Fred MacMurray

Born: August 30, 1908, Kankakee, Illinois
Died: November 05, 1991, Santa Monica, California

Fredrick Martin MacMurray grew up in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Nicknamed "Bud", he was very athletic in High School and received 12 varsity letters in 3 years. He attended Carroll College on full scholarship. However, he left after one semester and moved to Chicago hoping to play music professionally.

He did manage to record one song with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra, namely "All I Want is Just One Girl". After playing with the Orchestra for a year, MacMurray turned to Broadway.  He peformed in several plays between 1930-1934 before being signed to Paramount. 

During the years of his early filmwork, MacMurray worked with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn and Claudette Colbert. He tended to be placed in roles where he played good, decent men. By 1943, MacMurray was one of Hollywood's highest paid actors. His salary was $420,000.

In 1944, MacMurray played one of his most famous film roles. He played Walter Neff in "Double Indemnity", also starring Barbara Stanwyck. Doing well in the "not so nice" role, he also starred in "The Caine Mutiny"  in 1954 and "The Apartment" in 1960. 

From 1952-1953 he starred in the radio programme, "Bright Star".  He played George Harvey who was the star reporter for the newspaper "Hillsdale Morning Star".

Fred MacMurray's most famous role was in "My Three Sons" as Steve Douglas, a role he played from 1960-1972.

He passed away at the age of 83 from leukemia.

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