Don Murray

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Actor Born Donald Patrick Murray on July 31, 1929 in Hollywood, CA

The son of a former Ziegfeld girl and a movie dance director, Don Murray made his Broadway debut opposite Eli Wallach and Maureen Stapleton in 1951 in Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo.” He was a conscientious objector during the Korean War, and in 1953, he starred opposite Mary Martin in a revival of Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth.”

That led director Joshua Logan to cast him opposite Marilyn Monroe in the 1956 film “Bus Stop,” and the lanky Murray earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal as a puppy dog of a rodeo rider who falls in love with a struggling singer (Monroe). He also married the film’s costar Hope Lange in 1956. They had two children before they divorced in 1961.

In 1957, he starred in two high-profile dramas “Bachelor Party” and “A Hatful of Rain” and continued to appear on live TV dramas. In 1962, he took on the controversial role as a closeted gay senator in the film “Advise and Consent.”

Murray starred in, wrote and produced the 1961 drama “The Hoodlum Priest” and made his directorial debut with 1970’s “The Cross and the Switchblade” with Pat Boone.

He starred in the 1969-80 ABC TV series, “The Outcasts,” as well as appearing in countless TV movies and episodic shows. He also played Sid Fairgate from 1979-81 on the CBS prime-time soap, “Knots Landing.” He has continued to work in theater and TV.

— Susan King for the Los Angeles Times June 28, 2010