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IMDbPro

James Murray(1901-1936)

  • Actor
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James Murray
Sometimes the early tragic death of a Hollywood actor can lead to immortality, as in the cases of icons James Dean and Marilyn Monroe--and, to a somewhat lesser extent, little Bobby Driscoll, who died a Skid Row bum in the streets, a victim of drug addiction. Not so for actor James Murray, whose death occurred in a similar fashion to Driscoll. Long forgotten, the young and highly insecure Murray was plucked from obscurity and given the chance of a lifetime, only to crumble ever so quickly.

He was born on February 9, 1901, in the Bronx, NY. After appearing in The Pilgrims (1924), a three-reeler made at Yale University in 1923 in which he played John Alden, he trekked 3000 miles to Hollywood to pursue that elusive Hollywood dream. On the road west, he lived a simple, rather nomadic existence as a dishwasher, coal-shoveler and boxcar rider. John started off as most do in L.A.--taking bit parts and extra work, waiting for that big break. Director King Vidor was looking to cast the somber hero of his next silent picture, The Crowd (1928). He spotted Murray, who was working as an extra at MGM, near the studio casting office and arranged a meeting with him. Murray didn't show up, either not taking the director seriously or not believing that Vidor was, in fact, King Vidor. Murray was hunted down, given a screen test and the novice actor was hired on the spot, considered by both Vidor and MGM executive Irving Thalberg to be one of the best natural actors they had ever had the good fortune to encounter. As John Sims, a common everyday kind of family man just trying to survive the game of life, Murray was frighteningly real and heart-wrenching, carrying the hugely demanding role without a hitch. He so invested himself in the part that many feel he never shook off the depressing character. The film was judged too heavy and raw for audiences to escape in, but the critics were enamored of the film and, especially Murray, and today it is considered a major masterpiece.

Murray managed to turn in solid work in the next few years, never matching his excellence in "The Crowd" but certainly turning in credible performances. Such films as The Big City (1928) with Lon Chaney, Thunder (1929)--also with Chaney--The Shakedown (1929), Bachelor Mother (1932) and Heroes for Sale (1933) served him well.

Too much too soon, perhaps, for he was ill-prepared to handle the daily pressures of stardom and his inner demons quickly took over. He turned to the bottle for solace and release. By the early 1930s he was a chronic alcoholic who could barely hold down an acting job. He turned into a derelict, living on the streets and begging for change.

By coincidence, he tried to panhandle Vidor in 1934, who offered him an acting job in his next film, Our Daily Bread (1934), but the actor vehemently refused to accept any charity. In 1936 Murray's body was fished out of the Hudson River, having drowned after either jumping from, falling from--or being thrown off of--a pier. He was only 35. Vidor was so haunted by Murray's tragic death that it provided the basis for a script he wrote which the director hoped would turn into a film called "The Actor" in 1979. Unfortunately, the project never got off the ground.
BornFebruary 9, 1901
DiedJuly 11, 1936(35)
BornFebruary 9, 1901
DiedJuly 11, 1936(35)
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Photos63

Ruth Chatterton and James Murray in Frisco Jenny (1932)
Ruth Chatterton and James Murray in Frisco Jenny (1932)
Noah Beery and James Murray in In Line of Duty (1931)
Merna Kennedy, Gertrude Messinger, and James Murray in The Rampant Age (1930)
Phyllis Haver and James Murray in Thunder (1929)
Helene Costello and James Murray in In Old Kentucky (1927)
James Murray in Rose-Marie (1928)
Ruth Chatterton and James Murray in Frisco Jenny (1932)
Phyllis Haver and James Murray in Thunder (1929)
Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, and James Murray in The Big City (1928)
James Murray and Margaret Quimby in The Rampant Age (1930)
Wesley Barry and James Murray in In Old Kentucky (1927)

Known for

Eleanor Boardman and James Murray in The Crowd (1928)
The Crowd
8.1
  • John Sims
  • 1928
Bachelor Mother
6.9
  • Joe Bigelow
  • 1932
Eddie Borden, Merna Kennedy, Gertrude Messinger, James Murray, John T. Prince, and Margaret Quimby in The Rampant Age (1930)
The Rampant Age
5.0
  • Sandy Benton
  • 1930
In Old Kentucky (1927)
In Old Kentucky
5.3
  • Jimmy Brierly
  • 1927

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald in San Francisco (1936)
    San Francisco
    • (uncredited)
  • Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Rose-Marie (1936)
    Rose-Marie
    • (uncredited)
  • Jack Mulhall and Rin Tin Tin Jr. in Skull and Crown (1935)
    Skull and Crown
  • Ship Cafe (1935)
    Ship Cafe
    • (uncredited)
  • Margot Grahame and Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
    The Informer
    • (uncredited)
  • Theodore Lorch, Lafe McKee, and James Murray in The Drunkard (1935)
    The Drunkard
  • Twenty Dollars a Week
  • Now I'll Tell (1934)
    Now I'll Tell
    • (uncredited)
  • Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell in Havana Widows (1933)
    Havana Widows
    • (uncredited)
  • Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent in Baby Face (1933)
    Baby Face
    • (uncredited)
  • Richard Barthelmess and Loretta Young in Heroes for Sale (1933)
    Heroes for Sale
  • Richard Barthelmess, Tom Brown, and Sally Eilers in Central Airport (1933)
    Central Airport
  • Joan Marsh and James Murray in High Gear (1933)
    High Gear
  • Evalyn Knapp and James Murray in Air Hostess (1933)
    Air Hostess
  • Louis Calhern, Ruth Chatterton, Wong Chung, and Harold Huber in Frisco Jenny (1932)
    Frisco Jenny

Personal details

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    • February 9, 1901
    • New York City, New York, USA
    • July 11, 1936
    • New York City, New York, USA(drowned)
    • Marion Sayers1933 - November 1933 (divorced)
    • Sean Murray(Niece or Nephew)
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    His brother was Harry Murray, an actor in silent films in the late 1920s and early 1930s and then Production Manager for CBS-TV in New York, where he worked on the television game shows Password (1961) and To Tell the Truth (1956).

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