Michael Murphy (actor)

For the Canadian actor, see Michael Murphy (Canadian actor).

Michael Murphy
Murphy at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Michael George Murphy (1938-05-05) May 5, 1938 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–present
Spouse(s)	Wendy Crewson (1988-2009; divorced)
Children	2

Michael George Murphy (born May 5, 1938) is an American film and television actor.

Career

Murphy played Woody Allen's duplicitous friend Yale in the film Manhattan (1979). He has worked frequently with director Robert Altman, and gave his best-known performances for Altman as sleazy political operative John Triplette in Nashville (1975) and as presidential candidate Jack Tanner in the acclaimed 1988 HBO miniseries Tanner '88, a role he reprised in 2004's Sundance Channel miniseries Tanner on Tanner. Murphy's other roles for Robert Altman include "Me Lay" Marston (a friend of Hawkeye Pierce) in MASH (1970), and Dt. Lt. Frank Shaft, a parody of Steve McQueen's Frank Bullitt, in Brewster McCloud (1970).

Murphy's other onscreen roles include Jill Clayburgh's adulterous husband in Paul Mazursky's An Unmarried Woman (1978), sleazy journalist Pete Curtis in Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), the well-meaning but besieged Ambassador Tom Kelly in Oliver Stone's Salvador (1986), and Gotham City mayor Hamilton Hill in Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992). In 2006, Murphy played Warren Worthington II, the father of Angel, in X-Men: The Last Stand. Murphy also starred in the cult favorite Phase IV (1974), directed by Saul Bass, and had a supporting role in Wes Craven's Shocker (1989).

Murphy can be seen on the Canadian series This is Wonderland, for which he won Gemini Awards in 2004 and 2005. That same year, he appeared in the film Childstar with Don McKellar. His TV credits also include Law & Order and its spin-off, Criminal Intent. He has also narrated a number of episodes of the PBS historical documentary series The American Experience

He was seen in Greta. He starred alongside Hilary Duff, Ellen Burstyn and Evan Ross, playing Duff's grandfather.

Personal life

Murphy was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Georgia Arlyn (née Money), a teacher, and Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman. He served in the United States Marine Corps and attended the University of California at Los Angeles. After working as a high school teacher for two years, he pursued an acting career. Murphy was married to Canadian actress Wendy Crewson from 1988 until their divorce in January 2009. They have two children, Maggie (b. 1989) and John (b. 1992).

Selected Filmography

• MASH (1970)
• Brewster McCloud (1970)
• McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
• What's Up Doc (1972)
• Phase IV (1974)
• Nashville (1975)
• The Front (1976)
• The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978)
• An Unmarried Woman (1978)
• Manhattan (1979)
• The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
• Talk to Me (1984)
• Cloak & Dagger (1984)
• Salvador (1986)
• My Letter to George (1986)
• Shocker (1989)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Folks! (1992)
• Private Parts (1997)
• Sleeping Dogs Lie (1998)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Away From Her (2006)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
• The Trotsky (2009)
• White House Down (2013)

External links

• Michael Murphy at the Internet Movie Database