| William Duell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Darwin William Duell[1] August 30, 1923 Corinth, New York, United States |
| Died | Dec 22, 2011 New York |
| Occupation | Film actor Singer TV actor Stage actor |
| Years active | 1961-present |
Darwin William Duell[1](born on August 30, 1923) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Andrew McNair in the musical 1776, Jim Sefelt in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Johnny the Snitch on the 1982 crime comedy series Police Squad!. He also had a small part in the film Cradle Will Rock as a butler. He is described as a short, odd-looking character actor with a Shakespearean background.[2] He had many minor roles in plays, films and TV series. His last work was a cameo in the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Duell graduated at the Green Mountain Junior College (now Green Mountain College) (Illinois), Illinois Wesleyan University, and Yale University. A theatre scholarship at GMC is named after him.[2] He portrayed Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair in the Broadway version of 1776, which made him the one actor who stayed throughout the entire run of the show and was never understudied.[3] In the 1997 Broadway Revival of 1776, Duell was a replacement member of the cast, filling the role of Caesar Rodney after Michael McCormick took on the role of John Adams.[1] In 2010, he appeared in an one-night only concert semi staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim.[4]