Biography
Standing three inches beyond six feet, actor Fred MacMurray embodied the classic image of tall, dark, and handsome, a physique that even shaped the proportions given to the comic-book hero Captain Marvel. Audiences warmed to his easygoing manner in both dramatic and lighthearted parts, viewing him as the approachable fellow from next door. Though he accepted several parts that cast him as unsympathetic or outright antagonistic, MacMurray remained a naturally affable man whose likable screen presence won lasting public affection. That same warmth led him, late in his professional life, to portray the steady father figure Steven Douglas on the long-running television series My Three Sons throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, a commitment that spanned twelve seasons.
His most memorable film appearances include the 1944 noir classic Double Indemnity, the 1947 comedy The Egg and I, and the 1954 naval drama The Caine Mutiny. Yet acting had never been his original goal. The son of a violinist, MacMurray took up the same instrument along with saxophone and horn, setting his sights on a life in music. In 1926 he joined vaudeville circuits and traveling dance orchestras, performing on saxophone and vocals across New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
More than a year with one Chicago ensemble preceded a move to another group in Hollywood that also afforded him recording opportunities. His first brush with motion pictures came in the modest capacity of an extra. Soon afterward he performed with the comedy troupe California Collegians, accompanying them to New York for the Broadway revue Three’s a Crowd. When that production closed, he returned to the West Coast and resumed work in nightclubs and vaudeville until Paramount signed him for films in the mid-1930s.
In 1936 he married Lillian Lamont; the couple had a son, Robert, and a daughter, Susan. After Lamont’s death in 1953, MacMurray wed actress June Haver the next year, and together they adopted daughters Laurie and Kathryn. The second marriage endured until MacMurray’s death from pneumonia in 1991.
His most memorable film appearances include the 1944 noir classic Double Indemnity, the 1947 comedy The Egg and I, and the 1954 naval drama The Caine Mutiny. Yet acting had never been his original goal. The son of a violinist, MacMurray took up the same instrument along with saxophone and horn, setting his sights on a life in music. In 1926 he joined vaudeville circuits and traveling dance orchestras, performing on saxophone and vocals across New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
More than a year with one Chicago ensemble preceded a move to another group in Hollywood that also afforded him recording opportunities. His first brush with motion pictures came in the modest capacity of an extra. Soon afterward he performed with the comedy troupe California Collegians, accompanying them to New York for the Broadway revue Three’s a Crowd. When that production closed, he returned to the West Coast and resumed work in nightclubs and vaudeville until Paramount signed him for films in the mid-1930s.
In 1936 he married Lillian Lamont; the couple had a son, Robert, and a daughter, Susan. After Lamont’s death in 1953, MacMurray wed actress June Haver the next year, and together they adopted daughters Laurie and Kathryn. The second marriage endured until MacMurray’s death from pneumonia in 1991.