Warren Burton Murphy (September 13, 1933 – September 4, 2015) was an American author, best known as the co-creator of ''
The Destroyer'' series, the basis for the film ''
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins''.
Early life
Murphy was born in
, on September 13, 1933.
He worked in journalism and politics until launching
the Destroyer series with
Richard Sapir in 1971. A screenwriter (''
Lethal Weapon 2
''Lethal Weapon 2'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor and Patsy Kensit. It is a sequel to the 1987 film '' Letha ...
'', ''
The Eiger Sanction'') as well as a novelist, his work won a dozen national awards, including multiple Edgars and Shamuses. He lectured at many colleges and universities.
Writing
Murphy was one of the authors of the screenplay for ''
The Eiger Sanction'' in 1975, and also co-wrote (with series creator
Shane Black
Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor, known for his distinctive style of Action film, action and action comedy films. He is the original creator of the ''Lethal Weapon (franchise), Lethal Wea ...
) the original story for ''
Lethal Weapon 2
''Lethal Weapon 2'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor and Patsy Kensit. It is a sequel to the 1987 film '' Letha ...
''. He is the author of the ''Trace'' and ''Digger'' series. With Molly Cochran, he completed two books of a planned trilogy revolving around the character "The Grandmaster": ''The Grandmaster'' (1984) and ''High Priest'' (1989). Murphy also shared writing credits with Cochran on ''
The Forever King'' and several novels under the name Dev Stryker. Some of his solo novels include ''Jericho Day'', ''The Red Moon'', ''The Ceiling of Hell'', ''The Sure Thing'' and ''Honor Among Thieves''. Over his career, Murphy has sold over 60 million books.
In 2002, Murphy started his own publishing house, Ballybunion, as a vehicle to start ''The Destroyer'' spin-off books. Ballybunion reprinted ''The Assassin's Handbook'', as well as the original works ''Assassin's Handbook 2'', ''The Movie That Never Was'' (a screenplay he and
Richard Sapir wrote for a Destroyer movie that was never optioned), ''The Way of the Assassin'' (the wisdom of Chiun), and ''New Blood'', a collection of short stories written by fans of the series. Together with Gerald Welch, he created a Destroyer spin-off series called ''Legacy'', about Remo's children Winston "Stone" Smith and Freya Williams. After Murphy's death, Welch has continued writing new books in the series alone.
He served on the board of the
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City.
The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday.
It presents the E ...
, and was also a member of the Private Eye Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the American Crime Writers League and the Screenwriters Guild. In April 2007, Warren returned to co-authoring ''The Destroyer'', which is now published by
Tor Books
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles.
History
Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...
. His final novel, ''Bloodline'', was released by Tor in 2015.
Awards and acclaim
Murphy received a number of awards and nominations for his work. ''Ceiling of Hell'' won the 1985
Shamus Award in the "Best Original Private Eye Paperback" category.
His 1999 short story, "Another Day, Another Dollar", won the "Best Short Story" Shamus award.
His novel ''Grandmaster'' won the 1985
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...
for "Best Paperback Original Mystery Novel".
His novel ''Trace: Too Old a Cat'' was nominated for "Best Paperback Original" at the
1987 Anthony Awards and the Shamus Awards of the same year.
Also ''Smoked Out'' was nominated in this category in 1983, ''Trace'' in 1984 (along with a 1983
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...
nomination),
''Trace and 47 Miles of Rope'' in 1985, ''Trace: Pigs Get Fat'' in 1986 (along with a 1986 Edgar Award nomination); and ''Trace: Too Old a Cat'' in 1987.
Personal life
A
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
veteran, Murphy's hobbies included golf, mathematics, opera, and investing. Murphy was previously married to Molly Cochran
and Dawn Walters, both marriages ended in divorce.
Death
Murphy died on September 4, 2015, in
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...
, at the age of 81, of heart failure resulting from lung disease.
Obituary
legacy.com; accessed September 6, 2015.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Warren
1933 births
2015 deaths
American spy fiction writers
Edgar Award winners
Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey
Shamus Award winners
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Novelists from New Jersey