James Murray - 1901 to 1936

[Valerie]

James was mentioned in the King Vidor thread for his work in "The Crowd". He was brilliant in that film, and he deserves his own thread.

Credit IMDB:




Date of Birth

9 February 1901, New York City, New York, USA


Date of Death

11 July 1936, New York City, New York, USA (drowned)


Nickname

Jimmy


Height

5' 11½" (1.82 m)


Mini Biography

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 in the Bronx, NY, in 1901. 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. He 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 Depression-era 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.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net


Spouse

Marion Sayers(1932 - 11 July 1936) (his death)

Trivia

Murray's classic movie The Crowd (1928) was so unrelentingly sad and bitter that MGM executives tried to tack on an upbeat Hollywood ending. In the new ending the down-on-their-luck family wins a fortune and lives happily ever after. Fortunately, preview audiences laughed and balked at this absurdity. Director King Vidor got his way and the movie went on to become a masterpiece of silent cinema.
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).

[Guest]

Excellent! James was a fine early actor who once appeared in a film with the lovely Jean Harlow. It is a pity addiction took him, I believe he would have been a big star.
The most believed theory regarding his death, is that he drowned himself.
A haunted star that shone briefly. Great thread Valerie

[theotherlondon]

Nice post Valerie, what could of been of his life but
for his addictions.
But nice to read about his brother who made something
of his life.

[Dave62]

Part of James Card's Seductive Cinema describes his efforts to preserve what was (at that time) probably the only known copy of The Crowd to exist. Instead of tryng to preserve as many silent films as possible, many early film curators selected and saved films based on their own personal choices. MOMA film curator Iris Barry told Louise Brooks in the 1940's she wasn't going to obtain a copy of Brooks' film Pandora's Box for preservation, as it "had no lasting value". To me The Crowd presages the Depression with its social messages, and Murray gave a great performance, as did Eleanor Boardman. I also read that old man Mayer had a fit because the tiny-apartment set Murray and Boardman live in gave moviegoers a partial view of - get this - a toilet ! Sad to read about such a tragic, lost soul like James.