Frederic Seymour Murray (May 15, 1894 – July 16, 1973), known as Fred Murray or Feg Murray, was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 meter hurdles. He won a bronze medal in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

. After his athletic career ended, Murray became a well-known artist, writer, and cartoonist. He drew a daily comic strip called "Seein' Stars" from 1933 until 1941. A Sunday-only version continued until 1951. Murray was also the host of the radio show '' The Baker's Broadcast'' in its final year in 1938.

Biography

Murray was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1894, the second of five children born to classical scholar and Quaker

Augustus Taber Murray Augustus Taber Murray (1866–1940) was an American classical philologist and translator and a Quaker minister. He was Professor of Greek at Stanford University for forty years. Life Augustus Taber Murray was born in Manhattan on October 29, 18 ...

. His older brother was chemist and tennis champion Robert Lindley Murray. Feg Murray competed for the United States in the

held in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in the 110 meter hurdles where he won the bronze medal. He had been captain of the track team at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1916. He was the 1915 U.S. National Champion in the 120 yard high hurdles and the 1915 and 1916 National Champion in the 220 yard

low hurdles Low hurdle races are a generally defunct form of track and field hurdle racing. The event, generally run at or near a distance of 200 metres, was popular through 1960 at the international level. After that, the IAAF stopped ratifying records in ...

. In 1917, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Murray went to France as part of the

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914 to 1919, 1939 to 1946 and ...

of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. In April 1918, he enlisted in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

, where he served in the trenches. After the war, Murray returned to Stanford, where he became head coach of the track team for a year. After studying at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, Murray began drawing sports-related cartoons for ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' and

United Media United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. ...

, which syndicated his work. He returned to California in 1934, and worked for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' as a sports columnist and cartoonist. He also drew the daily cartoon "Seein' Stars", syndicated by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, in which Murray drew Hollywood celebrities accompanied by brief anecdotes. Murray died in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

at the age of 79.

Personal life

Murray got his A.B. in graphics arts from

in 1916. He married Dorothy Hanna in 1920.

References

External links

* * *
Lambiek Comiclopedia article about Feg Murray.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Feg American male hurdlers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics 1894 births 1973 deaths Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from San Francisco Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American radio DJs 20th-century American sportsmen