REMEMBERING PETE DUEL
Thank you to everyone who leaves such poignant and heartfelt expressions in The Memorial Book—and for all your kind words about this site. Your kinship is extremely appreciated. —Laura
Please post your thoughts below. The previous Memorial Book was receiving too much spam, so I had to close it and start this page instead. The previous memorial page also had hundreds of remembrances. I hope to someday transfer them here.
There may be a delay between when you leave your thoughts below and when your post appears, but rest assured, the post will eventually be published. Please keep in mind that many questions still remain about Peter’s state of mind in those final days of his life. One recent question is how much of a role the anti-seizure drug, Dilantin, played on his thoughts. Perhaps Pete was a victim of a pharmaceutical drug and not so much of self-inflicted depression. Also note that Geoffrey Deuel sometimes visited this page. Thank you.
Time will never diminish the love, respect and admiration I have for Pete. The artistic ability and talent he possessed were second to none.
I am still in awe of the manner in which he could crawl into a character’s skin and once that transformation was complete the easiness in which he could achieve it. Pete was brilliant. He was an incredible human spirit and an amazing man. There was a beauty in that man that forever
touched a chord in my soul. I would give anything in this world to be able to thank him. He will forever remain my hero.
He is always and sorely missed. Peter, you are loved.
Pete was a great guy! It’s too bad he was depressed and had a drinking problem. I wish his family could have gotten him help! I don’t think Pete liked himself much and had poor self esteem. He was a great actor and given time would have been better. If he was in therphy he might still he here today, who knows? He was a good guy and I still think about him. WE miss you Pete and we LOVE you RIP!!!
I remember Pete’s show very well. I was a first grader, 7 years old, when he took his life. My older brother and I used to count the days until Friday rolled around, just to watch Alias Smith and Jones. I still remember one scene where they wiped out their tracks with a tree branch. We used to do the same thing after that whenever we played “Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes”. When I learned of Pete Duel taking his life, it hurt. I was young, but it still cut deep. Years later, I still find myself wondering just what brought him to such despair. I hope he found the peace in death that he could not find in life. I tip my hat in cowboy style, to the great Pete Duel. Rest in peace, cowboy.
I remember growing up in Ireland and being so young watching Alias Smith and Jones with my mum and dad. I recall the excitement and anticipation waiting for it to start. He was such a great actor and left us too soon. It shows the impact he made as people still talk about him over 40 years later. The reruns still make me smile. On hindsight, he contributed to my happy childhood of beautiful memories. Thank you. Never forgotten, always remembered. Rest in peace.
I recently watched Alias Smith and when I heard about this memorial site, I wanted to add my own tribute to it. I think the casting of the two lead actors was a master-stroke because they were so different visually and in temperament on camera. Obviously I have no idea of their off-screen personalities and relationship but on-screen there was certainly a “chemistry” which was hard to define but easily identifiable. But for his tragic and too-early death, I feel sure Peter Duel would have been on our screens a lot more after Alias Smith & Jones had finished. I can’t.begin to understand what led up to his death and don’t want to think about how he died, but I wish I could thank him for his work which I am still enjoying 40-odd years later. Rest in peace Peter and thanks for the memories.