Pete called on all of his own resources plus those of his friends and whatever help he could get from science and society. For it was because of society and its laws that the brilliant, sensitive actor was brought face-to-face with the terrible truth that something uncontrollable was out to ruin his life. A clue to his inward struggle was contained in one sentence of ... Read More

Why Did Peter Duel Kill Himself? by Sylvia Conrad; Modern Screen, April 1972 When a close friend heard the news that awful, black Friday morning, he said, his voice chocked by sobs, "I was afraid this might happen. Everyone thought Pete had so much to live for ... they saw his youth, his vitality, his career going great ... but he was terribly upset by the things he saw that were wrong. He was too sensitive; he had his own set of values. The things he had — the money, the fame, the adulation — meant little to him. It was the ... Read More

by Paulette Lee; Movie Life, April 1972 It's very difficult to talk about the sadness Hollywood felt over Peter Duel's suicide. Our colunmist, Paulette Lee, is one of the few competent to explore the whys and wherefores of Pete's final action for, over the years, she had interviewed him frequently and had come to be regarded as a friend. The first question that came to mind as Hollywood and his fans reeled from the shock of the death of Peter Duel was Why? Why would any young man of 31, a popular TV actor, engaged to be married and, in every way, ... Read More

by Funky Duke Lewis; Tiger Beat, April 1972 He was a tall, dark and handsome actor on the verge of superstardom, and he had money, security, fame, physical health, professional respect, he loved and was loved by his family and devoted fiance, Dianne Ray, yet he killed himself with his own gun in his own home. Peter Duel had everything, didn't he? — or did he? No, he certainly didn't have emotional balance, peace of mind, and mental health. Pete told a recent interviewer: "I've suffered personal tragedy, unhappiness, depression and frustrations that beat me down into the mud of despair because I ... Read More

by Gary Denton; TV Radio Mirror, April 1972 Why his friends feared murder! The Mystery girl he'd been seeing! His terrified plea for help! His last letter! At approximately 1:25 a.m., December 31, the beginning of the final day of 1971, a bullet ripped through Peter Duel's brain ending the life of one of Hollywood's most popular young actors. "I'll see you later," he told his girlfriend, and reportedly with his own gun — a .38 caliber revolver — in hand walked into the living room. Moments later Dianne Ray, 29, heard a sickening blast. She dashed out of the bedroom to discover a most ... Read More

by Morris Townsend; Silver Screen, April 1972 It was like a bizarre tableau from a horror movie. There was a shot. Dianne Ray sprang out of bed and ran to the living room. Her terror-filled eyes found nothing upright — except the still-standing Christmas tree. Then she saw Pete crumpled at the foot of the tree where only a few days earlier they had shared the pleasant laughter of opening presents and exclaiming over them. Christmas was nice, they had agreed. In fact, that was why the tree was still there on December 31. Throwing the tree out would be like turning ... Read More

"I Was Shocked at What ABC-TV Did After Pete Duel's Death" by Iain Calder; National Enquirer, April 26, 1972 TV star Ben Murphy says he was shocked at how quickly ABC replaced Pete Duel as his co-star on Alias Smith & Jones after Duel's suicide. "Pete's body was hardly cold when they had an identical costume fitted out for Roger Davis," said the 30-year old Murphy. "I don't know how to explain how shocked I was at that kind of action." "I kept asking myself, 'How could they do it?' But they could and they did. It was just standard TV practice and ... Read More

Pete Duel's Family Knows Who Really Killed Him! The "Twin" Son They Fear Will be Next by Al Crowley; Movie Mirror, April 1972 It was a cold Wednesday afternoon, but the Penfield Baptist Church was filled to the brink. The first week of the New Year found hundreds of friends and family in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester, New York, to mourn the death of its hometown boy who made it big in Hollywood — but couldn't live it big, who really couldn't live at all. Pete Duel was his name. A 31-year-old actor who had struggled to break into the Hollywood star ... Read More