DM
Don Murray
Actor, Writer, Director, Producer, Additional Credits
Born July 31, 1929Died February 2, 2024 (94 years)
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.
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
Filmography
| 2025 | |
| 2021 | Promise · as Zacharias |
| 2011 | Vito · as Senator Brigham Anderson |
| 2001 | Island Prey · as Parker Gaits |
| 2001 | Elvis Is Alive · as Cast |
| 1998 | Mr. Headmistress · as Reporter |
| 1997 | The Wonderful World of Disney (TV Series) · as Reporter |
| 1997 | Special Ops Force (TV Series) · as 'john James' |
| 1996 | Hearts Adrift · as Lloyd Raines |
| 1995 | The Single Guy (TV Series) · as Chip Bremley |
| 1993 | The Knots Landing Block Party · as Sid Fairgate |
| 1990 | Wings (TV Series) · as Dad |
| 1990 | Twin Peaks (TV Series) · as Bushnell Mullins |
| 1989 | Ghosts Can't Do It · as Winston |
| 1989 | Brand New Life (TV Series) |
| 1989 | Heavy Petting · as Beauregard 'bo' Decker |
| 1987 | Mistress · as Wyn |
| 1987 | Made in Heaven · as Ben Chandler |
| 1987 | The Stepford Children · as Steven Harding |
| 1987 | Stillwatch · as Sam Kingsley |
| 1986 | |
| 1986 | Something in Common · as Theo Fontana |
| 1986 | Peggy Sue Got Married · as Jack Kelcher |
| 1986 | Matlock (TV Series) · as Albert Gordon |
| 1984 | Radioactive Dreams · as Dash Hammer |
| 1984 | A Touch of Scandal · as Benjamin Gilvey |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) · as Wally Hampton |
| 1984 | License to Kill · as Tom Fiske |
| 1983 | Quarterback Princess · as Ralph Maida |
| 1983 | I Am the Cheese · as David Farmer |
| 1983 | Hotel (TV Series) |
| 1983 | Thursday's Child · as Parker Alden |
| 1982 | T.J. Hooker (TV Series) · as Senator Stuart Grayle |
| 1981 | Return of the Rebels · as Sonny Morgan |
| 1981 | Endless Love · as Hugh |
| 1981 | |
| 1980 | Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop · as Sergeant Jack Leland |
| 1980 | The Boy Who Drank Too Much · as Ken Saunders |
| 1979 | Knots Landing (TV Series) · as Sid Fairgate |
| 1979 | Crisis in Mid-air · as Adam Travis |
| 1978 | |
| 1976 | How the West Was Won (TV Series) · as Anderson |
| 1975 | Deadly Hero · as Edward A. Lacy |
| 1975 | A Girl Named Sooner · as Sheriff Phil Rotteman |
| 1974 | Amy Prentiss (TV Series) |
| 1974 | The Sex Symbol · as Sen. Grant O'neal |
| 1974 | The Girl on the Late, Late Show · as William Martin |
| 1973 | Love Story (TV Series) · as Neil Kaplan |
| 1973 | Orson Welles' Great Mysteries (TV Series) · as Jack Stanley |
| 1973 | Police Story (TV Series) |
| 1973 | Cotter · as Cotter |
| 1972 | The ABC Afterschool Special (TV Series) · as Jack Karpinsky |
| 1972 | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes · as Breck |
| 1972 | Justin Morgan Had a Horse · as Justin Morgan |
| 1971 | Happy Birthday, Wanda June · as Herb Shuttle |
| 1970 | The Intruders · as Sam Garrison |
| 1969 | Daughter of the Mind · as Dr. Alex Lauder |
| 1969 | Childish Things · as Tom Harris |
| 1968 | The Outcasts (TV Series) |
| 1967 | The Viking Queen · as Justinian |
| 1967 | The Borgia Stick · as Tom Harrison |
| 1967 | Sweet Love, Bitter · as David Hillary |
| 1966 | The Plainsman · as Wild Bill Hickok |
| 1966 | Kid Rodelo · as Kid Rodelo |
| 1965 | Baby the Rain Must Fall · as Deputy Sheriff Slim |
| 1964 | One Man's Way · as Norman Vincent Peale |
| 1962 | Escape from East Berlin · as Kurt Schröder |
| 1962 | Advise & Consent · as Senator Brigham Anderson |
| 1961 | The Hoodlum Priest · as Father Charles Dismas Clark |
| 1960 | One Foot in Hell · as Dan Keats |
| 1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil · as Kerry O'shea |
| 1959 | These Thousand Hills · as Albert Gallatin 'lat' Evans |
| 1958 | From Hell to Texas · as Tod Lohman |
| 1957 | The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) · as Billy Budd |
| 1957 | A Hatful of Rain · as Johnny Pope |
| 1957 | The Bachelor Party · as Charlie Samson |
| 1956 | Playhouse 90 (TV Series) · as Randy Bragg |
| 1956 | Bus Stop · as Beauregard 'bo' Decker |
| 1955 | The Jane Wyman Show (TV Series) · as Ken |
| 1954 | Disneyland (TV Series) · as Justin Morgan |
| 1954 | Producers' Showcase (TV Series) · as Henry Antrobus |
| 1953 | The United States Steel Hour (TV Series) · as Don |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Mio |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Jimmy |
| 1950 | Danger (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1950 | Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theatre (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as Biondello |
| 1948 | The Philco Television Playhouse (TV Series) · as Axel Nordman |
| 1947 | Kraft Television Theatre (TV Series) · as Booth |