| George Lloyd Murphy | |
 | |
| In office January 1, 1965 – January 2, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Pierre Salinger |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | John Varick Tunney |
| Born | July 4, 1902 New Haven, Connecticut |
| Died | May 3, 1992 (aged 89) Palm Beach, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Juliette Henkel-Johnson Murphy (married 1926-1973, her death)
Betty Duhon Blandi (married 1982-1992, his death) (1923-1999) |
| Children | From first marriage: Dennis Michael Murphy |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation | Actor, dancer, politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor dancer, and Republican politician, who represented his adopted state of California in the United States Senate for a single term from 1965 to 1971.
Murphy was a song-and-dance entertainer in many musicals from 1930 to 1952, when he retired from show business. Like his ally, Ronald Reagan, Murphy was the president of the Screen Actors Guild, with service from 1944 to 1946. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1951. He is the only U. S. Senator represented by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Murphy was the first notable U.S. actor to make the transition to elected official in California, predating Governors Ronald Reagan in 1966 and Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Reagan once referred to George Murphy as his own John the Baptist because Murphy was a senator for two years before Reagan won the governorship over Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr.[1]
Background
Murphy was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of an Irish-Roman Catholic couple, Coach Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy and the former Nora Long. He was educated in prep schools and at Yale University in New Haven.[2] He worked as a tool maker for the Ford Motor Company, as a miner, a real estate agent, and a night club dancer.
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 Bette Blandi for ten years from 1982 until his death. Bette Murphy died in 1999.[3]
Show business
Murphy appeared in musicals and is particularly known for the 1942 film, For Me and My Gal. He made his movie debut shortly after talking pictures had replaced silent movies in 1930.
He was also a vice president of Lucille Ball's Desilu Studios and of the Technicolor Corporation.
Murphy directed the entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inaugurations in 1953 and 1957, and for the swearing-in of Democrat John F. Kennedy in 1961..
Senatorial term
In 1964, despite a heavily Democrat tide in California and the nation, Murphy unseated interim U.S. Senator Pierre Emil George Salinger (1925-2004), the former presidential press secretary in the Kennedy White House who had been appointed several months earlier by Governor Pat Brown to serve the remainder of the term of the late Democrat Clair Engle (1911-1964). Murphy assumed his seat two days early, when Salinger stepped down to allow Murphy to gain an edge in seniority. Murphy was then appointed by Governor Brown to serve the remaining two days of Salinger's term.
For a time, Murphy was in demand to assist other Republican candidates seeking office. In Atlanta, he hosted a fundraising dinner on behalf of the 1966 gubernatorial nominee, U.S. Representative Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway, Sr. (1927-2014). Callaway was the first Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia since Reconstruction. Callaway ultimately lost the election when the state legislature resolved the impasse and chose the Democrat Lester Maddox to fill the position.[4]
In 1967 and 1968, the year Nixon was elected as U.S. President, Murphy was the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He was defeated in his bid for a second term in 1970 by Democratic U.S. Representative John Varick Tunney (1934-2018), the son of famed heavyweight boxing champion James Joseph "Gene" Tunney (1897-1978) and a close friend of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
Last years
During his Senate term, Murphy contracted throat cancer and had part of his larynx removed. For the rest of his life, he was unable to speak above a whisper. Murphy's staunch support for the lingering Vietnam War worked against his reelection, as did reports that he continued to receive a salary from Technicolor after taking office.[5] As the general election approached, Tunney overtook Murphy in the opinion polls. Tunney's Senate race reportedly inspired the 1972 Robert Redford film, The Candidate.[6]
Murphy subsequently moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he died at the age of eighty-nine from leukemia.
In 1970, when he lost his reelection bid, Senator Murphy released his autobiography, written with the help of Victor Lasky and entitled, "Say ... didn't you used to be George Murphy?"[7]
References
- ↑ In 1944, Democrat Jimmie Davis, popularizer of the song, "You Are My Sunshine," was elected to the first of his two nonconsecutive terms as governor of his native Louisiana. In 1948, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Claxton Acuff (1903-1992) won the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee but was defeated in the general election by the Democrat Gordon Browning (1889-1976).
- ↑ George Lloyd Murphy. Retrieved on September 8, 2021.
- ↑ Zan Thompson (June 12, 1986). The Personal Side of George Murphy at Age 83. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on December 11, 2012.
- ↑ Billy Hathorn, "The Frustration of Opportunity: Georgia Republicans and the Election of 1966", Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South, XXXI (Winter 1987-1988), pp. 42, 47.
- ↑ "George Murphy, Singer and Actor Who Became Senator, Dies at 89," The New York Times, May 4, 1992.
- ↑ Terry Christensen and Peter Haas, Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films, p. 146.
- ↑ Say ... didn't you used to be George Murphy?. Bartholomew House in New York City (1970). Retrieved on September 9, 2021.