Acting · Hollywood, California, USA · Born July 31, 1929
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.
MovieGold of Rio Bravo: Sheriff Kelly's Story
2025
MovieMarilyn, Her Final Secret
2022
MoviePromise
2021
as Zacharias
MovieDo Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
2017
as Self
MovieTab Hunter Confidential
2015
as Self
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
2012
MovieMarilyn despite herself
2012
MovieMarilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
2010
as Self
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2008
as Self
Fred Zinnemann - Der Mann, der 'High Noon' machte
2007
as Self
Hollywood Legenden
2004
as Self
MovieIsland Prey
2001
as Parker Gaits
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2000
as Self
MovieAlan Ladd: The True Quiet Man
1999
as Self
MovieInternet Love
1998
as Self
MovieMr. Headmistress
1998
as Reporter
TVThe Wonderful World of Disney
1997
as Reporter
TVSoldier of Fortune, Inc.
1997
as White Dragon / John James / Col. Quentin Shepherd
MovieTwentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
1997
as Self
Marilyn, divine et fragile
1996
as Self
MovieHearts Adrift
1996
as Lloyd Raines
TVThe Single Guy
1995
as Chip Bremley
MovieMarilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
1994
as Self
MovieShurtleff on Acting
1994
as Self
Montana Crossroads
1993
as Frank Morrow
MoviePreminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
as Self
Sons and Daughters
1991
as Bing Hammersmith
TVWings
1990
as Dad
TVTwin Peaks
1990
as Bushnell Mullins
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1989
as Winston
TVBrand New Life
1989
MovieMy Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He?
1989
as Jack Karpinsky
Remembering Marilyn
1988
as Self (Interviewee)
MovieHollywood Uncensored
1987
as Self
MovieMade in Heaven
1987
as Ben Chandler
MovieMistress
1987
as Wyn
MovieNorma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
1987
as archive footage
MovieThe Stepford Children
1987
as Steven Harding
MovieStillwatch
1987
as Sam Kingsley
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
1987
as Self
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1986
as Tom Fiske
MovieScorpion
1986
as Gifford Lease
MovieSomething in Common
1986
as Theo Fontana
MoviePeggy Sue Got Married
1986
as Jack Kelcher
MovieRadioactive Dreams
1986
as Dash Hammer
MovieT.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
1986
as Senator Stuart Grayle
MovieMarilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986
as Self
TVMatlock
1986
as Albert Gordon
MovieA Touch of Scandal
1984
as Benjamin Gilvey
TVMurder, She Wrote
1984
as Wally Hampton
MovieQuarterback Princess
1983
as Ralph Maida
MovieI Am the Cheese
1983
as David Farmer
MovieThursday's Child
1983
as Parker Alden
TVHotel
1982
as Sam Burton
MovieReturn of the Rebels
1981
as Sonny Morgan
MovieEndless Love
1981
as Hugh
MovieCharlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
1981
as Pimp
MovieFugitive Family
1980
as Peter Ritchie
MoviePolice Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
1980
as Sergeant Jack Leland
MovieThe Boy Who Drank Too Much
1980
as Ken Saunders
MovieIf Things Were Different
1980
as Robert Langford
TVKnots Landing
1979
as Sid Fairgate
MovieCrisis in Mid-Air
1979
as Adam Travis
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1978
as Frank Gumm
TVHow the West Was Won
1977
as Anderson
MovieDeadly Hero
1975
as Edward A. Lacy
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1975
as Sheriff Phil Rotteman
TVAmy Prentiss
1974
as Connors
MovieThe Sex Symbol
1974
as Sen. Grant O'Neal
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1974
as William Martin
TVOrson Welles' Great Mysteries
1973
as Jack Stanley
TVPolice Story
1973
as Jack Bonner
MovieCotter
1973
as Cotter
TVABC Afterschool Special
1972
as Jack Karpinsky
MovieConquest of the Planet of the Apes
1972
as Breck
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1972
as Justin Morgan
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1971
as Herb Shuttle
MovieThe Intruders
1970
as Sam Garrison
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1969
as Dr. Alex Lauder
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1969
as Tom Harris
TVThe Outcasts
1968
as Earl Corey
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1967
as Justinian
MovieThe Borgia Stick
1967
as Tom Harrison
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1967
as David Hillary
MovieThe Plainsman
1966
as Wild Bill Hickok
MovieKid Rodelo
1966
as Kid Rodelo
MovieBaby the Rain Must Fall
1965
as Deputy Sheriff Slim
MovieOne Man's Way
1964
as Norman Vincent Peale
MovieMarilyn
1963
as archive footage
MovieEscape from East Berlin
1962
as Kurt Schröder
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
MovieAdvise & Consent
1962
as Senator Brigham Anderson
TVThe Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
MovieThe Hoodlum Priest
1961
as Father Charles Dismas Clark
MovieOne Foot in Hell
1960
as Dan Keats
MovieHedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960
as Self
Winterset
1959
as Mio Romagna
MovieShake Hands with the Devil
1959
as Kerry O'Shea
MovieThese Thousand Hills
1959
as Albert Gallatin 'Lat' Evans
MovieFrom Hell to Texas
1958
as Tod Lohman
MovieA Hatful of Rain
1957
as Johnny Pope
MovieThe Bachelor Party
1957
as Charlie Samson
TVPlayhouse 90
1956
as Randy Bragg
MovieBus Stop
1956
as Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
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1955
as Axel Nordman
TVThe Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Justin Morgan
Producers' Showcase
1954
as Henry Antrobus
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Mio
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Jimmy
Danger
1950
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1950
as Biondello
TVWhat's My Line?
1950
as Self
TVStudio One
1948
as Biondello
TVThe Philco Television Playhouse
1948
TVThe Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
TVKraft Television Theatre
1947
as George
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter
