Wissenswertes

Has appeared in more Robert Altman feature films and television productions than any other actor in movie history.

Lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with his wife, actress Wendy Crewson, and their two children, Maggie Murphy and Jack Murphy. (August 2004)

He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Was once a high school English teacher.

Paul Thomas Anderson cast him as Alan Kligman, Esq. in Magnolia (1999) because he admired the actor's work. Anderson's casting choice of Murphy was also an homage to Robert Altman, who has cast the character actor prominently in a number of roles in his films and TV productions over the years. Henry Gibson, another Altman regular, also had a role in the film.

Children: Maggie Murphy (b. 1989) and Jack Murphy (b. August 20, 1992).

First appeared in a Robert Altman production with an episode of the Combat! (1962) TV series. He subsequently appeared in many of the famed director's film hits: Countdown - Start zum Mond (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Auch Vögel können töten (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975), Caine - Die Meuterei vor Gericht (1988) and Kansas City (1996).

Became close friends with co-star Woody Allen on the set of Martin Ritt 's 1950s McCarthy era dramedy, Der Strohmann (1976). Allen would subsequently cast Murphy as his best friend, Yale, in Allen's own film, Manhattan (1979).

He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

In 1978, he played characters named Martin in two separate films: As Jill Clayburgh's adulterous husband in Eine entheiratete Frau (1978) and as Glenda Jackson's commitment-seeking boyfriend in The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978).

Has starred opposite his then-wife, actress Wendy Crewson, on the short-lived television show Hard Copy (1987) and the Emmy-winning HBO cable series Tanner for President (1988), which Murphy had the lead in. They also appeared in the feature films Eine ganz normal verrückte Familie (1992) and Sleeping Dogs Lie (1998).

His father was Bearl Branton Murphy, a salesman. His mother was Georgia Arlyn Murphy (nee Money), a teacher.

Taught both high school English and drama in Los Angeles from 1962-1964.

Received teaching credentials from UCLA in Los Angeles, California.

Filming hit Canadian television show This Is Wonderland (2004) for CBC. (August 2004)

His character, "Sen. Judson Pilager", from John Sayles's Silver City (2004), is a thinly-veiled, negative characterization of the first President George Bush.

Appeared in the drama Talk to Me (1982), in which he coincidentally co-starred with his fellow Blutige Schreie (1981) actors Louise Fletcher and Dan Shor.

He was awarded the 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for best actor in a principal role in a play for his performance in "Dreams" at the Playwrights Center in Chicago, Illinois.

He has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975) and Manhattan (1979).

Hit his infamous cinematic peak as a philandering husband cheating on Jill Clayburgh in Eine entheiratete Frau (1978) and as Woody Allen's married pal having an affair with Woody's girlfriend Diane Keaton in Manhattan (1979).

Michael Murphy is the only prominent male actor in Hollywood besides Tommy Lee Jones to have appeared in both a live-action DC movie, Batmans Rückkehr (1992), and a live-action Marvel movie, X-Men: Der letzte Widerstand (2006).