- Excerpt from RONA BARRETT'S HOLLYWOOD
column
- By Rona Barrett
- Rona Barrett's Hollywood, May 1972
SAD
GOODBYES.... Hollywood lost several
of its brightest faces and names, to the distress of all who
love good entertainment. I came back from a sunny vacation to
find that not only the beloved MAURICE CHEVALIER had left
us, but also a young star with a great future ahead, PETER
DUEL. Slowly, in the days that followed PETER's death
by self-inflicted gunshot, the details of his life began to be
tied together. For instance, it was decided that PETER's
part in his Alias Smith and Jones series would definitely
be taken over by ROGER DAVIS, whom you saw in an ABC Movie
of the Week called The Young Country. ROGER's resemblance
to PETER is quite amazing. And for those of you who knew
about PETER's love for stray dogs and are concerned about
the fate of the many animals he had taken in, all is well. The
pups are being cared for by a mutual friend of PETER and
his brother GEOFFREY. In fact, on the very night of PETER's
death, his Alias co-star, BEN MURPHY, went to the house
to see about the animals. DUEL's girlfriend, DIANE
RAY, whom he met at Universal Studios where he filmed his
show and she worked as a production secretary, will take charge
of the canines when things really settle down. By the way, DIANE
and PETER had gone through their personal tough times
when PETER became involved with a certain married actress-type
lady who was having difficulties in her marriage, and who is
now reconciled with her hubby. DIANE and PETER
had also reconciled, prior to the tragedy, and all seemed to
be going well.
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