Duane Whitaker is a native of Lubbock, Texas. As a child, he was totally intrigued by movies and the plays he would see at various dinner theaters around the area. He made the move to Los Angeles in the early 1980’s, falling in with several prestigious theater groups and acting in various television episodes and independent films. He also honed his craft as a writer, penning several produced plays that were nominated for critic’s awards in LA.

His breakthrough in films happened in 1994, when Quentin Tarantino cast him in a showy supporting role in PULP FICTION. Whitaker played Maynard, the owner of the pawnshop that Bruce Willis stumbles into. He reached pop culture nirvana when an episode of THE SIMPSONS parodied his character.

Since then, Duane has written such films as STRIPTEASER and the hit sequel FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 2, and starred in such films as TALES FROM THE HOOD, WITHIN THE ROCK, EDDIE PRESLEY and SPOILER. He recently co-starred in the hit John Gulager film FEAST.

Duane put all his talents to use in his directorial debut TOGETHER AND ALONE, a well-received festival film that is about to make its debut on special-edition DVD.