Brianne Murphy

Often cited as the first woman director of photography at a major studio for her work on Fatso (1980) and the first female member of the American Society of Cinematographer's Guild, Brianne Murphy rose through the ranks of Hollywood after working as a photographer for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Born Geraldine Brianne Murphy in London and educated at both Pembroke College and New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, the ambitious photographer successfully "Americanized" herself by working as a rodeo trick rider and famously crashed Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey by posing as a clown during the act's 1954 Madison Square Garden debut. Murphy's circus ruse proved a smashing success that not only landed her a job as the official photographer for the traveling circus, but also proved an essential component of her introduction into the Hollywood machine. Work with filmmakers Jerry Warren and Ralph Burke (both of whom she would eventually marry) led to work in various low-budget films, and following small-screen cinematography, including Little House on the Prairie and Trapper John, M.D., she made cinema history upon stepping behind the camera for the Dom DeLuise comedy Fatso. Subsequently alternating between television and film, Murphy was nominated for several Emmys before ultimately taking home the trophy for her lensing on an episode of the ABC After School Special Five Finger Discount. In 1984, she, along with Barbra Streisand, was a recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award. Murphy died August 20, 2003, in Puerto Vallarto, Mexico, after being stricken with both lung cancer and a brain tumor. She was 70.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide