Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Дон Мюррей , Donald Patrick Murray

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Hollywood, California, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 73

TV Involvements: 15


Most Famous Work

Biography

Donald Patrick "Don" Murray (July 31, 1929-February 2, 2024) was an American actor. Murray was born in Hollywood, California. He attended East Rockaway High School (class of 1947) in East Rockaway, New York where he played football and track, was a member of the student government and glee club and joined the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. From high school he went on to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Murray had a long and varied career in films and television, including his role as Sid Fairgate in the long-running prime-time soap opera Knots Landing from 1979 to 1981. He was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor in Bus Stop (1956) in which he co-starred with Marilyn Monroe. He starred as a blackmailed United States senator in Advise & Consent (1961), a film version of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Allen Drury that was directed by Otto Preminger and cast Murray opposite Henry Fonda and Charles Laughton. He also co-starred with Steve McQueen in the film Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965) and played the ape-hating Governor Breck in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). In addition to acting, Murray directed a film based on the book The Cross and the Switchblade (1970) starring Pat Boone and Erik Estrada, and he scripted two episodes of Knots Landing ("Hitchhike" parts 1 & 2) in 1980. Murray starred with Otis Young in the ground breaking ABC western television series The Outcasts (1968-69) featuring an interracial bounty hunter team in the post-Civil War West. Murray decided to leave Knots Landing after two years to concentrate on other projects, although some sources say he left 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 up on season two's cliffhanger in which Sid's car careered off a cliff. To make viewers off doubt the character would actually die, Murray was listed in the newly created credit sequence for season three; the character survived the plunge off the cliff (thus temporarily reassuring viewers), but died shortly afterwards in hospital. Although he effectively distanced himself from the series after his exit in 1981, Murray later contributed an interview segment for Knots Landing: Together Again, a non-fiction reunion special made in 2005. Murray was the first husband of actress Hope Lange. They had two children, including actor Christopher Murray.

Most Famous Work

The Philco Television Playhouse
Average
6

The Philco Television Playhouse

(1948) Axel Nordman
Studio One
Average
4

Studio One

(1948) Biondello
Twin Peaks
Average
8

Twin Peaks

(1990) Bushnell Mullins
Lux Video Theatre
Average
6

Lux Video Theatre

(1950) Jimmy
The Wonderful World of Disney
Average
7
Playhouse 90
Average
8

Playhouse 90

(1956) Randy Bragg
Matlock
Average
7

Matlock

(1986) Albert Gordon
What's My Line?
Average
7

What's My Line?

(1950) Self - Mystery Guest

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2021 Zacharias
2017 Self
2015 Self
2010 Self
Self
2008 Self
2007 Self
2004 Self
2001 Parker Gaits
2000 Self
1999 Self
1998 Self
1997 Reporter
Self
Lloyd Raines
1995 N/A
1994 Self
Self
1991 Self
Bing Hammersmith
1990 Dad
Bushnell Mullins
1989 Winston
N/A
1987 Self
Ben Chandler
Steven Harding
Sam Kingsley
Self
1986 Tom Fiske
Gifford Lease
Theo Fontana
Jack Kelcher
Dash Hammer
Self
Albert Gordon
1984 Benjamin Gilvey
Wally Hampton
1983 Ralph Maida
David Farmer
Parker Alden
1982 N/A
1981 Sonny Morgan
Hugh
Pimp
1980 Peter Ritchie
Sergeant Jack Leland
Ken Saunders
Robert Langford
1979 Sid Fairgate
Adam Travis
1978 Frank Gumm
1977 Anderson
1975 Edward A. Lacy
Sheriff Phil Rotteman
1974 N/A
Sen. Grant O'Neal
William Martin
1973 N/A
Cotter
1972 Jack Karpinsky
Breck
Justin Morgan
1971 Herb Shuttle
1970 Sam Garrison
1969 Dr. Alex Lauder
Tom Harris
1968 N/A
1967 Justinian
Tom Harrison
N/A
1966 Wild Bill Hickok
Kid Rodelo
1965 Deputy Sheriff Slim
1964 Norman Vincent Peale
1963 Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited)
1962 Kurt Schröder
Self
Senator Brigham Anderson
1961 Self
Father Charles Dismas Clark
1960 Dan Keats
Self
1959 Mio
Kerry O'Shea
Albert Gallatin 'Lat' Evans
1958 Tod Lohman
1957 Johnny Pope
Charlie Samson
1956 Randy Bragg
Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
1955 Axel Nordman
1954 Justin Morgan
1951 Mio
Parker Alden
1950 Jimmy
Self - Mystery Guest
1948 Biondello
N/A
Axel Nordman
Self
1947 George
N/A
Booth
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2008 Director
1976 Director
1970 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1970 Writer
1961 Screenplay
Year Role Movie/Tv

Join the discussion

Please Log in to comment