Don Murray
Acting
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
Acting117
moviePromise
2021
Zacharias
movieIsland Prey
2001
Parker Gaits
movieMr. Headmistress
1998
Reporter
tvSoldier of Fortune, Inc.
1997
White Dragon / John James / Col. Quentin Shepherd
movieHearts Adrift
1996
Lloyd Raines
tvThe Single Guy
1995
Chip Bremley
Montana Crossroads
1993
Frank Morrow
Sons and Daughters
1991
Bing Hammersmith
tvWings
1990
Dad
tvTwin Peaks
1990
Bushnell Mullins
movieGhosts Can't Do It
1989
Winston
movieMy Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He?
1989
Jack Karpinsky
Remembering Marilyn
1988
Self (Interviewee)
movieMade in Heaven
1987
Ben Chandler
movieNorma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
1987
archive footage
movieThe Stepford Children
1987
Steven Harding
movieStillwatch
1987
Sam Kingsley
movieLicense to Kill
1986
Tom Fiske
movieScorpion
1986
Gifford Lease
movieSomething in Common
1986
Theo Fontana
moviePeggy Sue Got Married
1986
Jack Kelcher
movieRadioactive Dreams
1986
Dash Hammer
movieT.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
1986
Senator Stuart Grayle
tvMatlock
1986
Albert Gordon
movieA Touch of Scandal
1984
Benjamin Gilvey
tvMurder, She Wrote
1984
Wally Hampton
movieQuarterback Princess
1983
Ralph Maida
movieI Am the Cheese
1983
David Farmer
movieThursday's Child
1983
Parker Alden
tvHotel
1982
Sam Burton
movieReturn of the Rebels
1981
Sonny Morgan
movieFugitive Family
1980
Peter Ritchie
moviePolice Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
1980
Sergeant Jack Leland
movieThe Boy Who Drank Too Much
1980
Ken Saunders
movieIf Things Were Different
1980
Robert Langford
tvKnots Landing
1979
Sid Fairgate
movieCrisis in Mid-Air
1979
Adam Travis
movieRainbow
1978
Frank Gumm
tvHow the West Was Won
1977
Anderson
movieDeadly Hero
1975
Edward A. Lacy
movieA Girl Named Sooner
1975
Sheriff Phil Rotteman
tvAmy Prentiss
1974
Connors
movieThe Sex Symbol
1974
Sen. Grant O'Neal
movieThe Girl on the Late, Late Show
1974
William Martin
tvOrson Welles' Great Mysteries
1973
Jack Stanley
tvPolice Story
1973
Jack Bonner
movieCotter
1973
Cotter
tvABC Afterschool Special
1972
Jack Karpinsky
movieJustin Morgan Had a Horse
1972
Justin Morgan
movieHappy Birthday, Wanda June
1971
Herb Shuttle
movieThe Intruders
1970
Sam Garrison
movieDaughter of the Mind
1969
Dr. Alex Lauder
movieChildish Things
1969
Tom Harris
tvThe Outcasts
1968
Earl Corey
movieThe Viking Queen
1967
Justinian
movieThe Borgia Stick
1967
Tom Harrison
movieSweet Love, Bitter
1967
David Hillary
movieThe Plainsman
1966
Wild Bill Hickok
movieKid Rodelo
1966
Kid Rodelo
movieBaby the Rain Must Fall
1965
Deputy Sheriff Slim
movieOne Man's Way
1964
Norman Vincent Peale
movieMarilyn
1963
archive footage
movieEscape from East Berlin
1962
Kurt Schröder
movieAdvise & Consent
1962
Senator Brigham Anderson
movieThe Hoodlum Priest
1961
Father Charles Dismas Clark
movieOne Foot in Hell
1960
Dan Keats
Winterset
1959
Mio Romagna
movieShake Hands with the Devil
1959
Kerry O'Shea
movieThese Thousand Hills
1959
Albert Gallatin 'Lat' Evans
movieFrom Hell to Texas
1958
Tod Lohman
movieA Hatful of Rain
1957
Johnny Pope
movieThe Bachelor Party
1957
Charlie Samson
tvPlayhouse 90
1956
Randy Bragg
movieBus Stop
1956
Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
movieA Man Is Ten Feet Tall
1955
Axel Nordman
tvThe Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Justin Morgan
Producers' Showcase
1954
Henry Antrobus
tvHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Mio / Parker Alden
movieThe Taming of the Shrew
1950
Biondello
tvStudio One
1948
Biondello
tvThe Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Axel Nordman
tvKraft Television Theatre
1947
Booth / George
tvGolden Globe Awards
1944
Self - Presenter
Writing5
tvKnots Landing
1979
Writer
movieChildish Things
1969
Writer
movieThe Hoodlum Priest
1961
Screenplay, Original Story
tvPlayhouse 90
1956
Writer
Directing3
movieBreathe
2008
Director
movieDamien's Island
1976
Director