Don Murray

Birthday: 1929-07-31
Birthplace: Hollywood, California, USA
Gender: Male
Drafted: 0
Drafted By: Unowned
Owned By: Unowned
Owned Wins: 0
Owned Noms: 0
Win Bonus: 0
Nom Bonus: 0
Total Points: 0

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.

Career Statisics

Season Age Movie Role Result Points
1957 28 Bus Stop (1956) Supporting Actor Nom 0
Career 0

Transaction History

Date Location Team Receives Team Receives Team Receives

Credits

Year Title Character
2021-04-06 Promise Zacharias
2001-01-01 Island Prey Parker Gaits
1996-08-07 Hearts Adrift Lloyd Raines
1989-10-17 Ghosts Can't Do It Winston
1989-09-14 My Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He? Jack Karpinsky
1987-11-06 Made in Heaven Ben Chandler
1987-03-15 The Stepford Children Steven Harding
1987-02-10 Stillwatch Sam Kingsley
1986-12-16 License to Kill Tom Fiske
1986-12-01 Scorpion Gifford Lease
1986-11-02 Something in Common Theo Fontana
1986-10-10 Peggy Sue Got Married Jack Kelcher
1986-09-19 Radioactive Dreams Dash Hammer
1986-05-21 T.J. Hooker - Blood Sport Senator Stuart Grayle
1984-11-27 A Touch of Scandal Benjamin Gilvey
1983-12-03 Quarterback Princess Ralph Maida
1983-11-11 I Am The Cheese David Farmer
1983-02-01 Thursday's Child Parker Alden
1981-10-17 Return of the Rebels Sonny Morgan
1981-07-17 Endless Love Hugh
1981-02-13 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen Pimp
1980-10-01 Fugitive Family Peter Ritchie
1980-04-28 Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop Sergeant Jack Leland
1980-02-06 The Boy Who Drank Too Much Ken Saunders
1980-01-16 If Things Were Different Robert Langford
1979-02-13 Crisis in Mid-Air Adam Travis
1978-11-06 Rainbow Frank Gumm
1975-12-14 Deadly Hero Edward A. Lacy
1975-06-18 A Girl Named Sooner Sheriff Phil Rotteman
1974-09-17 The Sex Symbol Sen. Grant O'Neal
1974-04-01 The Girl on the Late, Late Show William Martin
1973-01-01 Cotter Cotter
1972-06-29 Conquest of the Planet of the Apes Breck
1972-02-06 Justin Morgan Had a Horse Justin Morgan
1971-12-09 Happy Birthday, Wanda June Herb Shuttle
1970-11-10 The Intruders Sam Garrison
1969-12-09 Daughter of the Mind Dr. Alex Lauder
1969-07-01 Childish Things Tom Harris
1967-03-25 The Viking Queen Justinian
1967-02-25 The Borgia Stick Tom Harrison
1967-01-30 Sweet Love, Bitter David Hillary
1966-08-01 The Plainsman Wild Bill Hickok
1966-01-01 Kid Rodelo Kid Rodelo
1965-01-12 Baby, the Rain Must Fall Deputy Sheriff Slim
1964-02-26 One Man's Way Norman Vincent Peale
1962-10-22 Escape from East Berlin Kurt Schröder
1962-06-06 Advise & Consent Senator Brigham Anderson
1961-03-26 The Hoodlum Priest Father Charles Dismas Clark
1960-09-11 One Foot in Hell Dan Keats
1959-10-26 Winterset Mio
1959-06-24 Shake Hands with the Devil Kerry O'Shea
1959-05-07 These Thousand Hills Albert Gallatin 'Lat' Evans
1958-04-29 From Hell to Texas Tod Lohman
1957-07-17 A Hatful of Rain Johnny Pope
1957-04-09 The Bachelor Party Charlie Samson
1956-08-31 Bus Stop Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
1955-10-02 A Man Is Ten Feet Tall Axel Nordman