George Murphy

George Lloyd Murphy, born July 4, 1902, in New Haven, Connecticut, was an American actor, dancer, and politician whose career spanned Hollywood musicals, Broadway, and the United States Senate. Of Irish Catholic descent, he was the son of Michael Charles Murphy, an athletic trainer and coach, and the former Nora Long. Murphy received his education at Trinity-Pawling School, Peddie School, and Yale University.

Murphy established himself on Broadway in the early 1930s, appearing in productions between 1931 and 1933. His stage credits included the musical Roberta, the musical Of Thee I Sing, and the revue Shoot the Works. These Broadway appearances coincided with the early phase of a performing career that would soon shift decisively toward Hollywood.

His film debut came in 1930, shortly after the transition from silent pictures to talking films. Over the following two decades, Murphy built a reputation as a song-and-dance leading man in large-scale Hollywood musicals, among them Broadway Melody of 1938, Broadway Melody of 1940, and For Me and My Gal. He retired from acting in 1952 at the age of 50. During World War II, he organized entertainment for American troops. In 1951, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with an honorary Oscar, a recognition he received without ever having been nominated in a competitive category. On March 14 of that same year, he hosted the inaugural Eddie Awards for American Cinema Editors. Beyond his performing work, Murphy served as vice president of both Desilu Productions and the Technicolor Corporation, and directed entertainment for presidential inaugurations in 1953, 1957, and 1961.

Murphy served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to 1946. He entered California Republican Party leadership in 1952, the same year he directed entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inauguration. In 1964, he defeated Pierre Salinger — who had served as press secretary in the Kennedy White House and had been appointed to fill the remainder of Senator Clair Engle's unexpired term — to win election to the United States Senate. Salinger resigned two days before Murphy's term was set to begin, allowing Democratic Governor Pat Brown to appoint Murphy and give him a marginal seniority advantage. Murphy extended the same courtesy upon his own departure, resigning two days before his term expired. He served from January 1, 1965, to January 1, 1971, and cast votes in favor of both the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. During his Senate years, he chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 1967 and 1968. He is the only United States senator with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During his Senate tenure, Murphy developed throat cancer requiring partial removal of his larynx, leaving him unable to speak above a whisper for the remainder of his life. He sought re-election in 1970 but lost to Democrat John V. Tunney by 618,941 votes, with his health, his support for the Vietnam War, and reports that he had continued receiving a salary from Technicolor while in office all cited as factors in his defeat. Murphy is credited with creating the Senate candy desk, a tradition that has continued through successive officeholders. His transition from entertainment to elected office preceded those of Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, each of whom served two terms as governor of California; Reagan once described Murphy as his own "John the Baptist."

Murphy had been married to his ballroom dancing partner, Juliette Henkel-Johnson, from December 18, 1926, until her death in 1973. They had two children, Dennis Michael Murphy and Melissa Elaine Murphy. He later married Bette Blandi in 1982, a union that lasted until his death. Murphy died on May 3, 1992, in Palm Beach, Florida, from leukemia, at the age of 89.