Acting
Don Murray
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.
Filmography
Gold of Rio Bravo: Sheriff Kelly's Story
Film · 2025
Marilyn, Her Final Secret
Film · 2022
Promise
Film · 2021
Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
Film · 2017
Tab Hunter Confidential
Film · 2015
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
Film · 2012
Marilyn despite herself
Film · 2012
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
Film · 2010
Riots & Revolutions: Confronting the Times
Film · 2008
Fred Zinnemann - Der Mann, der 'High Noon' machte
Film · 2007
Hollywood Legenden
Film · 2004
Island Prey
Film · 2001
Besuch bei Don Murray
Film · 2000
Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man
Film · 1999
Internet Love
Film · 1998
Mr. Headmistress
Film · 1998
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Film · 1997
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1997
Soldier of Fortune, Inc.
Series · 1997
Hearts Adrift
Film · 1996
Marilyn, divine et fragile
Film · 1996
The Single Guy
Series · 1995
Shurtleff on Acting
Film · 1994
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
Film · 1994
Montana Crossroads
Film · 1993
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Film · 1991
Sons and Daughters
Series · 1991
Wings
Series · 1990
Twin Peaks
Series · 1990
Ghosts Can't Do It
Film · 1989
My Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He?
Film · 1989
Brand New Life
Series · 1989
Remembering Marilyn
Film · 1988
Made in Heaven
Film · 1987
Hollywood Uncensored
Film · 1987
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
Film · 1987
The Stepford Children
Film · 1987
Stillwatch
Film · 1987
Mistress
Film · 1987
Norma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
Film · 1987
Radioactive Dreams
Film · 1986
License to Kill
Film · 1986
Scorpion
Film · 1986
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Film · 1986
Peggy Sue Got Married
Film · 1986
Something in Common
Film · 1986
T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
Film · 1986
Matlock
Series · 1986
A Touch of Scandal
Film · 1984
Murder, She Wrote
Series · 1984
I Am the Cheese
Film · 1983
Quarterback Princess
Film · 1983
Thursday's Child
Film · 1983
Hotel
Series · 1982
Endless Love
Film · 1981
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
Film · 1981
Return of the Rebels
Film · 1981
The Boy Who Drank Too Much
Film · 1980
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
Film · 1980
Fugitive Family
Film · 1980
If Things Were Different
Film · 1980
Crisis in Mid-Air
Film · 1979
Knots Landing
Series · 1979
Rainbow
Film · 1978
How the West Was Won
Series · 1977
Deadly Hero
Film · 1975
A Girl Named Sooner
Film · 1975
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
Film · 1974
The Sex Symbol
Film · 1974
Amy Prentiss
Series · 1974
Cotter
Film · 1973
Police Story
Series · 1973
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
Series · 1973
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Film · 1972
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Film · 1972
ABC Afterschool Special
Series · 1972
Happy Birthday, Wanda June
Film · 1971
The Intruders
Film · 1970
Daughter of the Mind
Film · 1969
Childish Things
Film · 1969
The Outcasts
Series · 1968
The Borgia Stick
Film · 1967
The Viking Queen
Film · 1967
Sweet Love, Bitter
Film · 1967
Kid Rodelo
Film · 1966
The Plainsman
Film · 1966
Baby the Rain Must Fall
Film · 1965
One Man's Way
Film · 1964
Marilyn
Film · 1963
Advise & Consent
Film · 1962
Escape from East Berlin
Film · 1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Series · 1962
The Hoodlum Priest
Film · 1961
The Mike Douglas Show
Series · 1961
One Foot in Hell
Film · 1960
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Film · 1960
Winterset
Film · 1959
These Thousand Hills
Film · 1959
Shake Hands with the Devil
Film · 1959
From Hell to Texas
Film · 1958
A Hatful of Rain
Film · 1957
The Bachelor Party
Film · 1957
Bus Stop
Film · 1956
Playhouse 90
Series · 1956
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Film · 1955
The Wonderful World of Disney
Series · 1954
Producers' Showcase
Series · 1954
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Series · 1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Series · 1951
The Taming of the Shrew
Film · 1950
Lux Video Theatre
Series · 1950
What's My Line?
Series · 1950
Danger
Series · 1950
Studio One
Series · 1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Series · 1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Series · 1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Series · 1948
Kraft Television Theatre
Series · 1947
Kraft Television Theatre
Series · 1947
Kraft Television Theatre
Series · 1947
Golden Globe Awards
Series · 1944