Michael Murphy (actor)
Encyclopedia
Michael George Murphy is an American film and television actor.
's duplicitous friend Yale in the film Manhattan
. He has worked frequently with director Robert Altman
, and gave his best-known performances for Altman as sleazy political operative John Triplette in Nashville 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
. He played an unnamed mayor of Gotham City in Batman Returns
and sleazy journalist Pete Curtis in Peter Weir
's The Year of Living Dangerously
. In 2006, he played Warren Worthington II, the father of Angel
, in X-Men: The Last Stand
.
He can be seen on the Canadian series This is Wonderland
, for which he won Gemini Award
s 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 was seen in Greta
. He starred alongside Hilary Duff
, Ellen Burstyn
and Evan Ross
, playing Duff's grandfather.
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).
Career
Murphy played Woody AllenWoody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's duplicitous friend Yale in the film Manhattan
Manhattan (film)
Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen about a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl before eventually falling in love with his best friend's mistress...
. He has worked frequently with director Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, and gave his best-known performances for Altman as sleazy political operative John Triplette in Nashville and as presidential candidate Jack Tanner in the acclaimed 1988 HBO miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Tanner '88
Tanner '88
Tanner '88 is a political mockumentary miniseries written by Garry Trudeau and directed by Robert Altman. First broadcast by HBO during the months leading up to the 1988 U.S. presidential election, it purports to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the campaign of a former Michigan U.S...
, a role he reprised in 2004's Sundance Channel miniseries Tanner on Tanner
Tanner on Tanner
Tanner on Tanner is a 2004 comedy and the sequel series to the 1988 Robert Altman directed and Garry Trudeau written miniseries about a failed presidential candidate, Tanner '88...
. He played an unnamed mayor of Gotham City in Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
and sleazy journalist Pete Curtis in Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
's The Year of Living Dangerously
The Year of Living Dangerously
The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Peter Weir film adapted from the novel The Year of Living Dangerously by the author Christopher Koch. The story is about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno...
. In 2006, he played Warren Worthington II, the father of Angel
Angel (comics)
Angel, in comics, may refer to:* Angel comics, comics featuring the Buffyverse character Angel* Warren Worthington III, a Marvel Comics character and member of the X-Men who has used the names Angel and Archangel...
, in X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...
.
He can be seen on the Canadian series This is Wonderland
This Is Wonderland
This Is Wonderland was a Canadian television series which aired on CBC Television. The series is a legal drama with comedic elements, or a comedy-drama. It was created by playwright George F...
, for which he won Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
s in 2004 and 2005. That same year, he appeared in the film Childstar
Childstar
Childstar is a 2004 comedy film directed and written by Don McKellar. It was screened at several film festivals between September 2004 and July 2005.-Plot:...
with Don McKellar
Don McKellar
-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...
. His TV credits also include Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
and its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
.
He was seen in Greta
Greta (film)
According to Greta is a 2009 American independent drama film starring Hilary Duff, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy, Evan Ross, and Melissa Leo...
. He starred alongside Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
, Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
and Evan Ross
Evan Ross
Evan Olav Næss is an American actor and musician. He is the son of entertainer Diana Ross. He is the brother of actresses Rhonda Ross Kendrick and Tracee Ellis Ross, and of singer Leona Naess. He began acting in the late 2000s, appearing in the films ATL and Pride...
, 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 CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
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
Wendy Crewson
-Life and career:Crewson was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of June Doreen and Robert Binnie Crewson. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she won the prestigious Lorne Greene Award for outstanding work in the theater. She then studied at the Webber Douglas Academy...
from 1988 until their divorce in January 2009. They have two children, Maggie (b. 1989) and John (b. 1992).
Filmography
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
- The Class of Miss MacMichaelThe Class of Miss MacMichaelThe Class of Miss MacMichael is a 1978 British comedy drama film directed by Silvio Narizzano and starring Glenda Jackson, Oliver Reed and Michael Murphy. It was based on a novel by Sandy Hutson. The film depicts the attempts of an idealistic teacher, Miss MacMichael, to inspire her pupils in an...
(1978) - An Unmarried WomanAn Unmarried WomanAn Unmarried Woman is a 1978 American comedy-drama film that tells the story of the wealthy New York wife Erica Benton whose “perfect” life is shattered when her stockbroker husband Martin leaves her for a younger woman. The film documents Erica's attempts at being single again, where she suffers...
(1978) - ManhattanManhattan (film)Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen about a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl before eventually falling in love with his best friend's mistress...
(1979) - Talk to MeTalk to Me (1984 film)Talk to Me is a 1984 drama directed by Julius Potocsny and starring Austin Pendleton, Michael Murphy, Dan Shor and Barbara Eda-Young. The film was produced by Hollins Communications Institution to benefit the American Institute for Stuttering, of which Pendleton was a graduate. He currently serves...
(1984) - Cloak & Dagger (1984)
- My Letter to GeorgeMy Letter to GeorgeMy Letter to George is a 1986 drama film directed by Michael Laughlin and starring Jodie Foster, John Lithgow and Michael Murphy. An orphaned New Zealand girl marries a much older businessmen, but strains soon begin to develop between them and she runs away. It was a co-production between...
(1986) - ShockerShocker (film)Shocker is a 1989 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. The relatively low-budget film has since become a cult classic...
(1989) - Batman ReturnsBatman ReturnsBatman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
(1992) - Private PartsPrivate Parts (1997 film)Private Parts is a 1997 American biographical comedy film produced by Ivan Reitman and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko, the film is an adaptation of the 1993 best-selling book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, who stars as himself. It...
(1997) - Away From HerAway From HerAway from Her is a 2006 Canadian film which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and also played in the Premier category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival...
(2006) - The TrotskyThe TrotskyThe Trotsky is a 2009 Canadian comedy film directed by Jacob Tierney.-Plot:Montreal West high school student Leon Bronstein believes that he is the reborn incarnation of Marxist/Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky. Shortly after he starts to work in his family's clothing factory, he attempts to unionize...
(2009)