J. Harold Murray
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

J. Harold Murray (born Harry Rulten, February 17, 1891 – December 11, 1940) was an American
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
singer and actor. For more than a decade, during the
Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western world, Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultura ...
and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to the development of
musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...
by bridging
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
,
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
and the modern American musical. The most popular American songs he introduced on Broadway included "Autumn in New York" (1934, '' Thumbs Up!'', words and music by
Vernon Duke Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I ...
); " Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee" and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" (1932, '' Face the Music'',
Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...
and
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
); "Rio Rita", "The Kinkajou" and "The Rangers Song" (1927, '' Rio Rita'', Harry Tierney and
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...
); and "Mandalay" (1921, '' The Whirl of New York'', Gustave Kerker, Hugh Morton and Edgar Smith).


Early years

Born in South Berwick, Maine, on February 17, 1891, "Hal" Murray served in the Merchant Marine 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 ...
. As a boy, he studied voice in Boston and sang in theaters and in churches. He moved to New York and worked for a music publishing company for two years.


Career

Murray began performing in vaudeville in 1918 and continued there for two years. He made his debut on the musical theatre stage as J. Harold Murray in out-of-town productions of Arthur Hammerstein's ''Always You'' and Frank Tinney's ''Sometime'', both in 1920. He debuted on Broadway at the age of 30 in J.J. Shubert's '' The Passing Show of 1921''. During the rest of the decade, he starred in 10 musicals, and separately co-starred with
Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...
('' Make It Snappy'', 1922),
Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program '' The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forw ...
('' Vogues of 1924'') and Joe E. Brown ('' Captain Jinks'', 1925). Other shows were '' The Midnight Rounders of 1921'', ''The Whirl of New York'' (1921), '' Springtime of Youth'' (1922), ''Caroline'' (1923), '' China Rose'' (1925) with Olga Steck, and '' Castles in the Air'' (1926) with Vivienne Segal. In February 1927, he starred in ''Rio Rita'', a Flo Ziegfeld production. It was so successful after it opened the Ziegfeld Theatre that the musical ''Show Boat'', which had been scheduled to open in April, was delayed until the end of the year. In Hollywood from 1929 to 1930 in the pre-Code years, Murray appeared in the William Fox Studio musicals '' Cameo Kirby'' with Norma Terris, ''
Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...
'', '' Married In Hollywood'' with Norma Terris, '' Women Everywhere'' (1930) with Fifi D'Orsay, and '' Under Suspicion''. Returning to New York City, Murray starred in the
Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...
-
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
musical '' Face the Music'',
Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...
's ''East Wind'', ''Thumbs Up'', and ''Venus in Silk''. The last was a Laurence Schwab operetta that closed out-of-town (Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.) before reaching Broadway. Murray retired from the Broadway stage in 1935. He sang on a Hartford, Connecticut radio show weekly for three years. He also was active in business, and summer stock (''The Only Girl'', 1938; ''Knickerbocker Holiday'', 1939, at The Player's Theatre,
Clinton, Connecticut Clinton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population of the town was 13,185 at the 2020 census. The town center along the shore line was liste ...
). He performed in several musical film shorts for
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
(''Nite in a Night Club'', 1934; ''The Singing Bandit'', 1937; ''Somewhere in Paris'', 1938; ''Wild and Bully'', 1939), RKO (''Phony Boy'', 1937; ''Under a Gypsy Moon'', 1938) and
Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...
(''Who Was That Girl'', 1934; ''The Flame Song'', 1934). Modern theater musicals emerged from vaudeville and operettas, and J. Harold Murray played an important role in their early development. His acting and strong baritone performances of songs such as "Rio Rita", "The Ranger's Song", "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee", "Soft Lights and Sweet Music", and "New York in Autumn" were notable then. His introducing them on the Broadway stage contributed to their withstanding the test of time into the 21st century.


Later years

After Murray left show business, he became part owner of New England Brewery in Hartford, Connecticut, and commuted daily from his 200-acre farm to work at the brewery. He was defeated in a 1938 election when he ran for a seat in the Connecticut State Senate.


Personal life and death

Murray was married to the former Dolly Hackett. He had one son, William Joseph Rulten Murray, from a previous marriage.Boston Globe, July 30, 1925 J. Harold Murray developed
nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...
in the spring of 1940. He died of the disease on December 11 at the age of 49.


Selected filmography

* '' Married in Hollywood'' (1929) * '' Women Everywhere'' (1930) * '' Under Suspicion'' (1930) * '' Cameo Kirby'' (1930)


References

* Bloom, K (1985). ''American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion'', Facts on File Publications, Vol. 1. * Bordman, G (1978). ''American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle'', Oxford University Press. * Ewen, D (1966). ''American Popular Songs: From the Revolutionary War to the Present'', Random House. * Green, S (1976). ''Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre'', Dodd, Mead & Company. * Norton, R (2002). ''A Chronology of American Musical Theatre'', Oxford University Press, Vol. 2, 1912–1952. * ''
The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'', Feb. 9, 1939 ''The Brewers' Big Horses Can't Run Over An Actor Who Sings Between Barrels''.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, J. Harold American male musical theatre actors American male film actors American baritones People from South Berwick, Maine 1891 births 1940 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Maine 20th Century Studios contract players RKO Pictures contract players 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers American vaudeville performers Deaths from nephritis