Don Murray (actor)

Donald Patrick Murray (July 31, 1929 – February 2, 2024) was an American actor best known for his breakout performance in the film ''Bus Stop'' (1956, with Marilyn Monroe), which earned him a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His other films include ''A Hatful of Rain'' (1957), '' Shake Hands with the Devil'' (1959, with James Cagney), '' One Foot in Hell'' (1960, with Alan Ladd), '' The Hoodlum Priest'' (1961), '' Advise & Consent'' (1962, with Henry Fonda and Charles Laughton), '' Baby the Rain Must Fall'' (1965, with Steve McQueen and Lee Remick), ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' (1972), '' Deadly Hero'' (1975), and ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' (1986, with Kathleen Turner).

Murray starred in television series such as '' The Outcasts'' (1968–1969), ''Knots Landing'' (1979–1981), and ''Twin Peaks'' (2017).

Early life and career

Donald Patrick Murray was born in Los Angeles on July 31, 1929, the second of three children, to Dennis Aloisius Murray, a Broadway dance director and stage manager, and Ethel Murray (née Cook), a former Ziegfeld Follies performer.

Murray attended East Rockaway High School (class of 1947) in East Rockaway, New York, where he played football and was on the track team. He was a member of the student government and glee club, and joined the Alpha Phi chapter of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. After graduating, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Soon after graduating from the AADA, he made his Broadway debut as Jack Hunter in '' The Rose Tattoo'' (1951).

A member of the Church of the Brethren, Murray registered as a conscientious objector during the Korean War, when many young American men were being drafted into the armed forces. Murray was assigned to alternative service in Europe, where he helped orphans and war casualties.

In 1954, Murray returned from Europe to the U.S. and acting. He starred alongside Mary Martin in the stage version of '' The Skin of Our Teeth''. Upon seeing his performance in the play, director Joshua Logan cast him in 20th Century Fox's film adaptation of William Inge's play ''Bus Stop''.

Film and television career

Murray's role as Beauregard "Beau" Decker in ''Bus Stop'' (1956) marked his film debut. He starred alongside Marilyn Monroe, who played Cherie, the object of his desire. His performance as the innocent cowboy determined to get Cherie was well received, and he was nominated for a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer and for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1957, Murray starred as reserved, married bookkeeper Charlie Sampson in '' The Bachelor Party''. That same year he had one of his most successful roles, the morphine-addicted Korean War veteran Johnny Pope in the drama ''A Hatful of Rain''. Despite director Fred Zinnemann's intention to cast Murray as the comical brother Polo, Murray insisted on playing the lead. The film was one of the first to show the effects of drug abuse on addicts and the people around them.

Murray starred as a blackmailed United States senator in '' Advise & Consent'' (1962), a film version of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Allen Drury. The movie was directed by Otto Preminger and co-starred Henry Fonda and Charles Laughton. Murray co-starred with Steve McQueen in '' Baby the Rain Must Fall'' (1965) and played the ape-hating Governor Breck in ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' (1972).

In 1976, Murray starred in the film '' Deadly Hero''. In addition to acting, he directed a film based on the book '' The Cross and the Switchblade'' (1970). He starred with Otis Young in the ABC western television series ''The Outcasts'' (1968–69), featuring an interracial bounty hunter team in the post-Civil War West.

In 1979, Murray starred as Sid Fairgate on the prime-time soap opera ''Knots Landing''. He also scripted two episodes of the show in 1980. In 1981, Murray left the series after two seasons either to concentrate on other projects, or, according to some sources, over a salary dispute. The character's death was notable at the time because it was considered rare to kill off a star character. The death came in the second episode of season three, following season two's cliffhanger in which Sid's car careened off a cliff. To make viewers doubt the character had actually died, Murray was listed in the credit sequence for season three; in fact, season three revealed that Fairgate had survived the plunge off the cliff (thus temporarily reassuring the viewers), but died shortly afterward in a hospital. Although he effectively distanced himself from the series after that, Murray contributed an interview segment for the 2005 reunion special ''Knots Landing: Together Again''.

Retrospective

In July 2014, a retrospective of Murray's films was held at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.

Personal life

In 1956, Murray married Hope Lange, with whom he co-starred in ''Bus Stop''. They had two children, Christopher and Patricia. They divorced in 1961. In 1962, he married Elizabeth Johnson. They had three children, Colleen, Sean, and Michael.

Murray lived in Goleta, California. He died at his home on February 2, 2024, at the age of 94.

Filmography

Feature films

Television films

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
*
*
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Don
1929 births
2024 deaths
American male television actors
American male stage actors
American male film actors
Male actors from California
People from East Rockaway, New York
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
East Rockaway High School alumni
People from Goleta, California