Audie Murphy legacy

The Audie Murphy legacy or cultural influence involves events and organizations that endure beyond the lifetime of Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated United States soldier during World War II, and who also became a Hollywood actor appearing in 44 films and on various television shows.^[1] The legacy also connects Audie Murphy with many other people beyond his personal biography.

Contents 1 Military awards 2 Audie Murphy clubs 3 Films made 3.1 Filmography 4 Notes 5 External links

Military awards

Audie Murphy became famous as the United States' "most decorated soldier" of World War II. The list of military awards for Audie Murphy also provides a snapshot of many of the military honors that were established during World War II.

Audie Murphy clubs

In early 1986, the CSM George L. Horvath III and III Corps Commander LTG Crosbie E. Saint established the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club at Fort Hood, Texas,^[2][3] a post located in Killeen, Texas (halfway between Austin and Waco). Since 1994, other units of the U.S. Army have established chapters of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC)^[3] as exclusive clubs to honor noncommissioned officers (sergeants) who have acted in a manner consistent with the actions of Audie Murphy.^[2][3]

The SAMC membership selection process has four phases:^[2]

• Phase One: Army Commanders nominate their finest NCO leaders for selection as SAMC members. Candidates are screened by the unit to determine their leadership ability; training excellence (technical and tactical); care for Soldiers and families; commitment to Army Values; demonstration of Warrior Ethos, Soldier's Creed, and NCO Creed.

• Phase Two: Units conduct a performance evaluation, based on the training accomplishments of the candidates and their soldiers.

• Phase Three: Units conduct at least one screening board, which will evaluate the candidate's appearance, bearing, speaking and thinking abilities, mastery of common warrior tasks (hands-on evaluation) and Army policies and programs (question-answer evaluation).^[2]

• Phase Four: The SMDC CSM chairs the final selection board. This board focuses on a candidate's knowledge of their soldiers and families as well as Army policies and programs. Emphasis is on situational questions which have no single correct answer, but which force the candidates to apply policies and programs to given situations, and to defend the solutions.^[2]

Films made

Another notable aspect of Audie Murphy's legacy is the collection of films in which he appeared,^[1] some having been re-released as DVD videos.^[4] Because of Murphy's initial fame as a war hero, his military influence is often more noted than that of other contemporary Hollywood-actor servicemen, such as James Stewart, Karl Malden, Lee Marvin, and Ed McMahon. Audie Murphy appeared in 33 Hollywood westerns,^[1] but those films are not all formula-style pictures, as they include a range of productions spanning 20 years, including The Cimarron Kid, Destry, The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), No Name on the Bullet (1959) and A Time for Dying (1969).

Don Siegel considered Murphy for the role of Scorpio in Dirty Harry. Siegel thought it would be a nice irony to have a genuine war hero and heroic screen icon playing a psychopathic killer. Siegel offered Murphy the role, but Murphy died prior to making his final decision.

Filmography

The following are films (or television shows) in which Audie Murphy appeared (listed in reverse chronological order, with name of character portrayed):^[1]

1. A Time for Dying (1969) .... Jesse James
2. 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967) .... Capt. Bruce Coburn
3. The Texican (1966) .... Jess Carlin
   ... aka Texas Kid (Spain)
4. Trunk to Cairo (1966) .... Mike Merrick
   ... aka Cairo Campaign
   ... aka Einer spielt falsch (West Germany)
   ... aka Mivtza Kahir (Israel: Hebrew title)
5. Gunpoint (1966) .... Chad Lucas
6. Arizona Raiders (1965) .... Clint Stewart
7. Apache Rifles (1964) .... Jeff Stanton
8. Bullet for a Badman (1964) .... Logan Keliher
   ... aka Renegade Posse (USA)
9. The Quick Gun (1964) .... Clint Cooper
10. Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) .... Bob 'Gif' Gifford aka Judd Tanner
    ... aka Gun Fight at Comanche Creek (USA: poster title)
11. War is Hell (1963) .... Narrator
    ... aka War Hero (USA)
12. Showdown (1963) .... Chris Foster
13. Six Black Horses (1962) .... Ben Lane
14. Battle at Bloody Beach (1961) .... Craig Benson
    ... aka Battle on the Beach (UK)
15. Whispering Smith (1961) TV Series .... Detective Tom "Whispering" Smith (26 episodes^[5])
16. Posse from Hell (1961) .... Banner Cole
17. Seven Ways from Sundown (1960) .... Seven Ways From Sundown Jones
18. The Unforgiven (1960) .... Cash Zachary
    (directed by John Huston, also starred Burt Lancaster & Audrey Hepburn)
19. Hell Bent for Leather (1960) .... Clay Santell
20. Startime (TV anthology series)
    ... aka Ford Startime
    ... aka Lincoln-Mercury Startime
      - episode: The Man (1960) .... Howard Wilton
21. Cast a Long Shadow (1959) .... Matt Brown
22. The Wild and the Innocent (1959) .... Yancy Hawks
23. No Name on the Bullet (1959) .... John Gant
24. The Gun Runners (1958) .... Sam Martin
    ... aka Gunrunners (International: English title)
25. Ride a Crooked Trail (1958) .... Joe Maybe
26. General Electric Theater (TV anthology series)
    ... aka "G.E. Theater" (USA: informal short title)
      - episode: "Incident" (1958) .... Tennessee
27. The Quiet American (1958) .... The American
    (based on British author Graham Greene's 1955 novel The Quiet American; a controversial film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, also starred Michael Redgrave and Giorgia Moll)
28. "Suspicion" (TV anthology series)
      - episode: The Flight (1957) .... Steve Murray
29. Night Passage (1957) .... The Utica Kid
    (an "A" level Western top-billing James Stewart)
30. Joe Butterfly (1957) .... Pvt. Joe Woodley
31. The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) .... Lt. Frank Hewitt
32. Walk the Proud Land (1956) .... John P. Clum
    ... aka Apache Agent
33. World in My Corner (1956) .... Tommy Shea
34. To Hell and Back (1955) .... Audie Murphy
35. Destry (1954) .... Tom Destry
    (a remake of the 1939 film titled Destry Rides Again.)
36. Drums Across the River (1954) .... Gary Brannon
37. Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) .... Clay O'Mara
    ... aka The Breckenridge Story (USA)
38. Tumbleweed (1953) .... Jim Harvey
    ... aka Three Were Renegades (USA)
39. Column South (1953) .... Lt. Jed Sayre
40. Gunsmoke (1953) .... Reb Kittridge
    ... aka A Man's Country (USA)
    ... aka Roughshod (USA)
41. The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) .... Luke Cromwell, The Silver Kid
    ... aka Claim Jumpers (USA)
42. The Cimarron Kid (1952) .... Bill Doolin aka The Cimarron Kid
43. The Red Badge of Courage (1951) .... The Youth
44. Kansas Raiders (1950) .... Jesse James
45. Sierra (1950) .... Ring Hassard
46. The Kid from Texas (1950) .... William Bonney ('Billy the Kid')
    ... aka Texas Kid, Outlaw (UK)
47. Bad Boy (1949) .... Danny Lester
    ... aka The Story of Danny Lester
48. Beyond Glory (1948) .... Thomas
49. Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948) .... Copy boy
    ... aka The Girl from Texas (UK)

The films from 1948 involved bit parts. The first starring role for Audie Murphy was in Bad Boy (1949).

Notes

External links

• Audie Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Audie Murphy legacy at AllRovi