John Joseph Duda (born March 19, 1977) is an American child actor best known for starring in the Christmas movie Prancer.
John Joseph Duda was born to Deborah Sullivan and John Duda Sr. in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He has two younger siblings, Sara (born 1978) and Kevin (born 1981). [1] His mother was a nurse, and his sister was a musician actress. He is of Irish and Polish descent.
In elementary school, Duda was an avid piano player and was part of the Oak Lawn singing group Kids Spectacular. He became passionate about acting at a young age. [2] He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep [3] and Harvard University. [4] At Harvard he studied economics and was a stage manager and singer for the a cappella group Din & Tonics. He worked as a teacher and mentor for middle and high school, earned a doctorate in education from UCLA in 2011, and founded multiple nonprofit organizations to benefit students.
In 2013, Johnny married Lindsey Gandy. They have two children together. They work with orphanages and continue to work with students.
At age ten, John Duda played Ebenezer Scrooge as a boy in Goodman Theatre's 1987 presentation of A Christmas Carol . [5] Over 200 children auditioned for five roles available. His brother Kevin earned the part of Tiny Tim. [6] The adaptation for the theatre's 10th anniversary of the play added minor scenes, some with young Ebenezer, giving John more time on stage. [7] John was described as, "Already quite a professional... poised and articulate." Between rehearsals, John worked hard to advance his acting career by going to other auditions and recording tapes. [2]
Duda's first film acting role was in Eyes of an Angel , which was filmed March 14, 1988, but not released until 1991. [8] Duda's first movie to be released was his second role, Prancer, which was filmed from February 3 to April 15, 1989. [9]
In Rudy, his brother Kevin played his only movie role alongside him. [10]
Many of the filming locations where Duda worked for various movies were in Chicago, with others nearby in the Midwest.
Duda was praised for his performance in Prancer as Steve Riggs. "Duda is just right as the brother," wrote Kevin Thomas for the Los Angeles Times . [11]
Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Prancer | Steve Riggs | [12] |
1990 | Flatliners | Young David | [12] |
1991 | Backdraft | Young Stephen | [13] |
1991 | Eyes of an Angel | Alan | [14] |
1993 | The Woman Who Loved Elvis | Paperboy | [15] |
1993 | Rudy | Young Frank | [13] |
Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. The film follows Loretta Castorini, a widowed Italian-American woman who falls in love with her fiancé's hot-tempered, estranged younger brother.
SpaceCamp is a 1986 American science fiction adventure film inspired by the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Directed by Harry Winer, story by Patrick Bailey and Larry B. Williams, screenplay by Clifford Green and Casey T. Mitchell, the film stars Kate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan and Leaf Phoenix.
Ebenezer Scrooge is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 short novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in the English-speaking world.
Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the Home Alone franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara. Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, a boy who defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris.
Rudy is a 1993 American biographical sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. It was the first film that the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940.
All Dogs Go to Heaven is a 1989 animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Don Bluth and co-directed by Gary Goldman and Dan Kuenster. Set in New Orleans in 1939, it tells the story of Charlie B. Barkin, a German Shepherd that is murdered by his former friend, Carface Carruthers. Charlie escapes from Heaven to return to Earth where his best friend, Itchy Itchiford, still lives, in order to take revenge on Carface. Instead, he ends up befriending a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie. In the process, Charlie learns an important lesson about kindness, friendship and love.
Judgment Night is a 1993 American action film directed by Stephen Hopkins. Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven and Stephen Dorff star as a group of friends on the run from a gang of drug dealers after they witness a murder.
Scrooge is a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 story A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London between January and May 1970 and directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge. The film's score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and arranged and conducted by Ian Fraser.
The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 American Christmas musical film directed by Brian Henson from a screenplay by Jerry Juhl. It is the fourth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the film stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, alongside Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Oz. Although artistic license is taken to suit the aesthetic of the Muppets, The Muppet Christmas Carol otherwise follows Dickens's original story closely. It is the first Muppet film to be produced following the deaths of Muppets creator Jim Henson and performer Richard Hunt; the film is dedicated to both.
Bob Cratchit is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. The overworked, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge, Cratchit has come to symbolize the poor working conditions, especially long working hours and low pay, endured by many working-class people in the early Victorian era.
A Christmas Carol is a 1938 American drama film adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella of the same name, starring Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve after visitations by three spirits. The film was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a script by Hugo Butler.
A Christmas Carol is a 1984 British-American made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film was directed by Clive Donner, who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge, and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, featuring Frank Finlay as Marley's ghost, David Warner as Bob Cratchit, Susannah York as Mrs. Cratchit, Edward Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Roger Rees as Scrooge's nephew; he also serves as narrator, reading portions of Charles Dickens' words at the beginning and end of the film. It was filmed in the historic medieval county town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.
Prancer is a 1989 Christmas fantasy drama film directed by John Hancock, written by Greg Taylor, and starring Rebecca Harrell, Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, Rutanya Alda, John Joseph Duda, and Ariana Richards. It is set in Three Oaks, Michigan, where town exteriors were filmed. Filming also occurred at the Old Republic House in New Carlisle, Indiana, La Porte, Indiana, and at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois.
A Christmas Carol is a 1908 silent film produced by Essanay Studios in Chicago, and the first American film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. Tom Ricketts stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in the film, which is considered lost.
Disney's A Christmas Carol is a 2009 American animated Christmas fantasy film produced, written for the screen and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Zemeckis' ImageMovers Digital, and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. The film was animated through the process of motion capture, a technique used in ImageMovers' previous animated films including The Polar Express (2004), Monster House (2006), and Beowulf (2007), and stars the voices of Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn and Cary Elwes. It is Disney's third adaptation of the novel, following Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
A Christmas Carol, the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens (1812–1870), is one of the English author's best-known works. It is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy miser who hates Christmas, but is transformed into a caring, kindly person through the visitations of four ghosts. The classic work has been dramatised and adapted countless times for virtually every medium and performance genre, and new versions appear regularly.
Scrooge is a 1935 British Christmas fantasy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop and Robert Cochran. The film was released by Twickenham Film Studios and has since entered the public domain. It was the first sound film of feature length to adapt the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, and it was the second cinematic adaptation of the story to use sound, following a now-lost 1928 short subject adaptation of the story. Hicks stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser who hates Christmas and is visited by a succession of ghosts on Christmas Eve. Hicks had previously played the role of Scrooge on the stage regularly, starting in 1901, and in a 1913 British silent film version.
Gerry Becker was an American theatre, film, and television actor.
The Right to Be Happy is an American silent film from 1916 that draws inspiration from Charles Dickens' 1843 Novella, A Christmas Carol. This film was Universal's first attempt at making a Feature film based on Dickens' novella. Throughout the silent era, it stood as the first and only feature film adaptation of A Christmas Carol by an American or foreign film company. The movie was directed by Rupert Julian and supported by a cast of Universal Bluebird players, including Rupert Julian, Claire McDowell, and Harry Carter.
Film and television shot/produced in Wilmington are usually independent and/or low-budget films, mainly due to Wilmington, North Carolina being relatively more affordable than other cities to film in. Other reasons for Wilmington's appeal include the local university (UNCW), its location on the coast, the presence of historic buildings/sites, and vast swamps and waterways outside of Wilmington. It has remained the largest film production area in North Carolina since the 1980s.