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Peter Duryea (14 July 193924 March 2013; age 73) was the actor who played José Tyler in the Star Trek: The Original Series first pilot episode, "The Cage", which was later re-edited and reused in "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II". The son of veteran actor Dan Duryea, he acted in around thirty films and television guest-star roles, throughout the 1960s.

Duryea was at first intended to be a regular performer on the then-new Star Trek which he was therefore thrilled to be cast in, saying, "A TV series will be good for me, so early in my career." When Star Trek was recast for its second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before"), however, Duryea was devastated to be dropped from the show. "It knocked me out," he later admitted to The North Adams Transcript. "When I lost that role, I cried for two weeks." (Star Trek Magazine issue 171, p. 37)

He filmed his scenes for "The Cage" between Monday 30 November 1964 and Thursday 3 December 1964, and on Monday 7 December 1964 and Tuesday 8 December 1964 at Desilu Culver Stage 15 and Stage 16.

Duryea's other television credits include: appearances on Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, with Robert Pine), The Outer Limits (1964, with James Doohan, Keith Andes, Skip Homeier, Jason Wingreen, and Troy Melton, directed by Gerd Oswald), the "Man in a Chariot" episode of The Fugitive (1964, with Stewart Moss, Edward Madden, and Gene Lyons), Dragnet (1968, with Jack Sheldon), The Name of the Game (1969, with Ed Peck, Nancy Kovack and Robert Lansing), and Family Affair (1971, with Brian Keith).

His film credits include: assistant director for The Carpetbaggers (1964, starring Alan Ladd, with William Meader, James B. Sikking, Ed McCready, and Paul Baxley), and appearances in Taggart (1964, with George Murdock and Tony Young), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1965, 1966, with Robert Pine, Michael Sarrazin, Lawrence Montaigne and Tom Troupe), The Virginian (1966, with Robert Pine and Alfred Ryder), and 12 O'Clock High (1966, with Michael Barrier and Robert Walker).

Following his father's death in 1968, Duryea began to look for another route in life. In 1973, he moved to Kootenay Lake, British Columbia, Canada. With his partner, Jan Bryan, Duryea developed a documentary production company specializing in ecological and social awareness, as well as the Guiding Hands Recreation Society, a non-profit society with the aim of promoting the value of nature. Duryea also worked as the guide for the Kootenay Lake Heritage Boat Tours.

Duryea passed away on Sunday, 24 March 2013. [1]

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