Ashleigh Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her

breakthrough role A breakthrough role, also known as a breakout role, is a term in the theatre, film and television industry to describe the performance of an actor or actress which contributed significantly to the development of their career and beginning of crit ...

Josie McCoy ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (initially published as ''She's Josie'' and ''Josie'') is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. First published in 1963, with regular issues through ...

, the lead singer of the fictional band Josie and the Pussycats, on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

television series '' Riverdale'', which she starred in from 2017 to 2019. Murray reprised her role as Josie McCoy in the ''Riverdale'' spin-off series '' Katy Keene'' (2020) and returned to ''Riverdale'' as a guest star in 2021 and 2023. Murray has also starred in the films '' Deidra & Laney Rob a Train'' (2017) and ''

Valley Girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, f ...

'' (2020), as well as the television series ''

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The fi ...

'' (2022) and '' The Other Black Girl'' (2023).

Early life and education

Murray was born on January 18, 1988, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. At the age of 10, she participated in a school play which ignited her love for acting and performing. After high school, Murray moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she studied acting at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and graduated in 2009.

Career

In 2016, Murray was cast as a series regular in

's teen drama '' Riverdale'', portraying

, "a gorgeous, snooty and ambitious girl who is the lead singer for the popular band Josie and the Pussycats". The show premiered in 2017, and Murray was a cast member until 2019. Murray's actual singing voice is used in all of her performance scenes with Josie and the Pussycats on the show, but she has expressed disinterest in becoming a professional singer herself. In February 2019, it was announced that Murray would reprise her role as Josie McCoy as part of the main cast of the ''Riverdale'' spin-off pilot, '' Katy Keene''. In May 2019, The CW ordered ''Katy Keene'' to series. ''Katy Keene'' was canceled after one season in July 2020 and Murray returned to ''Riverdale'' as a guest star in 2021 and 2023. Murray had a co-leading role in the 2017

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original movie '' Deidra & Laney Rob a Train''. The film had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 23, 2017, and was released on March 17, 2017. In April 2017, it was announced that Murray had joined the cast of MGM's musical ''

'', a remake of the 1983 film, as Loryn. In May 2022, Murray starred in the ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and TV shows as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudo ...

'' spin-off series ''

''. Later that same year, she was cast as Hazel-May McCall in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

mystery thriller series '' The Other Black Girl'', a television adaptation of the 2021 novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Ash 1988 births Living people American television actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women