Don Murray
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- July 31, 1929
- Died
- February 2, 2024 (aged 94)
- Birthplace
- Hollywood, California, USA
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Gold of Rio Bravo: Sheriff Kelly's Story
Movie
Marilyn, Her Final Secret
Movie
Promise
Movie · as Zacharias
Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
Movie · as Self
Tab Hunter Confidential
Movie · as Self
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
Movie
Marilyn despite herself
Movie
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
Movie · as Self
Riots & Revolutions: Confronting the Times
Movie · as Self
Fred Zinnemann - Der Mann, der 'High Noon' machte
Movie · as Self
Hollywood Legenden
Movie · as Self
Island Prey
Movie · as Parker Gaits
Besuch bei Don Murray
Movie · as Self
Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man
Movie · as Self
Internet Love
Movie · as Self
Mr. Headmistress
Movie · as Reporter
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Movie · as Self
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV · as Reporter · 1 ep
Soldier of Fortune, Inc.
TV · as White Dragon / John James / Col. Quentin Shepherd · 1 ep
Hearts Adrift
Movie · as Lloyd Raines
Marilyn, divine et fragile
Movie · as Self
The Single Guy
TV · as Chip Bremley · 1 ep
Shurtleff on Acting
Movie · as Self
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
Movie · as Self
Montana Crossroads
Movie · as Frank Morrow
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Movie · as Self
Sons and Daughters
TV · as Bing Hammersmith · 13 eps
Wings
TV · as Dad · 1 ep
Twin Peaks
TV · as Bushnell Mullins · 8 eps
Ghosts Can't Do It
Movie · as Winston
My Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He?
Movie · as Jack Karpinsky
Brand New Life
TV · 6 eps
Remembering Marilyn
Movie · as Self (Interviewee)
Made in Heaven
Movie · as Ben Chandler
Hollywood Uncensored
Movie · as Self
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
Movie · as Self
The Stepford Children
Movie · as Steven Harding
Stillwatch
Movie · as Sam Kingsley
Mistress
Movie · as Wyn
Norma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
Movie · as archive footage
Radioactive Dreams
Movie · as Dash Hammer
License to Kill
Movie · as Tom Fiske
Scorpion
Movie · as Gifford Lease
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Movie · as Self
Peggy Sue Got Married
Movie · as Jack Kelcher
Something in Common
Movie · as Theo Fontana
T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
Movie · as Senator Stuart Grayle
Matlock
TV · as Albert Gordon · 2 eps
A Touch of Scandal
Movie · as Benjamin Gilvey
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Wally Hampton · 1 ep
I Am the Cheese
Movie · as David Farmer
Quarterback Princess
Movie · as Ralph Maida
Thursday's Child
Movie · as Parker Alden
Hotel
TV · as Sam Burton · 1 ep
Endless Love
Movie · as Hugh
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
Movie · as Pimp
Return of the Rebels
Movie · as Sonny Morgan
The Boy Who Drank Too Much
Movie · as Ken Saunders
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
Movie · as Sergeant Jack Leland
Fugitive Family
Movie · as Peter Ritchie
If Things Were Different
Movie · as Robert Langford
Crisis in Mid-Air
Movie · as Adam Travis
Knots Landing
TV · as Sid Fairgate · 33 eps
Rainbow
Movie · as Frank Gumm
How the West Was Won
TV · as Anderson · 3 eps
Deadly Hero
Movie · as Edward A. Lacy
A Girl Named Sooner
Movie · as Sheriff Phil Rotteman
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
Movie · as William Martin
The Sex Symbol
Movie · as Sen. Grant O'Neal
Amy Prentiss
TV · as Connors · 1 ep
Cotter
Movie · as Cotter
Police Story
TV · as Jack Bonner · 3 eps
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
TV · as Jack Stanley · 1 ep
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Movie · as Breck
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Movie · as Justin Morgan
ABC Afterschool Special
TV · as Jack Karpinsky · 1 ep
Happy Birthday, Wanda June
Movie · as Herb Shuttle
The Intruders
Movie · as Sam Garrison
Daughter of the Mind
Movie · as Dr. Alex Lauder
Childish Things
Movie · as Tom Harris
The Outcasts
TV · as Earl Corey · 26 eps
The Borgia Stick
Movie · as Tom Harrison
The Viking Queen
Movie · as Justinian
Sweet Love, Bitter
Movie · as David Hillary
Kid Rodelo
Movie · as Kid Rodelo
The Plainsman
Movie · as Wild Bill Hickok
Baby the Rain Must Fall
Movie · as Deputy Sheriff Slim
One Man's Way
Movie · as Norman Vincent Peale
Marilyn
Movie · as archive footage
Advise & Consent
Movie · as Senator Brigham Anderson
Escape from East Berlin
Movie · as Kurt Schröder
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Hoodlum Priest
Movie · as Father Charles Dismas Clark
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self · 6 eps
One Foot in Hell
Movie · as Dan Keats
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Movie · as Self
Winterset
Movie · as Mio Romagna
These Thousand Hills
Movie · as Albert Gallatin 'Lat' Evans
Shake Hands with the Devil
Movie · as Kerry O'Shea
From Hell to Texas
Movie · as Tod Lohman
A Hatful of Rain
Movie · as Johnny Pope
The Bachelor Party
Movie · as Charlie Samson
Bus Stop
Movie · as Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
Playhouse 90
TV · as Randy Bragg · 1 ep
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Movie · as Axel Nordman
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV · as Justin Morgan · 1 ep
Producers' Showcase
TV · as Henry Antrobus · 1 ep
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Mio, Parker Alden · 1 ep
The Taming of the Shrew
Movie · as Biondello
Lux Video Theatre
TV · as Jimmy · 1 ep
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Danger
TV · 1 ep
Studio One
TV · as Biondello · 1 ep
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV · as Axel Nordman · 1 ep
Kraft Television Theatre
TV · as George, Booth · 1 ep
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Presenter · 1 ep