Michael Murphy

Also known as Michael George Murphy

Michael George Murphy (born May 5, 1938) is an American actor. He often plays unethical or morally ambiguous characters in positions of authority, including executives, politicians, diplomats, law enforcement agents, lawyers, judges, military commanders, academics, doctors and clerics. He is also known for his frequent collaborations with director Robert Altman, having appeared in twelve film and television productions directed by Altman between 1963 and 2004, including the titular role in the HBO cable miniseries Tanner '88.

Murphy has had roles in films M*A*S*H (1970), Brewster McCloud (1970), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Phase IV (1974), Nashville (1975), The Front (1976), The Great Bank Hoax (1977), An Unmarried Woman (1978), The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), Manhattan (1979), Strange Behavior (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Cloak & Dagger (1984), My Letter to George (1985), Salvador (1986), Shocker (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Kansas City (1996), Private Parts (1997), Magnolia (1999), Silver City (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Away from Her (2006), White House Down (2013), and Fall (2014). Murphy's performance in Fall earned him a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film. His work on the Canadian television series, This is Wonderland, earned him two Gemini Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series in 2004 and 2005, and a third nomination in 2006.

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Early life

Murphy was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Georgia Arlyn (née Money), a teacher, and Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Murphy attended the University of Arizona and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

He taught English and drama at University High School before pursuing an acting career.

Career

Murphy is best known for his performances as Jill Clayburgh's adulterous husband Martin Benton in Paul Mazursky's An Unmarried Woman (1978), as Woody Allen's morally ambiguous best friend Yale Pollack in Allen's Manhattan (1979), as the treasonous and menacing Dr. Rice in Richard Franklin's Hitchcockian thriller Cloak & Dagger (1984), as the serial killer-chasing Det. Lt. Don Parker in Wes Craven's Shocker (1989), as The Mayor of Gotham City in Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992), as the ethically enigmatic attorney Alan Kligman, Esq. in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999), as the "mutant" Angel's human father (and crusading cure developer) Warren Worthington II in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and as the eponymous star of Garry Trudeau and Robert Altman's 1988 HBO cable miniseries Tanner '88.

Murphy worked frequently with Altman, including as Captain Ezekiel Bradbury "Me Lay" Marston V, in M*A*S*H (1970), as Det. Lt. Frank Shaft in Brewster McCloud (1970), as John Triplette in Nashville (1975), and as fictitious former U.S. Congressman and presidential aspirant, Jack Tanner, in Tanner '88, a role he later reprised in the 2004 Sundance Channel follow-up miniseries Tanner on Tanner. Other Altman films and television series in which Murphy appeared include the World War II TV series Combat!, Countdown (1968), That Cold Day in the Park (1969), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988) and Kansas City (1996).

Other film roles include Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973), The Front (1976), The Great Bank Hoax (1977), The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), My Letter to George (1986), Salvador (1986), Folks! (1992), Clean Slate (1994), Private Parts (1997), Silver City (2004), According to Greta (2009), White House Down (2013), They Came Together (2014) and Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019).

Though usually cast in supporting roles and character parts, Murphy has also had leading turns in theatrical films Phase IV (1974), Manhattan (1979), Strange Behavior (1981), Hot Money (1983), Shocker (1989), The Island (1998) and the 2014 film Fall—in a performance that garnered him a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film in 2015, as well as in television films Bell, Book and Candle (1976), 3 by Cheever: O Youth and Beauty! (1979), Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy (1989), The Ultimate Lie (1996), Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (1996), Indiscretion of an American Wife (1998) and In the Dark (2003).