Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy (January 26, 1931 – May 4, 2011) was an American film and television actress of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. • Illustration — Murphy on The Lloyd Bridges Show (1963)
Mary Murphy

Paramount · Original text: eBay front back) · Public domain
- Name
- Mary Murphy
- Born
- 26 January 1931
- Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., U.S.
- Died
- 4 May 2011
- Place of death
- Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
- Spouse
- Dale Robertson (1956–1956; annulled) Alan Specht (1962–1967; divorced)
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- actress
- Fields
- acting
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Mary Murphy (January 26, 1931 – May 4, 2011) was an American film and television actress of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. • Illustration — Murphy on The Lloyd Bridges Show (1963)
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Note VALÉORINE
Mary Murphy (1931–2011) was an actor and actress, of American nationality. The actor died in Los Angeles. Activity centred on acting. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 30 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mary Murphy • Born — 26 January 1931 • Birthplace — Washington, D.C., U.S. • Died — 4 May 2011 • Place of death — Beverly Hills, California, U.S. • Years Active — 1951–1975 • Spouse — Dale Robertson (1956–1956; annulled) Alan Specht (1962–1967; divorced) • Children — 1
Early years
Early years
Murphy was born in Washington, DC, and was the second of three children. She spent part of her early childhood in Rocky River, Ohio, a westside Cleveland suburb. Her father, James Victor Murphy, died in 1940. Shortly afterwards, she and her mother moved to Southern California. She attended University High School in West Los Angeles. While working as a package wrapper at Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills, she was signed to appear in films for Paramount Pictures in 1951.
Television
Television
Murphy co-starred with James Franciscus and James Philbrook in the 1961 CBS crime adventure-drama series The Investigators. Among her other television appearances, she was featured in the title role of defendant Eleanor Corbin in the 1962 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Glamorous Ghost". She also appeared in dozens of other television series, including The Lloyd Bridges Show, The Tab Hunter Show, Wagon Train, I Spy, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, and Ironside.
Personal life
Personal life
On June 3, 1956, Murphy married actor Dale Robertson in Yuma, Arizona. The marriage was annulled after six months. She had a daughter. She married Alan Specht in 1962 and divorced in 1967.
Death
Death
On May 4, 2011, Murphy died of heart disease at her home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 80.
Filmography
Filmography
• The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) – Girl (uncredited) • Darling, How Could You! (1951) – Sylvia • When Worlds Collide (1951) – Student (uncredited) • Westward the Women (1951) – Pioneer Woman (uncredited) • My Favorite Spy (1951) – Manicurist (uncredited) • Sailor Beware (1952) – Girl (uncredited) • Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952) – Girl in Bathtub (uncredited) • The Atomic City (1952) – Young Woman Buying Stamps (uncredited) • Carrie (1952) – Jessica Hurstwood • The Turning Point (1952) – Secretary (uncredited) • Off Limits (1952) – WAC • Houdini (1953) – Girl (uncredited) • Main Street to Broadway (1953) – Mary Craig, The Actress • The Wild One (1953) – Kathie Bleeker • Beachhead (1954) – Nina Bouchard • Make Haste to Live (1954) – Randy Benson • The Mad Magician (1954) – Karen Lee • Sitting Bull (1954) – Kathy Howell • Hell's Island (1955) – Janet Martin • The Desperate Hours (1955) – Cindy Hilliard • A Man Alone (1955) – Nadine Corrigan • The Maverick Queen (1956) – Lucy Lee • The Intimate Stranger (1956) – Evelyn Stewart • Escapement (1958) – Ruth Vance • Live Fast, Die Young (1958) – Kim Winters / Narrator • Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959) – Sally • The Restless Gun (1959) (Season 2 Episode 28: "Four Lives") – Mary Clayton • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 33: "A Secret Life") – Estelle • Two Before Zero (1962) • 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) – Liz McCluskey • Harlow (1965) – Sally Doane • Junior Bonner (1972) – Ruth Bonner • I Love You... Good-bye (1974) – Pam Parks • Born Innocent (1974) – Miss Murphy
Identity
Identity
Mary Murphy is recorded as actress.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2011
Mary Murphy died at Los Angeles.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Washington and D.C.
Birth place
Los Angeles.
Death place
Film
She first gained attention in 1953, when she played a good-hearted girl who is intrigued by Marlon Brando in The Wild One. The following year, she appeared opposite Tony Curtis in Beachhead, and with Dale Robertson in Sitting Bull, and the year after that as Fredric March's daughter in the thriller The Desperate Hours, which also starred Humphrey Bogart. She co-starred with actor-director Ray Milland in his Western A Man Alone. That was one of her best roles; another was in the film she made the following year for Joseph Losey, The Intimate Stranger (1956). She was absent from the big screen for seven years before resuming her film career in 1972 with Steve McQueen in Junior Bonner.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Collura, Joe. Mary Murphy: By Chance a Star. Classic Images. December 20, 2010.
- 2.Mary Murphy obituary. The Daily Telegraph. May 26, 2011.
- 3.McLellan, Dennis. Mary Murphy dies at 80; small-town innocent in 'The Wild One'. Los Angeles Times. May 16, 2011.
- 4.Lentz, Harris M. III. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2011. McFarland. 247. 2012. 9780786491346.
- 5.Mary Murphy, Known for Role in 'The Wild One', Dies at 80. The New York Times. Associated Press. 16 May 2011.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Parla, Paul. Screen Sirens Scream! Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s. McFarland & Company. 159–174. 2000. 0-7864-0701-8.
References
Citations
References
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authority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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