Murphy, George
<div>=</div><div><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-05/news/mn-1547_1_george-murphy">http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-05/news/mn-1547_1_george-murphy</a></div><div>George Murphy, 89; Actor-Dancer Who Served 1 Term in U.S. Senate</div><div>May 05, 1992|KENNETH REICH | TIMES STAFF WRITER</div><div>
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</div><div>George Murphy, the actor-dancer who served one term as a U. S. senator from California, died Sunday night at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., it was learned Monday.</div><div>
</div><div>His son, Dennis, said in Los Angeles that his father was 89 and died of leukemia.</div><div>
</div><div>Murphy preceded a fellow Republican, Ronald Reagan, into public office by two years, in 1965. Like Reagan, he was a conservative who had parlayed public relations, speaking, fund raising and other skills he had gathered in Hollywood into a political career.</div><div>
</div><div>But unlike Reagan, Murphy's public service did not bring him new popularity, and at the end of his term he was defeated by Democrat John V. Tunney after a controversy over his acceptance of thousands of dollars in annual retainers from Technicolor Inc., a former Hollywood employer, while serving in the Senate.</div><div>
</div><div>Often a brash promoter of his own fortunes and reputation, Murphy freely took credit for Reagan's entry into politics, saying, "Sure, that big nationwide (1964) TV speech for (Republican presidential candidate Barry) Goldwater shoved him across the line, and it was great. But I'd been talking to Ronnie about political service for years. You know, he succeeded me as president of the Screen Actors Guild. And I played his father in a movie."</div><div>
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</div><div>Reagan, on learning of Murphy's death, recalled Monday night "that when I was a beginner in show business he was a star who became a very good friend and a great help to me. What a great loss this is to all of us, particularly to his wife and his children. He was a wonderful man and he and I got very close together in those terrible days in Hollywood when there was a Communist thrust in the film business. We, of course, were definitely on the other side."</div><div>
</div><div>As a U. S. senator, Murphy was more conservative than most Republicans in that body, voting against federal aid to education, a consular treaty with the Soviet Union, and appropriations to the U. S. Disarmament Agency. He also took a more hawkish position on the Vietnam War than President Richard M. Nixon.</div><div>
</div><div>George Lloyd Murphy was born in New Haven, Conn., the second son and third child of Michael Murphy, an Ivy League coach who later guided the 1912 American Olympic track team, but died when George was 11.</div><div>
</div><div>He and actor James Stewart attended prep school together at Peddie School in Hightstown, N. J. Murphy went on to Yale, where he played quarterback on the football team in his freshman year but, due to poor grades, was suspended from the team and did not finish school.</div><div>
</div><div>Out of college and nearly broke, Murphy worked a variety of jobs, ranging from a coal miner in Pennsylvania, where he was badly injured in a mine car accident, to a runner for a Wall Street brokerage firm. While working in New York, he met Juliette Henkel, an amateur dancer. He took dancing lessons to help his courtship and, as he later said, "got pretty good." He and Henkel, whom he later married, began to perform in nightclubs. Their marriage lasted 47 years, produced two children and ended with her death in 1973.</div><div>
</div><div>Between 1927 and 1934, Murphy appeared in six Broadway shows, including "Good News," "Of Thee I Sing" and "Anything Goes." Years later, when he was in the Senate, he told how he obtained a dress suit for his first Broadway role:</div><div>
</div><div>"Maybe, I shouldn't tell this on myself with all the flap about congressional ethics. But I went into this place, got fitted and tried the suit on. While the tailor was in the back room for a moment I simply took off wearing the poor guy's creation."</div><div>
</div><div>In 1934, Murphy made his debut in Hollywood in the film "Kid Millions." He appeared in more than 45 movies, including "This Is the Army," "Little Miss Broadway," "For Me And My Gal," "Battleground" and "Powers Girl," opposite such actresses as Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor.</div><div>
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</div><div>As a member of the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild from 1937 to 1953 and its president in 1944-46, Murphy prided himself on his efforts to keep Communists out of the movie industry. He retired as an actor in 1952, becoming a public relations man for the industry and working in that capacity for such firms as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Desilu Productions and Technicolor.</div><div>
</div><div>Like Reagan, Murphy started out in Hollywood as a Democrat. But in 1939, decrying what he said he felt "was a real move toward socialism and centralized control of our government," he changed his registration to Republican. The next year, he formed the Hollywood Republican Committee to "combat the general belief that all Hollywood actors and writers were left wing."</div><div>
</div><div>Gradually, he became more active in Republican politics. He was an Earl Warren delegate to the GOP National Convention in 1948 and became chairman of the California State Republican Committee in 1953. In 1952 and 1956, he was director of special events for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugurations.</div><div>
</div><div>Murphy was a distinct underdog when he became the first Republican to announce his candidacy for the U. S. Senate in 1964</div><div></div><div>
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</div><div>=</div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>George Lloyd Murphy</b> (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild" title="Screen Actors Guild" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Screen Actors Guild</a> from 1944 to 1946, and was awarded an honorary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award" title="Academy Award" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Academy Award</a> in 1951. Murphy served from 1965 to 1971 as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Senator" title="U.S. Senator" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">U.S. Senator</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California</a>, the first notable U.S. actor to make the successful transition to elected official in California, predating<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_W.Reagan" title="Ronald W. Reagan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ronald W. Reagan</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger" title="Arnold Schwarzenegger" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[1]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding: 7px; font-size: 13px; display: table; zoom: 1; color: rgb(37, 37, 37);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: black; background-image: none; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 13px; display: inline; line-height: 1.3;">Contents</h2> <span class="toctoggle" style="-webkit-user-select: none;"> [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </span></div><ul style="line-height: 1.6em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#Life_and_career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Life and career</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.6em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#In_show_business" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">In show business</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#Elected_to_U.S.Senate" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Elected to U.S. Senate</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#In_satire" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">In