Don Murray Movies
The son of show business people, he studied theater at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He worked in stock, then in 1951 he debuted on Broadway in The Rose Tattoo. In 1952 he was drafted to fight in the Korean War, but he was exempted as a conscientious objector; instead, he worked with refugees. Not until 1955 did he return to acting, appearing in Broadway's The Skin of Our Teeth; Joshua Logan spotted him in the play, and signed him to appear in Bus Stop (1956), his screen debut; for his portrayal of a cowboy who romances Marilyn Monroe he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. While making the film he met actress Hope Lange, and the two of them were married that same year; they divorced in 1961. With a few exceptions, his later screen roles were unrewarding, though he remained fairly busy through the mid '60s; he has continued appearing on screen intermittently. He has occasionally produced, directed, and/or co-written films. He starred in the late '60s TV series The Outcasts, and later costarred in the series Knots Landing. He is known as a highly principled man of strong social and political convictions. ~ All Movie Guide- 1981
This Disney TV movie traces the origins of the Morgan saddle horse, America's first distinct breed. The story begins during the Revolutionary War, when Colonial schoolteacher Justin Morgan (Don Murray), though nearly penniless, sets about to develop a sire for horse-racing purposes. Not one but two exciting races cap this recreation of a little-known historical event. Featured in the cast are Lana Wood, R. G. Armstrong and Gary Crosby. Based on the book by Marguerite Henry, Justin Morgan Had a Horse was originally telecast February 6 and 13, 1972, as a two-part installment of The Wonderful World of Disney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- R
Based on a novel by Scott Spencer, Endless Love details the doomed romance between 17-year-old David (Martin Hewitt) and 15-year-old Jade (Brooke Shields). Banished from Jade's home by her daddy Hugh (Don Murray), David obsessively cooks up a scheme to get back into the family's good graces. Since this plan involves setting Jade's house on fire, one can easily predict that the puppy-love romance is in for a bumpy ride. Jailed for arson, David heads directly to Jade the moment that he's released, with tragic results. Posting respectable earnings thanks to the popularity of Brooke Shields, Endless Love was also the film debut of Tom Cruise, billed 18th in the cast list. A young James Spader lends a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, (more)
- 1980
In this episode from the Police Story crime drama series a vice investigator begins to break down beneath the pressure imposed by his career and tumultuous personal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Scott Baio plays the son of ex-hockey star Don Murray, who has reacted to the loss of his career with a steadily increasing reliance upon liquor. Baio begins to excel athletically in school, but when the inevitable disappointments set in, he begins to imitate his father's booze intake. Lance Kerwin plays Baio's best friend, who picks up on the early warning signs and tries to keep Baio from descending into alcoholism. Made for television, Boy Who Drank Too Much was intended as a "breakthrough" role for teen idol Scott Baio, who is in fact better than usual here. Based on a novel by Shep Greene, the film was cluttered up with too many superfluous subplots, including the pregnancy of one of Baio's teachers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
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Peter Ustinov plays the talented detective in San Francisco who attempts, with help/hindrance from his clumsy grandson (Richard Hatch), to solve a murder case in this mystery/comedy. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Lee Grant, (more)
Season One of the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing begins as Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), ex-alcoholic "black sheep" of the oil-rich Ewing clan, moves from Texas to Southern California with his long-suffering wife Val (Joan Van Ark). The couple make their new home in the cul-de-sac community of Knots Landing, living in the house bought for Gary by his mother Miss Ellie. The Ewings' new neighbors include Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), Gary's boss at Knots Landing Motors,and Sid's wife Karen (Michele Lee) and children Diana (Claudia Lonow), Michael (Pat Petersen) and Eric (Steve Shaw); record executive Kenny Ward (James Houghton) and his wife Ginger (Kim Lankford); and attorney Richard Avery (John Pleshette) and his real-estate agent spouse Laura (Constance McCashlin). Justin Dana is seen in the first episode as the Averys' son Justin, but will be immediately replaced by Danny Gellis) In the course of events (and WHAT events!) during the first season, Karen will become pregnant and miscarry; Julie Harris will make her first appearance as Val's troublesome mother Lilimae Clements, though she won't become a regular