Michael Murphy was born in Los Angeles, California, to Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman, and Georgia Arlyn Murphy (nee Money), a teacher. After a hitch in the Marine Corps, Murphy attended the University of Arizona, Tuscon, and then went to U.C.L.A. to get his teaching credential. From 1962 to 1964, he taught high school English and drama in Los ...
Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Movies
Batman Returns, Manhattan, White House Down, MASH, X-Men: The Last Stand, Away from Her, An Unmarried Woman, Nashville, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Year of Living Dangerously, Phase IV, According to Greta, Brewster McCloud, Shocker, What's Up, Doc?, Count Yorga, Vampire, Strange Behavior, Magnolia, Th...
TV Shows
The Bridge, This Is Wonderland, Tilt, Tanner '88, American Experience, Hard Copy (1987)
Star Sign
Taurus
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Trademark
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Flat affect and speaking voice
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Arrogant, upper-class twits
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Tall frame
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Plays urbane, WASP-type characters
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Quote
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[In a November 1989 interview] I've been able to slip in and out of pictures and characters. I haven't been so pigeonholed that I couldn't move or do different things. I've also had the longevity I've always wanted. From the beginning I've thought the key to this games is to be in it for life. If that's what you want to do - to go from picture to picture, to keep working. So far, so good.
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I feel the heat's off. I'm no longer frantic if I don't work for a while. I want to work with people I like, in good projects. I'm getting fairly picky now. I had the good fortune of having worked with honest-to-God filmmakers who've had something to say. And I've been able to be an actor, not a celebrity, retaining a certain amount of anonymity.
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I don't think of acting in terms of making a living. What I do has to be important to me. Every time I've taken a part for the wrong reason, money or prestige, it's been a disaster. I come off nervous and uptight. I just want to work with good people.
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Fact
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Michael Murphy is the only prominent male actor in Hollywood besides Tommy Lee Jones to have appeared in both a live-action DC movie, Batman Returns (1992), and a live-action Marvel movie, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
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Filming hit Canadian television show This Is Wonderland (2004) for CBC. [August 2004]
He was awarded the 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for best actor in a principal role in a play for his performance in "Dreams" at the Playwrights Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
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Received teaching credentials from UCLA in Los Angeles, California.
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Taught both high school English and drama in Los Angeles from 1962-1964.
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Became close friends with co-star Woody Allen on the set of Martin Ritt 's 1950s McCarthy era dramedy, The Front (1976). Allen would subsequently cast Murphy as his best friend, Yale, in Allen's own film, Manhattan (1979).
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His father was Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman. His mother was Georgia Arlyn Murphy (nee Money), a teacher.
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Has starred opposite his then-wife, actress Wendy Crewson, on the short-lived television show Hard Copy (1987) and the Emmy-winning HBO cable series Tanner '88 (1988), which Murphy had the lead in. They also appeared in the feature films Folks! (1992) and Sleeping Dogs Lie (1998).
Paul Thomas Anderson cast him as Alan Kligman, Esq. in Magnolia (1999) because he admired the actor's work. Anderson's casting choice of Murphy was also an homage to Robert Altman, who has cast the character actor prominently in a number of roles in his films and TV productions over the years. Henry Gibson, another Altman regular, also had a role in the film.
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His character, "Sen. Judson Pilager", from John Sayles's Silver City (2004), is a thinly-veiled, negative characterization of the first President George Bush.
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Has appeared in more Robert Altman feature films and television productions than any other actor in movie history.
$2 Million
