Portrait of Don Murray (actor)

Birthday profile

Don Murray (actor)

Don Murray, American actor (died 2024)

Born
July 31, 1929
Died
February 2, 2024
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1929

About Don Murray (actor)

Donald Patrick Murray (July 31, 1929 – February 2, 2024) was an American actor, screenwriter, and film director. His debut film role as Bo Decker in Bus Stop (1956), opposite Marilyn Monroe, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He subsequently had several major leading and supporting roles in films during the 1950s and '60s, including A Hatful of Rain (1957), Shake Hands with the Devil (1959, with James Cagney), One Foot in Hell (1960, with Alan Ladd), Advise & Consent (1962, with Henry Fonda and Charles Laughton), and Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965, with Steve McQueen and Lee Remick). Murray also starred in several television series, notably as Earl Corey on The Outcasts (1968–69), Sid Fairgate on Knots Landing (1979–81), and Bushnell Mullins on Twin Peaks (2017). He also played a villain in the science-fiction film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and the father of Kathleen Turner's character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). His screenwriting credits include The Hoodlum Priest (1961), a biopic of Jesuit priest Dismas Clark he also starred in and co-produced. In 1970, he wrote and directed The Cross and the Switchblade, based on the life of evangelists David Wilkerson and Nicky Cruz.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Don Murray (actor) was born

Don Murray (actor) was born in 1929. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1929

  • #1 song"Singin' in the Rain"
  • Top movieThe Broadway Melody (first Best Picture winner)
  • Best-selling bookA Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst baseball All-Star Game proposed
  • Top headlineStock market crashes on Black Tuesday
  • Technology milestoneFirst Academy Awards ceremony held
  • Defining fadYo-yos
  • Notable inventionCar radio
  • World population2.10 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHerbert Hoover
  • Sports championPhiladelphia Athletics (World Series)
  • U.S. population121.8M

1929 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Don Murray (actor)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19292026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,300$435,000
Average income$3,850$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population121.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.