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Rosemary Murphy

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Rosemary Murphy
Murphy in 1970
Born(1925-01-13)January 13, 1925
Munich, Germany
DiedJuly 5, 2014(2014-07-05) (aged 89)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1949–2010

Rosemary Murphy (January 13, 1925 – July 5, 2014) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She was nominated for three Tony Awards for her stage work, as well as two Emmy Awards for television work, winning once, for her performance in Eleanor and Franklin (1976).[1]

Biography and career

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Murphy was born in Munich, Germany in 1925, the elder daughter of American parents Mildred (née Taylor) and Robert Daniel Murphy, a diplomat. The family left Germany in 1939 due to the onset of World War II.[citation needed]

Education

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Murphy, whose résumé came to include French and German films, attended Manhattanville College and trained as an actress at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio with Sanford Meisner before beginning her career on stage.[2]

Stage

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She made her stage debut in Germany, in a 1949 production of Peer Gynt. She made her Broadway debut in 1950 in The Tower Beyond Tragedy. She went on to appear in some 15 Broadway productions, most recently in Noël Coward's Waiting in the Wings (1999).[1]

Film and television

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Rosemary Murphy with child actor Phillip Alford in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Murphy also acted in films and on TV, most notably portraying Sara Delano Roosevelt in the TV miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977). She played Maudie Atkinson in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) as well as Callie Hacker in Walking Tall (1973). The following year, in 1974, she appeared in the television film A Case of Rape, playing a ruthless defense attorney who brutally cross-examines a rape victim (played by Elizabeth Montgomery) and wins an acquittal for the man who attacked her. In 1974–75, she played high-school principal Margaret Blumenthal in the series Lucas Tanner.[citation needed]

Her first soap opera role was Nola Hollister #2 on The Secret Storm (1969–1970). In 1977, she appeared on All My Children as Maureen Teller Dalton, Eric Kane's former mistress, and the mother of his son, Mark Dalton. In 1988, she played Loretta Fowler for several months, the kleptomaniac mother of Mitch Blake and Sam Fowler on Another World. The following year, she appeared on As the World Turns as Gretel Aldin #2 (a role previously played by Joan Copeland) when her character's son, James Stenbeck, was allegedly murdered.

She also appeared in episodes of Columbo (1974) and Murder, She Wrote (1987).

Awards

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Murphy won an Emmy Award for her role in Eleanor and Franklin. She also won a Clarence Derwent Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for three Tony awards.[3]

Death

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She died on July 5, 2014, in Manhattan, from esophageal cancer. She never married or had children. She was survived by her sister and her nephew.[4]

Filmography

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Year Title Role
1947 Der Ruf Mary
1957 That Night! Nurse 'Chorny' Chornis
1961 The Young Doctors Miss Graves
1962 To Kill a Mockingbird Maudie Atkinson
1966 Any Wednesday Dorothy Cleves
1972 A Fan's Notes Moms
Ben Beth Garrison
You'll Like My Mother Mrs. Kinsolving
1973 Walking Tall Callie Hacker
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies Hannah
40 Carats Mrs. Latham
1974 A Case of Rape Muriel Dyer
1977 Julia Dottie
1980 The Attic Mrs. Perkins
1981 The Hand Karen Wagner
1987 September Mrs. Mason
1991 For the Boys Luanna Trott
1993 Twenty Bucks Aunt Dotty
1995 Mighty Aphrodite Adoption Coordinator
1999 Message in a Bottle Helen at the B&B
2001 Dust Angela
2007 The Savages Doris Metzger
2008 Synecdoche, New York Frances
2009 After.Life Mrs. Whitehall
2010 The Romantics Grandmother Hayes

Television films

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Year Title Role Notes
1968 A Case of Libel Claire
1972 Invitation to a March —
1974 The Lady's Not for Burning Margaret Devize
1976 Eleanor and Franklin Sara Roosevelt Winner - Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
1977 Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years Sara Roosevelt Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
1978 Before and After Helen, Carole's Mother
1981 Mr. Griffin and Me Jane Barlow
1993 And the Band Played On Blood Bank Executive
1994 Don't Drink the Water Miss Pritchard
1995 The Tuskegee Airmen Eleanor Roosevelt
1999 The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer Bea Einhorn

Partial Television Credits

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Year Title Role Notes
1951-53 Lux Video Theatre Various roles 3 episodes
1962 The Virginian Pearl Dodd Krause Episode: "Big Day, Great Day"
1973 Maude Jane Episode: "Maude's Good Deed"
1976 Eleanor and Franklin Sara Roosevelt Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
1984 George Washington Mary Ball Washington
1996-97 EZ Streets Christina Quinn 4 episodes
1997 Cracker Victoria 2 episodes
1997-99 Frasier Carol Larkin 2 episodes
1998 The Visitor Tour Guide Episode: "The Trial"

References

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  1. ^ a b Rosemary Murphy at the Internet Broadway Database
  2. ^ Fox, Margalit (July 10, 2014). "Rosemary Murphy, 89, Emmy Winner Familiar to Broadway, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  3. ^ Mahan, Bill (December 21, 1972). "Rosemary Murphy Moves into Spotlight". Valley News. Valley News. p. 85. Retrieved May 3, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ Barnes, Mike (July 9, 2014). "'To Kill a Mockingbird' Actress Rosemary Murphy Dies at 89". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
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