# Peter Duel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477 "2015-12-05T01:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/1 "2015-12-05T01:55:32Z")
Anyone familar with the actor peter duel. he played in the t.v. series gidget and alias smith and jones?? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/2 "2015-12-05T02:09:57Z")
Didnt hr commit suicide? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/3 "2015-12-05T02:12:16Z")
He’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/4 "2015-12-05T02:14:19Z")
Yes ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/5 "2015-12-05T02:20:46Z")
Great God Almighty, if I was called Peter Duel you can bet I’d select a stage name LONG before it went up in lights on a marquee. “Saber Dick d’Artagnan,” maybe. ---
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/6 "2015-12-05T02:29:58Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Didnt hr commit suicide? Yes i was wondering if he hadnt of did that act. he would of had a long career or been forgotten now. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/7 "2015-12-05T02:33:07Z")
[Pete Duel](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0240233/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/8 "2015-12-05T08:04:41Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Great God Almighty, if I was called Peter Duel you can bet I’d select a stage name LONG before it went up in lights on a marquee. > > “Saber Dick d’Artagnan,” maybe. Well, yes, but he was certainly credited as “Pete” Duel on _Alias Smith and Jones_, not “Peter”. As stated, he killed himself (shortly before the end of season one IIRC) and was replaced by Roger Davies, leaving Ben Murphy to be promoted to top billing. Now, what happened to Ben Murphy I couldn’t tell you. He starred in “The Gemini Man” later in the seventies but I don’t think that ran more than one season (or deserved to). ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/9 "2015-12-06T20:35:39Z")
I used to watch Alias Smith and Jones, and had a big crush on him as a kid. I remember riding in the car and hearing over the radio about his death. I haven’t watched any of his stuff as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/10 "2015-12-06T21:14:53Z")
I used to watch _Alias Smith And Jones_ when I was a kid, but I never saw him in anything after that. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/11 "2015-12-06T23:35:23Z")
> [@escaped](#): > > Yes i was wondering if he hadnt of did that act. he would of had a long career or been forgotten now. Most likely he would have been another in a long line of handsome TV guys who get leading roles in soon-to-be-canceled series and gradually fade away as they get older and their looks start to fade. I realize that sounds really mean, but take a look at the career of a guy named [Dennis Cole.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170529/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Why do I use him as an example? Because he was the handsome TV guy who starred in a series called _Bearcats_, which ran at the same time as \*Alias Smith and Jones \*on a different channel. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/12 "2015-12-06T23:42:08Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Because he was the handsome TV guy who starred in a series called _Bearcats_, which ran at the same time as \*Alias Smith and Jones \*on a different channel. Did anyone watch _Bearcats!_? That might have something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/13 "2015-12-06T23:44:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I used to watch _Alias Smith And Jones_ when I was a kid, but I never saw him in anything after that. I was told he was taking a bath and listening to the radio when it fell in and killed him. Given what the truth was, it was an obvious lie told to cover up that it was a suicide. I was very young when it happened, but I watched the show. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/14 "2015-12-07T00:00:28Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I was told he was taking a bath and listening to the radio when it fell in and killed him. > > Given what the truth was, it was an obvious lie told to cover up that it was a suicide. I was very young when it happened, but I watched the show. I think I heard that it was accidental; that he was goofing around on set and didn’t know the gun was loaded. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/15 "2015-12-07T00:02:33Z")
I watched both AS&J and Bearcats (I have both on DVD). I’ve also seen some of Love on A Rooftop, when he was Pete Deuel. My wife met him on the set of AS&J. He autographed a publicity photo for her. Seemed like a nice guy, though he didn’t sign it “love and kisses” like Ben Murphy did. 🙂 She like Duel better, she says. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/16 "2015-12-07T05:57:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I think I heard that it was accidental; that he was goofing around on set and didn’t know the gun was loaded. I think you’re thinking of Jon-Erik Hexum, though that’s not exactly what happened to him, either. Pete Duel committed suicide. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/17 "2015-12-07T15:48:29Z")
“Smith and Jones” was on the air at the time of Duel’s suicide. His role was recast and filled by Roger Davis, with the show tilted more to Murphy’s character. ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/18 "2015-12-07T15:59:51Z")
I thought he was in the show That Girl as her boyfriend Donald ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/19 "2015-12-07T16:00:24Z")
Soon after Duel’s suicide, Norman Mailer claimed on the Dick Cavett Show that he’d had a fistfight in an alley with Duel just before the act. Lest we forget what an obnoxious person Norman Mailer was. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477/20 "2015-12-07T17:32:24Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > I thought he was in the show That Girl as her boyfriend Donald That was Ted Bessell. He’s dead, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-duel/739477.md?page=2)