satire</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#Personal_life" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Personal life</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#Films" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Films</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li></ul></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Life_and_career">Life and career</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Murphy&action=edit§ion=1" title="Edit section: Life and career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven,Connecticut" title="New Haven, Connecticut" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">New Haven</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut" title="Connecticut" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Connecticut</a>, of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Murphy(trainer_and_coach)" title="Mike Murphy (trainer and coach)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy</a>, athletic trainer and coach, and the former Nora Long. He was educated at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peddie_School" title="Peddie School" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Peddie School</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity-Pawling_School" title="Trinity-Pawling School" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Trinity-Pawling School</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University" title="Yale University" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Yale University</a> in his native New Haven.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a></sup> He worked as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_maker" title="Tool maker" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">tool maker</a> for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company" title="Ford Motor Company" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ford Motor Company</a>, as a miner, a real estate agent, and a night club dancer.</p><h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="In_show_business">In show business</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Murphy&action=edit§ion=2" title="Edit section: In show business" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In movies, Murphy was famous as a song-and-dance man, appearing in many big-budget musicals such as <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Melody_of_1938" title="Broadway Melody of 1938" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Broadway Melody of 1938</a></i>, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Melody_of_1940" title="Broadway Melody of 1940" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Broadway Melody of 1940</a></i> and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Me_and_My_Gal(film)" title="For Me and My Gal (film)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">For Me and My Gal</a></i>. He made his movie debut shortly after talking pictures had replaced silent movies in 1930, and his career continued until he retired as an actor in 1952, at the age of 50.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1951, he was awarded an honorary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award" title="Academy Award" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Academy Award</a>. He was never nominated for an Oscar in any competitive category.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He was the president of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild" title="Screen Actors Guild" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Screen Actors Guild</a> from 1944 to 1946. He was a vice president of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu_Studios" title="Desilu Studios" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Desilu Studios</a> and of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor" title="Technicolor" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Technicolor</a> Corporation. He was director of entertainment for presidential inaugurations in 1953, 1957 and 1961.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy entered politics in 1953 as chairman of the California <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Republican_Party" title="United States Republican Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Republican</a> State Central Committee, having also directed the entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inauguration that same year.</p><h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Elected_to_U.S.Senate">Elected to U.S. Senate</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Murphy&action=edit§ion=3" title="Edit section: Elected to U.S. Senate" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1964, he was elected to the Senate, having defeated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Salinger" title="Pierre Salinger" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Pierre Salinger</a>, the former presidential press secretary in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F.Kennedy" title="John F. Kennedy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Kennedy</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House" title="White House" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">White House</a>, who had been appointed several months earlier to serve the remainder of the late <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_Engle" title="Clair Engle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Clair Engle</a>'s unexpired term. Murphy served from January 1, 1965 to January 3, 1971, and is credited with beginning the United States Senate tradition of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_desk" title="Candy desk" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Candy desk</a>. Murphy assumed his seat two days early, when Salinger resigned from the seat in order to allow Murphy to gain an edge in seniority. Murphy was then appointed by Democratic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_California" title="Governor of California" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Governor</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Brown" title="Pat Brown" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Pat Brown</a> to serve the remaining two days of Salinger's term.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy was in demand for a time to assist other Republican candidates seeking office. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_gubernatorial_election,1966" title="Georgia gubernatorial election, 1966" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1966</a>, he came to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia(U.S.state)" title="Georgia (U.S. state)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Georgia</a> to host a fundraising dinner in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta,Georgia" title="Atlanta, Georgia" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Atlanta</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Representative" title="U.S. Representative" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">U.S. Representative</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Callaway" title="Howard Callaway" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Howard "Bo" Callaway</a> in the first<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_Georgia" title="Governor of Georgia" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">gubernatorial</a> campaign undertaken by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">GOP</a> candidate since the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_in_the_United_States" title="Reconstruction era in the United States" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Reconstruction era</a>. Callaway ultimately lost the election when the state legislature resolved an impasse and chose the Democrat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Maddox" title="Lester Maddox" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Lester Maddox</a> to fill the position.