until Season Three; Sid Fairgate will endure run-ins with his ex-wife and his daughter from the previous marriage; and in the two-part season finale, Gary overcelebrates upon being appointed VP of Knots Landings Motors, falls off the wagon, and ends up drunk as a skunk in a cheap flophouse before being rescued by the ever-faithful Val. This season also marks a handful of crossover appearances from the Dallas cast, notably Larry Hagman as Gary's conniving brother J.R. Ewing and Charlene Tilton as Gary's bed-hopping daughter Lucy (who, curiously, is seen but once on Knot's Landing). Despite the popularity of its parent series, Knots Landing languished in the ratings during its first season. Clearly, what was needed was a compelling reason for viewers to tune in week after week. What was needed was the sort of "villain you love to hate" personified by Dallas' J.R. What was needed was Donna Mills as Abby Cunningham. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, (more)
Playing to disappointing ratings during its first season on the air, the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing made a spectacular leap forward during Season Two with the introduction to the cast of Donna Mills as Abby Cunningham, the manipulative and predatory sister of Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), Gary Ewing's (Ted Shackelford) boss at Knots Landing Motors. Abby also brings along her children Olivia (Tonya Crowe) and Brian (Bobby Jacoby), who in their own way will be just as important to the overall scheme of things as their redoubtable mom. In addition to bringing Abby into the fold, Season Two wastes no time plunging the characters into a morass of intrigue as Sid Fairgate is accused of raping a nubile hitchhiker. Around the same time, several more recurring characters are introduced, among them Scooter Warren (Allan Miller), the new boss of real estate agent Laura Avery (Constance McCashlin); sexy female auto mechanic Linda Striker (Denise Galik); and Roy Lance (Steven Hirsch) the shady owner of the Orchid Cab company. Among the major plot developments this season: Abby has an affair with Laura's lawyer husband Richard (John Pleshette) the Wards break up when Ginger (Kim Lankford) finds out that her record-exec husband Kenny (James Houghton) has slept with Kristen Shepard (Mary Lee Crosby), aka "The Girl Who Shot J.R." on Knots Landing's parent series Dallas (and as for J.R. [Larry Hagman], himself he shows up long enough to have his own tryst with Abby); and weak-willed former alcoholic Gary Ewing once again betrays his long-suffering spouse Val (Joan Van Ark) by fooling around with Judy Trent (Jane Elliot), the wife of Earl Trent (Paul Rudd)--whom Gary has sponsored for membership in AA! The final two episodes of the season were originally telecast back to back on the same night: In "Designs", J.R. Ewing makes yet another appearance to bedevil brother Gary; and in the (literal) cliffhanger "Squeezeplay", Sid agrees to help the FBI in their sting operation against the crooked Orchid Cab Company--and as a consequence, he is involved in an "accident" as his car goes out of control and plummets over a cliff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, (more)
- 1980
The made-for-TV Fugitive Family questions the efficacy of the government's witness protection program. After sending syndicate kingpin Anthony Durano (Mel Ferrer) to prison, undercover agent Brian Roberts (Richard Crenna) and his entire family is marked for death by Durano's successor Peter Ritchie (Don Murray). Roberts and his brood are forced to change their names and move to a faraway city, there to start life anew. Vintner Olan Vacio (Eli Wallach) hires Roberts as a field worker, eventually making him his partner. This puts Vacio in the line of fire when Ritchie's hoods come calling. Fugitive Family first aired October 1, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Crisis in Mid-Air is essentially a "problem drama" concentrating on a single individual. George Peppard plays a veteran air traffic controller who holds himself responsible for a mid-air collision. With an FAA investigator breathing down his neck, Peppard gets a chance to prove his value when another flight, with 235 passengers on board, puts in a "Mayday" call. The TV Guide ads for this television movie were a little misleading, suggesting that Peppard was in the cockpit rather than the control tower. Crisis in Mid-Air debuted February 13, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this drama, a suburban housewife shows great inner strength when she must suddenly keep the family together after her husband suffers a complete breakdown and falls into an irreversible catatonic state. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Pleshette, Tony Roberts, (more)
