17 Facts About Cliff Durant

Russell Clifford Durant was an American playboy and racing driver.

Cliff Durant had four marriages and was rumored to treat his wives poorly through extramarital affairs and physical abuse.

Cliff Durant's second wife, Adelaide Pearl Frost, whom he married on September 1,1911, was a singing star who later married fellow racer, and World War I flying ace, Eddie Rickenbacker.

In 1919 Cliff Durant was named the "Pacific Coast Champion," when he drove a blue Chevrolet-sponsored "Special" to victory in the Santa Monica Road Race.

In May 1923, Cliff Durant shattered eight world speed records for events 75 miles and under at the Beverly Hills Speedway.

Cliff Durant was to have driven the car in the 1932 Indianapolis 500.

Cliff Durant competed at many tracks and events around the country, including: Santa Monica and Corona road races, Tacoma Speedway, Cactus Derby, and the Indy 500.

Cliff Durant had his own flight school, airplanes for sale, and a 72-acre field, "Cliff Durant Field" in Oakland, California in 1919.

Cliff Durant had Air Mail contracts for mail delivery with the government and his airport was the terminus for the first transcontinental air mail flight in August 1920.

In 1921 Cliff Durant was a partner with Thomas O'Brian in the Lebec Hotel in the Mountains north of Los Angeles near present-day I-5.

Cliff Durant had a large estate in Roscommon, Michigan on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, where "The Castle," a 54-room mansion, burned to the ground February 6,1931.

Cliff Durant agreed to buy the airplane if the Fahys could prove that the Sirius could land and take off safely from Cliff Durant's personal strip.

Cliff Durant was an accomplished musician as well, playing the violin.

Cliff Durant owned the Guarneri del Gesu violin, and played the piano and trumpet.

Cliff Durant was at one time the owner of one of the most prized collections of violins in the world.

Cliff Durant died of a heart attack at his West Hollywood home on October 31,1937, aged 46.

Cliff Durant is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.