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George Murphy

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George Murphy

George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor and politician. 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 American actor to be elected to statewide office in California, predating Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who each served two terms as governor. He is the only United States Senator represented by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Murphy was born in New Haven, Connecticut, of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and the former Nora Long. He was educated at Trinity-Pawling School, Peddie School and Yale University in his native New Haven.

In movies, Murphy was known as a song-and-dance man and appeared in many big-budget musicals such as Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) and For Me and My Gal (1942). 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.[citation needed] On March 14, 1951, he hosted the first ever Eddie Awards for American Cinema Editors.

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.[citation needed]

Murphy entered politics in 1952 by joining the leadership of the California Republican Party, having also directed the entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inauguration that same year.

In 1964, he was elected as a Republican to the Senate, having defeated Pierre Salinger, the former presidential press secretary in the Kennedy White House, who had been appointed several months earlier to serve the remainder of the late Clair Engle's unexpired term. Murphy served from January 1, 1965, to January 1, 1971. He took his seat two days early, when Salinger resigned to allow Murphy to gain an edge in seniority; Murphy was then appointed by Democratic Governor Pat Brown to serve the remaining two days of Salinger's term. (In turn, Murphy resigned two days before his term expired, extending the same courtesy to his successor.)

Murphy was in demand for a time to assist other Republican candidates seeking office. In 1966, he hosted a fundraising dinner in Atlanta, for U.S. Representative Howard "Bo" Callaway, the first Republican candidate for Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. In the election, Callaway outpolled Democrat Lester Maddox, but did not get a majority, and the state legislature elected Maddox.

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