Personable, unassuming performer who maintained his star status from the 1930s through the 60s. MacMurray's height and regular good looks made him a natural for affable good-guy roles and easygoing romantic leads. He played opposite Claudette Colbert in seven films, the first of which was "The Gilded Lily" (1935); he also co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in "Alice Adams" (1935) and Carole Lombard in "Hands Across the Table" (1935) and "True Confession" (1937).MacMurray began his career while in high school as a saxophonist and big band vocalist. He appeared on Broadway in the revue "Three's a Crowd" (1930) and the Jerome Kern musical "Roberta" (1934) before signing with Paramount in 1934. Mostly cast as decent, amiable characters in a succession of light comedies, dramas ("The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" 1936), melodramas ("Above Suspicion" 1943) and musicals ("Where Do We Go From Here?" 1945), MacMurray had become one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors by 1943, when his salary reached $420,000. He gave his finest dramatic performances, though, when cast against type as counterfeit nice-guys or hard-boiled heels: first when Billy Wilder chose him (after numerous other actors had turned the role down) to play a huckster insurance agent easily seduced to murder by Barbara Stanwyck in the film noir classic, "Double Indemnity" (1944); then as a deceitful and cowardly Navy lieutenant in "The Caine Mutiny"; a crooked cop in "Pushover" (both 1954); and a caddish, philandering executive in Wilder's "The Apartment" (1960).
MacMurray revived his career in the 60s, starring as good-natured father figures in the Disney comedies "The Shaggy Dog" (1959), "The Absent-Minded Professor" (1961) and "Son of Flubber" (1963). He also starred as a pipe-smoking, widowed father raising his children single-handedly in the long-running TV sitcom, "My Three Sons" (1960-1971). MacMurray married actress June Haver in 1954, after the death of his first wife, Lillian Lamont.
Profession(s):
Actor, singer, saxophonist, pea canner, shoe salesman, cattle rancher
Sometimes Credited As:
Frederick Martin MacMurray
1985 Appeared as himself in the feature documentary, "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey"
1978 Last acting role in a feature, "The Swarm"
1975 Starred in TV-movie, "The Bermuda Triangle"
1974 TV-movie debut, "The Chadwick Family" (pilot for unsold series)
1972 Returned to features for the last of his seven films with Disney, "Charley and the Angel"
1967 Last feature for five years, "The Happiest Millionaire"
1959 First film for Walt Disney Productions, "The Shaggy Dog"
1955 TV debut on "Bachelor's Bride" episode of "G.E. Theatre"
1952 Starred on radio series, "Bright Star"
1948 Last co-starring appearance with Claudette Colbert, "Family Honeymoon"
1945 Affiliation with Paramount comes to an end; made one more film there in 1947 and one in 1955, but otherwise largely free-lanced; last film under long-term contract, "Murder, He Says"
1944 Attracted considerable critical attention with his change-of-pace role in Billy Wilder's film noir, "Double Indemnity"
1935 Achieved stardom with first leading role in "The Gilded Lily"; also marked his first of seven co-starring appearances with Claudette Colbert
1934 Signed contract with Paramount
1934 Film acting debut in "Friends of Mr. Sweeney"
1929 Made record (as singer) with George Olsen's Orchestra; worked as orchestra musician for silent films; joined band The California Collegians as singer-saxophonist-comedian
1929 Film debut as extra in "Girls Gone Wild"; also bit as rancher in "Tiger Rose"
1929 - 1934 Performed in vaudeville
1928 Moved to Los Angeles where he worked in a car painting shop and as a Hollywood extra
1926 Moved to Chicago where he worked as a shoe salesman; continued music career performing with various bands (including "The Royal Purples) as saxophonist and vocalist
Went into semi-retirement on his 2,300-acre California ranch where he raised Black Angus cattle in the 1970s
Lived in Madison, WI and Gilroy, CA before settling in Beaver Dam, WI after parents' separation when he was five
Before attending college, formed three-piece musical outfit, Mac's Melody Boys
Worked in a pea-canning factory after high school graduation
Appeared with the California Collegians on Broadway in two revues, "Three's a Crowd" (1930) and "The Third Little Show" and in the Jerome Kern musical, "Roberta" (1934; was also Bob Hope's understudy)
Appeared on 17 episodes of Lux Radio Theatre during the 1930s
Starred on the long-running TV sitcom, "My Three Sons"