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1967 and 1968, the year <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M.Nixon" title="Richard M. Nixon" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Richard M. Nixon</a> was elected as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.President" title="U.S. President" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">U.S. President</a>, Murphy was the chairman of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_National_Senatorial_Committee" title="Republican National Senatorial Committee" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Republican National Senatorial Committee</a>. In 1970, Murphy ran for reelection but was defeated by Democratic U.S. Representative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_V.Tunney" title="John V. Tunney" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">John V. Tunney</a>, the son of famed heavyweight <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing" title="Boxing" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">boxing</a> champion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Tunney" title="Gene Tunney" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Gene Tunney</a>. During his Senate term, Murphy suffered from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esophageal_cancer" title="Esophageal cancer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">throat cancer</a>, forcing him to have part of his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larynx" title="Larynx" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">larynx</a>removed. For the rest of his life, he was unable to speak above a whisper.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy lost to Tunney, 44.3 to 53.9 percent. He was in his late sixties, and his speaking voice was reduced to a gravelly whisper from throat cancer while Tunney was youthful, energetic, and blatantly comparing himself to the late Senator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F.Kennedy" title="Robert F. Kennedy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Robert F. Kennedy</a>. Murphy's staunch support for the lingering <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Vietnam War</a> also worked against his reelection. As the general election approached, Tunney overtook Murphy in the opinion polls. Tunney's successful Senate race in 1970 was reportedly the inspiration for the 1972 Robert Redford film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Candidate(1972_film)" title="The Candidate (1972 film)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Candidate</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Murphy#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy subsequently moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Beach,Florida" title="Palm Beach, Florida" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Palm Beach</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Florida</a>, where he died at the age of eighty-nine from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leukemia" title="Leukemia" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">leukemia</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy's move from the screen to California politics paved the way for the successful transitions of actors such as Ronald Reagan and later Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reagan once famously referred to George Murphy as his own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist" title="John the Baptist" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">John the Baptist</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">During his tenure in the Senate, Murphy created the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_desk" title="Candy desk" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">candy desk</a> by placing a supply of confectionery on his desk on the U.S. Senate floor. After 1971, the candy-desk duties were bequeathed to a string of successors; as of 2011, the keeper of the candy desk is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kirk" title="Mark Kirk" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mark Kirk</a>, an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois" title="Illinois" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Illinois</a> Republican.</p><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline" id="In_satire">In satire</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Murphy&action=edit§ion=4" title="Edit section: In satire" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">George Murphy was the subject of a 1965 song by satirist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer" title="Tom Lehrer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Tom Lehrer</a>, who declared in mock vaudeville style: "Oh, gee, it's great, at last we've got a Senator who can really sing and dance." Lehrer also alluded sarcastically to an infamous remark Murphy once made during a debate about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracero_Program" title="Bracero Program" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Bracero Program</a> that granted temporary work visas to Mexican migrant farmhands:</p><blockquote style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Should Americans pick crops?
</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">George says no;
'Cause no one but a Mexican would stoop so low.
And after all, even in Egypt, the Pharaohs
</p>Had to import—Hebrew <i>Braceros</i>.</blockquote><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Murphy had stated that Mexicans were genetically suited to farm labor; because they were "built lower to the ground," it was supposedly "easier for them to stoop." Oddly, some years earlier, in 1949, Murphy himself had starred next to Mexican actor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Montalban" title="Ricardo Montalban" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ricardo Montalban</a> in the film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Incident" title="Border Incident" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Border Incident</a></i>, which cast the exploitation of the Braceros in a negative light. Mr. Lehrer further satirized Senator Murphy with the line: "Think of all the musicals we have in store, imagine "Broadway Melody of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four" title="Nineteen Eighty-Four" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a>". Lehrer began the song:</p><blockquote style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Hollywood's often tried to mix
</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Show business with politics.
From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Gahagan" title="Helen Gahagan" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Helen Gahagan</a>
</p>To. . . <i>Ronald Reagan??</i></blockquote><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This connection is also referred to by folk singer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs" title="Phil Ochs" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phil Ochs</a> on the spoken-word introduction to "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs_in_Concert" title="Phil Ochs in Concert" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ringing of Revolution</a>", when Ochs describes a fictional film based on that song, and Murphy is played by Reagan. Ochs also imagines that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_Johnson" title="Lyndon Johnson" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Lyndon Johnson</a> would "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_God_(ethics)" title="Playing God (ethics)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">play God</a>" and Ochs would "play <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan" title="Bob Dylan" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Bobby Dylan</a>."</p></div><div>==</div>