James Dunaway

James Dunaway was born in Middlesboro, Kentucky but lived for 27 years in the Los Angeles area. He received a B.A. degree in theater from Cal State-Long Beach and embarked on a career on stage. He has nearly 50 stage credits. He has been a member of Actors Equality, Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists performers unions. His film credits include the 1976 version of King Kong, Falling in Love Again (1978), Don't Answer the Phone (1978), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), and an ABC movie of the week All God's Children (1980). He worked around such stars as Morgan Woodward, Richard Widmark, Michelle Pfeiffer, George Peppard, Richard Thomas, Jessica Lange, and Jeff Bridges. After getting married, James abandoned Hollywood for a more normal life. He obtained a second Bachelors degree, this time in History and began a career in education. He was a Special Education instructor at Derby Middle School in Derby, Kansas from 1989 to 2011. Since retiring from education, he divides his time to writing and attending film festivals around the country. He has written one play, Picture It Ridiculous and one novel, The Guns of Purgatory.