Don Murray plays Lacy, a blatantly bigoted New York cop who finds that his rabid hatred forces him into a bloody rampage in order to save himself and his job in the derivative cop melodrama Deadly Hero. At one point in the film, Lacy rehearses a speech to be given to a cadre of right-wingers by intoning, "These are troubled times." This is certainly the case for Lacy, since this 18-year veteran of the NYPD has been demoted from detective to patrol car because of his liberal use of deadly force on nasty perpetrators. When Lacy, a lit fuse of seething anger and racial epithets, encounters nasty black mugger Rabbit (James Earl Jones), who is terrorizing young schoolteacher Sally (Diahn Williams) at knifepoint in her apartment, it doesn't take much for the cop to decide to put the thug on terror alert by shooting him. Is Sally grateful for blowing away the object of her torture? To Lacy's surprise, she instead testifies against him, accusing him of being a cold-blooded killer. Now Lacy has to figure out a way out of this high-shootin' mess. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Murray, Diahn Williams, (more)
- 1975
The made-for-TV A Girl Named Sooner stars newcomer Susan Deer in the title role. Sooner is an illiterate 8-year-old, growing up in a backwater Indiana community. Lee Remick co-stars as Elizabeth McHenry, Sooner's new foster parent, who hopes to properly educate the girl--and in so doing, give purpose to her own turbulent life. Dominating the proceedings is Cloris Leachman as Old Mam, a toothless, whisky-swigging crone who has raised Sooner from birth, and who has no patience with booklearnin'. First telecast June 18, 1975, A Girl Named Sooner was based on the novel by Suzanne Clauser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Remick, Richard Crenna, (more)
- 1974
Don Murray stars as slick network news producer William Martin in The Girl on the Late, Late Show. In addition to his administrative duties, Martin is a news reporter, and it is in this capacity that he investigates a series of Hollywood murders. The unifying link between the killings would seem to be faded movie queen Carolyn Parker (Gloria Grahame). Several Tinseltown veterans show up in key roles in this made-for-TV mystery, including Van Johnson, Cameron Mitchell, John Ireland, Walter Pidgeon and Frankie Darro. First telecast April 1, 1974, Girl on the Late, Late Show was designed as the pilot for a weekly Don Murray TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Connie Stevens appears both with and without clothing in this made-for-TV a clef version of the Marilyn Monroe saga. The script, based on Alvah Bessie's novel The Symbol, contrives to have Stevens portray La Monroe in everything but name, right down to entering into a marriage with a famous sports figure (also given a fictitious name). ABC was threatened with legal action by several interested parties upon announcing plans to telecast Sex Symbol. The film was ultimately shown, albeit with several minutes of nudity and profanity trimmed (this was 1974, not 1994), though the missing footage was well documented in the press. The full "director's cut" version was shown theatrically in Europe, but has yet to be released on videotape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Connie Stevens, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1973
- R
Call Me by My Rightful Name was cobbled together for overseas theatrical release from several episodes of the 1968 TV series The Outcasts. This "relevant" western stars Don Murray as Earl Corey, a Southern aristocrat impoverished by the Civil War. Otis Young costars as ex-slave Jemal David. Corey and David are forced by circumstances to team up as bounty hunters and Indian fighters in the West. Initial bigotry and resentment eventually gives way to a grudging respect between the two ill-matched men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
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The fourth Planet of the Apes film is set in 1991, 20 years since the assassination of talking, time-traveling apes Cornelius and Zira at the end of Escape From the Planet of the Apes. The couple's infant son, Caesar (Roddy McDowall), has grown to adulthood in the care of kindly circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Meanwhile, a plague has wiped all dogs and cats from the face of the Earth; speechless primitive apes have therefore been domesticated and turned into first pets, then servants of humankind. Caesar becomes outraged at the treatment of these simian slaves and accidentally reveals his powers of speech in front of the militaristic authorities, who kill Armando when he tries to protect his friend's identity. His cover blown, Caesar kick-starts a revolution that pits chimps against humans, paving the way for eventual ape ascendency. Caesar was the second of McDowall's three Planet of the Apes characters; he also portrayed Cornelius in the first and third films and Galen in the short-lived 1974 television series. After taking over the franchise with this picture, Hollywood veteran J. Lee Thompson would become the only director to helm two Planet of the Apes films when he returned for the fifth and final installment. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, (more)
- 1971
- R
