Richard Murphy (May 8, 1912 – May 19, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director and producer. His screenplays for ''

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

'' (1947) and ''

The Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) was an armoured warfare, armoured division (military), division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division (Egypt) on 27 September 1938, after increased tensions between Britain and the Ax ...

'' (1953) were nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

and

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, respectively.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, Murphy worked for ''

Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current Opinion''. ...

'' in the 1930s before leaving in 1937 to work in the short film department at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. Murphy's first screenwriting credit was for providing the story for ''Back in the Saddle'', a 1941

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. While in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Murphy reached the rank of captain seeing action in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

countries of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Murphy returned to the States and started working for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. In 1947 he wrote the award-winning film ''

''. He received the first of two

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

nominations for this screenplay, with his second in 1953 for the World War II film ''

''. He also directed a few films before moving into television in the 1960s when he wrote and created television series. Murphy's last screenplay was for '' The Kidnapping of the President'' in 1980.

Filmography

Writer

* ''Life in Sometown, U.S.A.'' (1938) * ''Back in the Saddle'' (1941) * ''The Singing Hill'' (1941) * ''Flying Blind'' (1941) * ''The Apache Kid'' (1941) * ''Jesse James, Jr.'' (1942) * '' The Cyclone Kid'' (1942) * ''I Live on Danger'' (1942) * ''Wildcat'' (1942) * ''X Marks the Spot'' (1942) * ''Wrecking Crew'' (1942) * '' Boomerang!'' (1947) * ''Deep Waters'' (1948) * '' Cry of the City'' (1948) * ''

Slattery's Hurricane ''Slattery's Hurricane'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell and Veronica Lake. It is based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk, who also coauthored the screenplay and published a ...

'' (1949) * '' Panic in the Streets'' (1950) * ''

You're in the Navy Now ''You're in the Navy Now'' is a 1951 American war-comedy film about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. The film was directed by Henry Hathaway and stars Gary Cooper as a new officer wanting duty at sea but who is instead ...

'' (1951) * ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' (1952) * ''

'' (1953) * ''

Broken Lance ''Broken Lance'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark and Katy Jurado. Shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the film ...

'' (1954) * '' Three Stripes in the Sun'' (1955) * ''

Compulsion Compulsion, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to: Psychology * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compul ...

'' (1959) * ''

The Last Angry Man ''The Last Angry Man'' is a 1959 American drama film that tells the story of a television producer who profiles the life of a physician. It stars Paul Muni (in his last film appearance), David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Billy Dee Williams (in his fil ...

'' (1959) * '' The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' (1960) * ''The Mystery of the Chinese Junk'' (1967) * ''

Felony Squad ''The Felony Squad'' is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966, to January 31, 1969. Overview Sergeant Sam Stone and Detective Jim Briggs are investigators in a major crimes unit in a ...

'' (73 episodes, 1966–1969) * '' The Kidnapping of the President'' (1980)

Director

* '' Three Stripes in the Sun'' (1955) * '' The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' (1960)

Producer

* ''The Mystery of the Chinese Junk'' (1967)

Awards and nominations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Richard 1912 births 1993 deaths Williams College alumni American male screenwriters Film producers from Massachusetts Film directors from Massachusetts United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Writers from Boston Writers Guild of America Award winners 20th-century American businesspeople Screenwriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters United States Army Air Forces officers