John Duff
Born in China to Canadian parents, John Duff led a life full of action and adventure. He traveled overland from China to England to enlist in the British Army in World War One. Rising to the rank of Captain, he was wounded and met his future wife in an English hospital. After the war, he raced Bentley automobiles all around Europe and America and was the winner of the second ever running of the 24 Hour Le Mans auto race.
A second major racing wreck led him to fulfill a promise to his wife to quit racing and he moved his family to Santa Monica, CA. There, he taught fencing and did some movie work, doubling for Gary Cooper in sword fighting scenes.
READ MORE...He taught at a private club and at UCLA, with one of his fencers, Hal Corbin, making the 1932 Olympic Team in epee.
A trophy in his name of two highly engraved epees, the Duff Swords, were awarded in Southern Californian for many years until Duff’s stipulation – that anyone winning the event 3 times in a row could keep the two swords – was met by SoCal Olympian Andrew Boyd. Duff left Santa Monica for China, then Canada, around 1932 and that seems to have been the end of his career as a fencing teacher. He died in a horse riding accident in 1958.
Articles
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LA’s Greatest Hits, 1936
When I have the opportunity to visit someone who has fencing memorabilia that I can scan for my collection, I often don’t get a chance to thoroughly take in the significance of everything I’m working with.
A Man without Fear
Captain John Duff. In some circles, his name still resonates. He won the second ever 24 hours of Le Mans auto race and was known as one of “The Bentley Boys”
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