#maceliot

BILL DUKE

26 February 1943

            Bill Duke is an American actor and director who is best known for his playing Cooke in Commando (1985) and worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger once again in Predator (1987) playing Sgt. Mac Eliot.

            Duke played Eliot who was a mercenary and a member of Dutch’s private military team. The group is sent to Guatemala for a supposed rescue mission, they come into contact with the alien creature, the Predator who stalks them and kills them off one-by-one. Eliot open fires on the Predator but only wounds its leg. Eliot is unable to explain what he saw to the rest of the group, but knows the creature isn’t human or animal. He says to Dillon "Out there. Past them trees. You see it?”. Eliot’s good friend Cooper is killed by the Predator and Eliot wants revenge and approaches the creature, when the Predator kills him. Eliot’s character is best known for shaving his face, whilst shaken up and nervous.

            Besides acting Bill Duke is also a director who has directed the television series The Twilight Zone and Sister Act 2. He has also appeared in American Gigolo (1980), Dallas: The Early Years (1986), Henry’s Crime (2010), Starsky & Hutch (1978), Charlie’s Angels (1978) and Starman (1987).

            Duke was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, US. He grew up working in numerous jobs and then studied English, dance and drama at University. He started working on Broadway in 1971 and studied film and acting further which led to his successful career on film and television.

            Duke later became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in Ethiopia in 1973 under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Today he is aged 81, is married and lives in Los Angeles.