George Murphy

George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician.

Life and career

He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and Yale University.^[1] He worked as a tool maker for the Ford Motor Company, as a miner, a real estate agent, and a night club dancer.

In show business

In movies, Murphy was famous as a song-and-dance man, appearing in many big-budget musicals such as Broadway Melody of 1938, Broadway Melody of 1940 and For Me and My Gal. He made his movie debut shortly after talking pictures had replaced silent movies in 1930, and his career continued until he retired as an actor in 1952, at the age of 50.

In 1951, he was awarded an honorary Academy Award. He was never nominated for an Oscar in any competitive category.

He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to 1946. He was a vice president of Desilu Studios and of the Technicolor Corporation. He was director of entertainment for presidential inaugurations in 1952, 1956 and 1960.

Murphy entered politics in 1953 as chairman of the California Republican State Central Committee, having also directed the entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon Inauguration of 1952.

Elected to U.S. Senate

In 1964 he was elected to the United States Senate, defeating Pierre Salinger, former presidential press secretary in the Kennedy White House, who had been appointed several months earlier to serve the remainder of the late Clair Engle's unexpired term. Murphy served from January 1, 1965 to January 3, 1971, and is credited with beginning the United States Senate tradition of the Candy desk. Murphy assumed his seat two days early, when Salinger resigned from the seat in order to allow Murphy to gain an edge in seniority. Murphy was then appointed by Gov. Pat Brown to serve the remaining two days of Salinger's term.

After chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 1968, the year Richard Nixon was elected President, Murphy ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1970, being defeated by Democratic Congressman John V. Tunney, the son of famed heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney. During his Senate term, Murphy suffered from throat cancer, forcing him to have part of his larynx removed. For the rest of his life, he was unable to speak above a whisper.

He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1970, winning 44.3% of the vote to Democrat John V. Tunney's 53.9%. Murphy was in his late 60s and his speaking voice was reduced to a gravelly whisper from throat cancer while Tunney was youthful and energetic, blatantly comparing himself with Robert F. Kennedy, largely through haircut and poses, on the campaign trail. Murphy's staunch support for the Vietnam War also hurt his support. As the general election approached, Tunney overtook Murphy in the polls. Tunney's successful Senate race in 1970 is reportedly the inspiration for the 1972 Robert Redford film The Candidate. (Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films by Terry Christensen and Peter Hass, page 146).

Murphy subsequently moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he died at the age of 89 from leukemia.

Murphy's move from the screen to California politics paved the way for the successful transitions of actors such as Ronald Reagan and later Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reagan once famously referred to George Murphy as "my John the Baptist."

During his tenure in the Senate, Murphy created the Candy desk by placing a supply of confectionery on his desk on the U.S. Senate floor. After 1971 the candy-desk duties were bequeathed to a string of successors; as of 2011, the keeper of the candy desk is Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

In satire

George Murphy was the subject of a 1965 song by satirist Tom Lehrer celebrating his appointment in which Lehrer declared in mock vaudeville style: "Oh, gee, it's great, at last we've got a Senator who can really sing and dance." Lehrer also alluded sarcastically to an infamous remark Murphy once made during a debate about the Bracero Program that granted temporary work visas to Mexican migrant farmhands:

Should Americans pick crops?
George says no;
'Cause no one but a Mexican would stoop so low.
And after all, even in Egypt, the Pharaohs
Had to import—Hebrew Braceros.

Murphy had stated that Mexicans were genetically suited to farm labor; because they were "built lower to the ground," it was supposedly "easier for them to stoop." Oddly, some years earlier, in 1949, Murphy himself had starred next to Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban in the film Border Incident, which cast the exploitation of the Braceros in a negative light. Mr. Lehrer further satirized Senator Murphy with the line: "Think of all the musicals we have in store, imagine "Broadway Melody of Nineteen Eighty-Four". Lehrer began the song:

Hollywood's often tried to mix
Show business with politics.
From Helen Gahagan
To. . . Ronald Reagan??

This connection is also referred to by folk singer Phil Ochs on the spoken-word introduction to "Ringing of Revolution", when Ochs describes a fictional film based on that song, and Murphy is played by Reagan. Ochs also imagines that Lyndon Johnson would "play God" and Ochs would "play Bobby Dylan."

Personal life

Murphy was married to his ballroom dancing partner, Juliette "Julie" Henkel-Johnson, from December 18, 1926 until her death in 1973. They had two children, Dennis Michael Murphy and Melissa Elaine Murphy. He was married to Betty Duhon Blandi from 1982 until his death in 1992.

Films

References

External links

• George Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• George Murphy at the Internet Broadway Database
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• George Murphy at Find a Grave
• Images of George Murphy's 1974 passport from www.passportland.com