- Excerpt from Candid Cameron Column
by Sue Cameron
- TV Radio Mirror, April 1972
Word along the party circuit keeps cropping up
about the late Pete Duel, who was a favorite among the
Hollywood young set. Although no one will confirm anything, the
story going around that won't die is that Pete was living with
a well-known actress while her equally well-known husband was
working in a movie in Europe. Supposedly, two weeks before Pete
shot himself, the husband returned and Pete moved home. When
word of Pete's alleged suicide reached the air-waves, there were
a few people who thought that the husband might have found out
and paid him a little visit--but nobody dared voice this theory.
Behind the scenes, a big fight developed between Pete's supporters
and the executives at Universal Studios, who make Alias Smith
And Jones. Within 15 hours of Duel's death, another actor's name
was on the call sheet at Universal. Naturally, all sorts of freaky
stories keep circulating, but this one--from Pete's drinking
buddy and fellow actor on Alias Smith And Jones--is amazing for
reasons all its own. Says Dennis Fimple: "About two
weeks before he died, Pete gave me a blender because I drink
a health-food breakfast beverage each morning. It worked beautifully
every day. The night he died, we had dinner and were supposed
to go somewhere afterwards. He changed his mind right after dinner
and said he wanted to go home to watch his show. I just went
home and went to bed early. The next morning I got up to go to
the studio and went to turn on my blender. It had stopped working.
I was standing there, looking at it, when the phone rang--and
it was a friend telling me about Pete. That blender just died
and I won't turn it on again."
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