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.

Back to Articles List