Audie murphy bio biography video on william

Film, television, and radio career of Audie Murphy

Filmography

Audie Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was a highly decorated American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient who turned actor. He portrayed himself in the film To Hell and Back, the account of his World War II experiences. During the 1950s and 1960s he was cast primarily in westerns. While often the hero, he proved his ability to portray a cold-blooded hired gun in No Name on the Bullet. A notable exception to the westerns was The Quiet American in which he co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Murphy made over 40 feature films and often worked with directors more than once. Jesse Hibbs who directed To Hell and Back worked with the star on six films, only half of which were westerns. When promoting his 1949 book To Hell and Back he appeared on the radio version of This Is Your Life. To promote the 1955 film of the same name, he appeared on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town. He was a celebrity guest on television shows such as What's My Line? and appeared in a handful of television dramas. Murphy's only television series Whispering Smith had a brief run in 1961. For his cooperation in appearing in the United States Army's Broken Bridge episode of The Big Picture television series he was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.

Early career

Murphy became a national celebrity following his World War II military service when Life magazine proclaimed him America's "most decorated soldier" in its 16 July 1945 issue cover story. That magazine cover brought him to the attention of veteran actor James Cagney who invited him to Hollywood. When Murphy arrived in California after his military discharge, Cagney cancelled the hotel reservations he'd made for Murphy and instead took him into his own home, "I got the shock of my life. Audie was very thin. His complexion was bluish-gray." Commenting years later on his first impression, Cagney said, "[Murphy wa

  • Audie murphy children

    • I’ve known who Audie Murphy was since I was old enough to point at a television screen. Westerns were always popular in our house and while the Duke was the iconic cowboy, Audie Murphy westerns played regularly and his baby faced smooth delivery hooked me as a kid. But when the chips were down he was lightning fast on the draw. What more could a kid running around the house with a cap gun ask for?

    Because of my parents I have known since I was young that Audie was the acclaimed hero of WW2. He had been awarded the Medal of Honor from his country. While I have seen his biographical film To Hell and Back I never learned much of Audie’s film career as he rarely turns up in many of the mainstream books on film history. This bio from 1989 that I came across allowed me an insight beyond just the general facts.

    The first third of the book is dedicated to his youth and subsequent career in the military. Reading of his military years is somewhat startling. He’s said to have killed over 200 men in battle. While reading the pages it’s hard to accept things as reality because I know Audie as a movie star who killed the likes of Jack Elam or Lee Van Cleef on screen. But the images the book presents are not imaginary. There as real as can be. No Rambo, no Commando here. Just a young man with a rifle on the battlefield.

    After returning home and hailed a hero Audie wound up in Hollywood at James Cagney’s urging. It wouldn’t be too long before Universal signed up the handsome young man. Westerns were in his future and have become what Audie’s name is synonymous with. Most of the films were “B’s” but generally fun. John Huston lifted Audie out of the “B” category for a couple of films, The Red Badge of Courage and The Unforgiven. The book goes into plenty of detail on Audie’s film career and shares comments from those who worked with him to please the film studies side of my interest. Sadly by the

  • Audie murphy awards
    • Introduction
    Audie's Big Break in Hollywood.

    Learn how Audie Murphy landed his first major role in his third film, BAD BOY, which helped launch his career as a leading actor in Hollywood and as a dominant star in western films.

    Rocky (Alan Ladd) thinks he may have been the cause of his commanding officer's death in the country of Tunisia. He visits Captain Daniels' widow (Donna Reed) out of guilt and he falls for her. She also falls for him and encourages him to attend West Point. While there, he faces a severe disciplinary action and may be court-martialled.

    In Audie's first movie, he has a small part as a cadet roommate, Thomas, and appears in several scenes with Alan Ladd. Although his role is small in this film, Audie achieved his first critical write-up: "Audie Murphy makes his debut and does right well for himself. You'll recognize him. He's the one with the southern drawl." Paul Picerni, who later plays Valentino in TO HELL AND BACK, also makes his film debut with Audie.

    Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven
    Movie #2

    In his second movie, Audie has a small role as a newspaper copy boy. This movie is a comedy about two Texans who meet on their way to New York and become involved with some very zany characters.

    With Audie's first starring role, he plays a juvenile delinquent. This film bridges a chronological and cinematic theme between the release of Boys Town and a more realistic look at dysfunctional youths of the 1950s. Danny Lester (Audie) is definitely a young man somewhat out of control. There seems to be no reason for his violent behavior until it is discovered his step-father blames him for his mother's death. In the end, Danny is found to be innocent of a crime he thinks he committed, killing his mother. He is exonerated of the charges and winds up being an engineering student at Texas A&M.

    The Kid from Texas
    Movie #4

    Billy the Kid (Audie) is caught up in the middle of a range wa

  • How did audie murphy die

    • 1$ a day

    With that boyish face, slick hair, slight frame and pouty lips Audie Murphy could have easily been one of those heartthrobs from the James Dean era. A rebel without a cause, a film star or a pop recording artist. He was, in fact, all of the above and then some. Audie Murphy was the real deal, one who could talk the talk and walk the walk. Aged barely 21, 2nd Lieutenant Audie Murphy had fought his way from North Africa to France in WWII, becoming the most decorated soldier in US History – and a badass Axis-killing machine. In today’s Biographics video we will look at the life of Audie Murphy and how he went To Hell and Back.     

    Audie Leon Murphy was born on the 20th of June 1925 in Kingston, Hunt County, Texas in a family of poor sharecroppers of Irish descent. He did not have an easy life to start with. Audie had to share a home with 11 siblings with no abundance of food on the table. Audie’s father, Emmett was not a model dad, by any means, neglecting to provide for his wife Josie Bell and their 12 children.

    Young Audie felt a strong responsibility to care for his family and quit school at an early age, managing to complete only 5th grade. He went to work in the Texas cotton fields, earning a reputation as an indefatigable cotton picker, which was well rewarded with the princely pay of 1$ a day, 18$ in today’s money. We don’t know who his employer was, but I’ll take a guess and call him Stingy Bastard, if you don’t mind.

    There was little food you could buy with that kind of money, so Audie had to resort to additional means of sustenance. At the age in which kids in the US nowadays hunt for cute critters with their Pokemon Go app, Audie Murphy also went hunting for cute critters – with his rifle. Squirrels, rabbits and other small game fell under his shots and then onto Mum Josie’s kitchen worktop. The experience enabled Murphy to develop great marksmanship skills, which would later prove useful against another type of prey.

    Growing into