Based on a play by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Happy Birthday, Wanda June takes us to the Ryan household, where Penelope Ryan (Susannah York) has learned to accept the death of her husband Harold, a supremely macho explorer and big game hunter who married her when she was working as a carhop. He disappeared in the jungles of the Amazon eight years ago and has never returned; as one character puts it, "Not even Mutual of Omaha believes he's alive anymore." Since then, Penelope has becomes educated, independent, and engaged to Norbert Woodley (George Grizzard), a doctor. Only Paul (Steven Paul), Harold's son, still believes that his father might still be alive. Paul turns out to be right after all when Harold (Rod Steiger) comes marching home after eight year in a jungle hell, only to discover nothing is as he left it, Penelope is an entirely different person, and his ideal of masculinity has become an anachronism. Meanwhile, someone picks up a cake at half price with the inscription "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," and in time we learn of Wanda June's sad fate and visit with her new friends in the Kingdom of Heaven. While Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was vocally unhappy with this adaptation of his play, it's actually quite accurate to its source and features several fine performances, especially William Hickey, reprising his stage role as Harold's sidekick, Looseleaf Harper. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Susannah York, (more)
- 1970
The year is 1876. The place is Medalia, MN. With the Jesse James and Cole Younger gangs cutting a murderous swath through the land, the citizens of Medalia brace themselves against an outlaw invasion. Normally, the townsfolk could turn to their marshal, Sam Garrison (Don Murray), for salvation; but alas, it has been years since Sam has picked up a gun, and both his nerves and his trigger hand are gone. Made for television, The Intruders first aired November 10, 1970, on NBC, while most viewers were watching the vastly superior TV movie Tribes on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story, David Wilkerson (Pat Boone) is the small-town preacher who gets caught in the shadows of a crime-ridden neighborhood in New York City. He encounters a gang led by Nicky Cruz (Erik Estrada), and David brings a message of hope to the angry youths. Guided by the street-wise Little Bo (Jo-Ann Robinson), David quickly learns about the neighborhood and how to approach the cynical juveniles. This moralistic family film attempts to give hope to those who walk in the shadows of darkness. Despite the preachy nature of the plot, it is a well-done film and Pat Boone's character relates well to the targeted white, middle-class audience. Nicky Cruz would go on to become an ordained minister, preaching the gospel due to the initial efforts of David Wilkerson. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat Boone, Erik Estrada, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Actor Don Murray wrote, produced, and starred in this drama about an alcoholic former serviceman who falls in with gangsters until he has a spiritual awakening and decides to devote his life to helping others. The supporting cast includes Linda Evans, Logan Ramsey, and Angelique Pettyjohn. Also shown under the titles Childish Things, Tale of the Cock, and Cockadoodle-Do. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Murray, Linda Evans, (more)
- 1969
This amusingly weird, painfully threadbare production pits a town of lethargic ex-hippie parents against their own offspring, who have been transformed into pasty-faced zombies (with cute little black fingernails) after their school bus passes through a cloud of radioactive fallout from a nearby nuclear plant. The kids' condition makes it difficult to for their deadbeat parents to reach out to them, thanks to their newly-acquired tendency to turn everyone they touch into an overcooked brisket in two seconds flat. In keeping with zombie-movie rules of engagement (as established in Night of the Living Dead), the bodies begin piling up before the nominal hero (local sheriff Gil Rogers) arrives at an effective zombie-killing method -- which in this case involves cutting off the children's hands. The most entertaining moments in this cheap and silly film come from its painfully bad attempts at horror and -- even more laughable -- social commentary. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Psychologist Don Murray investigates the claim of Nobel prize winning scientist Ray Milland, who insists he has spoken to his young daughter. The thing of it is, the daughter has been dead for several weeks. At first dismissing the claims as the delusions of a grief-stricken man, Murray decides to stick with the case when he notices that the Government is acutely interested in Milland's ethereal "conversations". As the story unfolds, we learn that the apparitions are tied in with a complicated espionage plot. Daughter of the Mind was one of the first high-quality offerings of ABC's Movie of the Week series. The film also represented the TV-movie debut of Gene Tierney, as the other woman in the scientist's life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
