Acting
George Murphy
George Murphy was an American dancer and stage, screen, and television actor, as well as a United States Senator. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to 1946, and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1951. Murphy served from 1965 to 1971 as U.S. Senator from California, the first notable U.S. actor to be elected to statewide office in California, predating Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is the only United States Senator represented by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In movies, Murphy was known as a song-and-dance man and appeared 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. During World War II, he organized entertainment for American troops.
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 also a vice president of Desilu Productions and of the Technicolor Corporation. He was director of entertainment for presidential inaugurations in 1953, 1957 and 1961.
Filmography
Browse movies and TV shows featuring George Murphy
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The sh...
MGM Parade
The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featur...
The Thin Man
Nick Charles was a private detective who married the wealthy Nora and decided to settle down and leave the good...
Battleground
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of...
They Died with Their Boots On
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies...
Bataan
During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of...
Border Incident
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexi...
Frank Capra's American Dream
A documentary looking at the life and career of film director Frank Capra. Hosted by Ron Howard.
That's Dancing!
A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from its origins after the invention of the movie camera, over...
That's Entertainment!
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
Broadway Melody of 1938
Steve Raleight wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a backer, Herman Whipple and a leading lady, Sally...
That's Entertainment! III
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigado...
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to...
Show-Business at War
A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
Broadway Melody of 1940
Johnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new pa...
The Navy Comes Through
A U.S. Navy crew aboard a merchant marine ship battle Nazis.
Twenty Years After
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a numb...
It's a Big Country
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda feat...
No Questions Asked
With the help of some seedy gangsters, young attorney Steve Keiver makes some quick cash by bending the law, an...
You're a Sweetheart
A Broadway producer is in a quandary when he discovers that the opening of his newest big production coincides...
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh...
This Is the Army
In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War,...
Tom, Dick and Harry
Janie is a telephone operator who is caught up in the lines of love of three men: car salesman Tom, Chicago mil...
Little Miss Broadway
An orphan is provisionally adopted by the manager of a hotel populated by show business people. The hotel's own...
Rise and Shine
The college president, the head cheerleader and a gambling gangster try to keep a flunking football star in the...
Kid Millions
A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Eg...
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
Steve is a shy quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the Opera where she had his s...
Cynthia
Sheltered by her conservative parents, a small-town teenager finally goes out on a date.
Public Deb No. 1
When a waiter gives a society girl a public spanking for attending a Communist rally, her soup-tycoon uncle mak...
Two Girls on Broadway
Eddie Kerns sells his song to a Broadway producer and also lands a job dancing in the musical. He sends for his...
For Me and My Gal
Two vaudeville performers fall in love, but find their relationship tested by the arrival of WWI.
Walk East on Beacon
An FBI agent works with a refugee scientist and the Coast Guard to crack a Soviet spy ring in Boston.
Up Goes Maisie
A showgirl working for an inventor battles crooks, who want to steal his ideas.
Woman Trap
A gangland murder is the motivating factor of this fast-moving crime drama. George Murphy stars as reporter Ken...
Letter of Introduction
An aging actor, trying to make a comeback on Broadway, is surprised when his estranged daughter shows up. It se...