Michael Murphy (actor)

Michael George Murphy (born May 5, 1938) is a multi-award-winning American film, television and stage actor. He often plays unethical or morally ambiguous characters in positions of authority, including politicians, executives, administrators, clerics, doctors, law enforcement agents, and lawyers. He is also known for his frequent collaborations (more than any other performer) with director Robert Altman, having appeared in twelve (film, TV series and miniseries) productions directed by Altman in a period spanning from 1963 to 2004, including his leading titular role in the acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning HBO cable miniseries Tanner '88. He had roles in the films M*A*S*H (1970), Brewster McCloud (1970), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Phase IV (1974), Nashville (1975), The Front (1976), An Unmarried Woman (1978), The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), Manhattan (1979), Strange Behavior (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), Salvador (1986), Shocker (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Magnolia (1999), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Away from Her (2007), and Fall (2014), among others. Murphy's performance in Fall earned him a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film.

Murphy was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Georgia Arlyn (née Money), a teacher, and Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps near the end of the Korean War, Murphy attended the University of Arizona and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

He taught English and drama at University High School (Los Angeles) before pursuing an acting career.

Murphy is best known for his performances as Jill Clayburgh's adulterous husband Martin in Paul Mazursky's An Unmarried Woman (1978), as Woody Allen's morally ambiguous best friend Yale in Manhattan (1979), as The Mayor of Gotham City in Batman Returns (1992), as ethically enigmatic lawyer Alan Kligman, Esq. in Magnolia (1999), as the "mutant" Angel's human father (and crusading cure-developer) Warren Worthington II in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and as the star of Garry Trudeau and Robert Altman's groundbreaking 1988 miniseries Tanner '88.

Murphy worked frequently with Altman, including as Captain Ezekiel Bradbury "Me Lay" Marston V, in M*A*S*H (1970), as Det. Lt. Frank Shaft in Brewster McCloud (1970), as John Triplette in Nashville (1975), and as the eponymous, fictitious former U.S. Congressman and presidential aspirant, Jack Tanner, in Tanner '88, a role he later reprised in the 2004 Sundance Channel follow-up miniseries Tanner on Tanner. Other Altman films and television series in which Murphy appeared include the World War II TV series Combat! (in which Murphy appeared, twice, in 1963, on the show's second of five seasons), Countdown (1968), That Cold Day in the Park (1969), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988) and Kansas City (1996).

Other notable film roles include Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973), The Front (1976), The Great Bank Hoax (1977), The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), My Letter to George (1986), Salvador (1986), Private Parts (1997), Silver City (2004), According to Greta (2009), White House Down (2013) and They Came Together (2014).

Though usually cast in supporting roles and character parts, Murphy has not been relegated solely to such work. He has also had leading turns in a variety of theatrical films including Phase IV (1974), Strange Behavior (1981), Hot Money (1983), Shocker (1989), The Island (1998) and the 2014 film Fall—in an acclaimed performance that garnered him a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film in 2015—as well as his having had starring turns in television films like Bell, Book and Candle (1976), 3 by Cheever: O Youth and Beauty! (1979), Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy (1989), The Ultimate Lie (1996), Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (1996) and In the Dark (2003), in addition to various other works.

In addition to his starring turns in the HBO Films original productions Tanner '88, Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy, and Countdown to Looking Glass, Murphy has also frequently appeared in other films for the cable giant, including the historical biopics Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster (1992), Truman (1995) and Live from Baghdad (2002).