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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=George Lloyd Murphy | nationality=American | image=George Murphy of CA.jpg | office=United States Senator for California..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=George Lloyd Murphy
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| image=George Murphy of CA.jpg
| office=[[United States Senator]] for [[California]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=January 1, 1965
| term_end=January 2, 1971
| preceded=Pierre Salinger
| succeeded=John Varick Tunney
| birth_date=July 4, 1902
| birth_place=New Haven, [[Connecticut]]
| death_date=May 3, 1992 (aged 89)
| death_place=Palm Beach, [[Florida]]
| alma_mater= [[Yale University]]
| spouse=(1) Juliette Henkel-Johnson Murphy (married 1926-1973, her death)
Betty Duhon Blandi (married 1982-1992, his death) (1923-1999)
| children =From first marriage:<br>
Dennis Michael Murphy<br>
Melissa Elaine Murphy
| occupation=[[Actor]], [[dance]]r, [[politician]]
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
'''George Lloyd Murphy''' (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an [[United States|American]] [[actor]] [[dance]]r, and [[Republican Party|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]]s 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 [[Pat Brown|Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr.]]<ref>In 1944, [[Democratic Party|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).</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m001092|title=George Lloyd Murphy|publisher ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|accessdate=September 8, 2021.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Personal Side of George Murphy at Age 83'' |author=Zan Thompson|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-12/news/vw-10468_1_george-murphy |publisher=''[[Los Angeles Times]]''|date=June 12, 1986 |accessdate=December 11, 2012}}</ref>
===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 [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]-[[Richard Nixon|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 (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.<ref>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.</ref>
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==
uring 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.<ref>"George Murphy, Singer and Actor Who Became Senator, Dies at 89," ''[[The New York Times]],'' May 4, 1992.</ref> 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.''<ref>Terry Christensen and Peter Haas, ''Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films,'' p. 146.</ref>
Murphy subsequently moved to Palm Beach, [[Florida]], where he died at the age of eighty-nine from [[leukemia]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, George]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Connecticut]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
|name=George Lloyd Murphy
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| image=George Murphy of CA.jpg
| office=[[United States Senator]] for [[California]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=January 1, 1965
| term_end=January 2, 1971
| preceded=Pierre Salinger
| succeeded=John Varick Tunney
| birth_date=July 4, 1902
| birth_place=New Haven, [[Connecticut]]
| death_date=May 3, 1992 (aged 89)
| death_place=Palm Beach, [[Florida]]
| alma_mater= [[Yale University]]
| spouse=(1) Juliette Henkel-Johnson Murphy (married 1926-1973, her death)
Betty Duhon Blandi (married 1982-1992, his death) (1923-1999)
| children =From first marriage:<br>
Dennis Michael Murphy<br>
Melissa Elaine Murphy
| occupation=[[Actor]], [[dance]]r, [[politician]]
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
'''George Lloyd Murphy''' (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an [[United States|American]] [[actor]] [[dance]]r, and [[Republican Party|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]]s 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 [[Pat Brown|Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr.]]<ref>In 1944, [[Democratic Party|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).</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m001092|title=George Lloyd Murphy|publisher ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|accessdate=September 8, 2021.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Personal Side of George Murphy at Age 83'' |author=Zan Thompson|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-12/news/vw-10468_1_george-murphy |publisher=''[[Los Angeles Times]]''|date=June 12, 1986 |accessdate=December 11, 2012}}</ref>
===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 [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]-[[Richard Nixon|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 (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.<ref>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.</ref>
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==
uring 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.<ref>"George Murphy, Singer and Actor Who Became Senator, Dies at 89," ''[[The New York Times]],'' May 4, 1992.</ref> 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.''<ref>Terry Christensen and Peter Haas, ''Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films,'' p. 146.</ref>
Murphy subsequently moved to Palm Beach, [[Florida]], where he died at the age of eighty-nine from [[leukemia]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, George]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Connecticut]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]