James Murray (born 22 January 1975) is an English actor, artist, and river conservationist. He is well known for his work campaigning for British rivers and is a wild salmon advocate. He currently holds the position of Deputy Chair fo
River Action
and founde
Activist Anglers
in 2023. Jim and his wife Sarah Parish set up The Murray Parish trust in 2014 in memory of their late daughter Ella-Jayne and have raised over £5 million for paediatric facilities. He was awarded an MBE in the king’s honours list 2025. His television roles include Stephen Hart in '' Primeval'' (2007–2008), Niles Pottinger in '' Defiance'' (2014), Daniel Coltrane in ''

Cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.McDonald & Dodds'' (2020–2021),

Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger broth ...

in ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'' (2022–2023), and Colonel Neil 'Chick' Harding in '' Masters of the Air'' (2024).

Early life

Murray was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He was awarded a classics scholarship by

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

, and has a degree in film. His great-grandfather, Richard Hollins Murray, invented the reflecting lens in 1927.

Career

Murray's mainstream roles were in '' Primeval'' ( ITV, 2008) as expert tracker Stephen Hart, and in ''Cucumber'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, 2015) as conflicted character Daniel Coltrane. Earlier on in his career he starred in a series of both film and television pieces, including the comedy series '' Roger Roger'' (1999), legal drama series '' North Square'' (2000), mini series '' Other People's Children'' (2000) and '' Sons & Lovers'' (2003), a

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

production of '' The Sittaford Mystery'' (2006) as Charles Burnaby, a film of the

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

story ''

Under the Greenwood Tree ''Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School'' is the second published novel by English author Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, and the first of what was to become his seri ...

'' (2005) as Dick Dewy, plus earlier films ''Nailing Vienna'' (2002) as Peter, ''

All the King's Men ''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U. ...

'' (1999) as Pvt Will Needham, and ''Phoenix Blue'' (2001) as Rick. He also found more permanent roles in Channel 4's ''20 Things to Do Before You're 30'' (2003) playing Glen and

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's season four of '' Cutting It'' (2005) as Liam Carney. Murray appeared in the ITV science fiction series ''Primeval'' as Stephen Hart, Nick Cutter's lab technician, in both series one (2007) and series two (2008). Murray had the leading role of the father, Frank Davis, in '' It's Alive'' (2008) a remake of the 1970s horror classic by ''

Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as ''Black Caesar (film), Black Caesar'' and ''Hell Up in Harlem'' (both 1973), before becomin ...

''. He had a role in '' Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire'', a comic fantasy series for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, which began airing in April 2009. His character is Ralph Longshaft. In the US, Murray was a lead in the CBS spy caper series '' CHAOS'' from 2010 to 2011. His character was called Billy Collins. He was cast as Mayor Niles Pottinger, in the second series of '' Defiance'', which first aired on 19 June 2014. Murray appeared in one episode ("Dead Air") of the third series which aired on 27 June 2015. He took over from Fay Ripley as lead DCI in the completely improvised show '' Suspects'' as DCI Daniel Drummond, which aired in August 2016 (all six episodes). He appeared as the father, Edward, in the three part ITV supernatural series '' HIM''. In 2016, Murray played The Doge of Venice in season 1 of

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 ...

's ''

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

'', before playing the lead role of Wesley opposite Polly Walker in BBC One's '' Age Before Beauty''. In 2017, Murray directed veteran actor

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Siegf ...

CBE in his last role alongside Nina Sosanya in his short film ''La Familia''. He appeared as Caleb in the Ryan Reynolds film '' 6 Underground'' released in December 2019. He was Chief Superintendent John Houseman in the ITV series '' McDonald & Dodds''. In 2021, Murray was cast as Colonel Neil 'Chick' Harding in Apple TV's WW2 epic bomber drama '' Masters of the Air''. The series is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and executive produced by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. It premiered in 2024. Murray directed and co-presented with Robson Green ITV's ''Robson and Jim's Icelandic Flyfishing Adventure'' (July 2021), a passion project about the therapeutic values of

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

set in the bountiful rivers in Iceland. Murray played the role of

in the final two seasons of Netflix's ''

''.

Personal life

Murray married his '' Cutting It'' co-star Sarah Parish in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

on 15 December 2007, following a two-year romance. On 18 January 2008, it was announced that Parish was pregnant with their first child. Their daughter, Ella-Jayne, was born five weeks premature in May 2008 and died in January 2009 aged 8 months due to a congenital

heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly, congenital cardiovascular malformation, and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital h ...

. Their daughter Nell was born on 21 November 2009. In honour of Ella-Jayne, Parish and Murray began raising funds for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital, where she was cared for. Their efforts led to them creating the Murray Parish Trust in 2014, to enhance overall paediatric emergency care serving

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* https://www.instagram.com/thejimmurray/?hl=en *
The Murray Parish Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James 1975 births English male film actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Manchester Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire