Stephen Murray

Stephen Umfreville Hay Murray (6 September 1912 – 31 March 1983) was an English cinema, radio, theatre and television actor.

Background and education A member of Clan Murray headed by the Duke of Atholl, he was born in Partney, Lincolnshire, the son of the Reverend Charles Murray, Rector of Kirby Knowle, North Riding of Yorkshire, and Mabel (née Umfreville). He was the great-grandson of the Right Reverend George Murray, Bishop of Rochester, while the diplomat Sir Ralph Murray was his elder brother. He was educated at Brentwood School, Essex and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. He was also the great-uncle of the comedian Al Murray.

Acting career Murray found his greatest fame as the new Number 1, later promoted to Lieutenant Commander in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio. His film debut was as the second police officer who interrupts an amorous Eliza and Freddy (Wendy Hiller and David Tree) in Pygmalion (1938). He was Gladstone to John Gielgud's Disraeli in The Prime Minister in 1941. He played Dr. Stephan Petrovitch in the 1943 Ealing war film Undercover. Among his other larger film roles were Uncle Henry in London Belongs to Me (1948, heavily made-up to look several decades older) and the lead in Terence Fisher's Four Sided Triangle (1953). He once again appeared under heavy make-up as the elderly Dr Manette in A Tale of Two Cities (1958).

Murray made his stage debut at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1933, and he played such parts as Seyton in Macbeth, among smaller roles. He later did seasons at the Malvern Festival and at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he played Hamlet. He worked at the Old Vic in London with Laurence Olivier and Tyrone Guthrie. He also played at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, and in the West End. At the Westminster Theatre in 1940 he portrayed the title character in John Drinkwater's Abraham Lincoln. He was in many of the plays of George Bernard Shaw, and he did later engagements at the Mermaid Theatre in London and at Stratford, Ontario, Canada. On television he played in such programmes as Dr. Finlay's Casebook, and had a leading role as Svengali. In 1952 he returned to the Old Vic to play King Lear, and toured Europe in that production. Several years later he also played Lear on radio.

Radio became one of Murray's most triumphant acting areas, with appearances in over 300 plays. He played Macbeth in 1949 with Flora Robson, a month after playing the part on television (with Ruth Lodge), so different were the two medium's audiences deemed to be. He played the part again on radio in 1960. He was a fine Leontes in The Winter's Tale in 1951 with Elspeth March and Fay Compton, and again in 1966 with Rachel Gurney and Edith Evans. He played Shakespeare's Timon of Athens both in 1961 and in 1975. In 1964, he played the title role in the monumental BBC Radio production of Marlowe's Tamburlaine with Sheila Allen as Zenocrate with Timothy West, Andrew Sachs, Joss Ackland, Gabriel Woolf, Bruce Condell and other leading Shakespearian actors of the day. He did two versions of the BBC radio epic The Rescue by Edward Sackville-West, where he played Odysseus. Other classic '50s roles included Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, John Gabriel Borkman and Brand as well as Calderon's The Mayor of Zalamea. However, his longest running part was that of "No 1" in The Navy Lark in which he starred from 1960 to 1977.

In 1970 Murray played alongside Glenda Jackson in the BBC drama series Elizabeth R about the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth I. In this he played Sir Francis Walsingham, head of Elizabeth's secret service, and a noted Puritan, whose work exposed the Babington Plot which led to the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Even in the 1970s he enjoyed the difficult roles, like August Strindberg's To Damascus with Zena Walker.

His expressive voice was often anguished and uncertain in his roles, so he was ideal for A Hospital Case by Dino Buzzati, a play which Albert Camus had translated and adapted for the Paris stage. He also did new radio work like Peter Tegel's Rocklife. In 1970 he was the old Prince Bolkonsky in BBC radio's War and Peace. He tried his hand at science fiction in radio's The Tor Sands Experience by Bruce Stewart.

Personal life Murray married Joan Alestha, daughter of John Joseph Moy Butterfield, in 1937. He died in London on 31 March 1983, aged 70. Their daughter and only child Amanda appeared in several episodes of The Navy Lark with her father.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1938 Pygmalion Second Policeman Film debut 1941 The Prime Minister Mr. W.E. Gladstone 1942 The Next of Kin Mr. Barratt 1943 Undercover Dr. Stephan Petrovitch 1947 Master of Bankdam Zebediah Crowther1948 My Brother Jonathan Dr. Craig London Belongs to Me Uncle Henry1949 Silent Dust Robert Rawley For Them That Trespass Christopher Drew Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll / Knave of Hearts Voice Now Barabbas Chaplain 1950 The Magnet Dr. Brent1951 West of EnglandNarrator Short Board of Trade film. Script by Laurie Lee 1952 24 Hours of a Woman's Life Father Andre Benoit 1953 Four Sided Triangle Bill 1954 The Stranger's Hand British Consul in Venice 1955 The End of the Affair Father Crompton1956 Guilty? Summers The Door in the Wall Sir Frank Wallace Short 1957 At the Stroke of Nine Stephen Garrett 1958 A Tale of Two Cities Dr. Manette 1959 The Nun's Story Chaplain (Father Andre) 1963 Master Spy Boris Turganev Final film 1971 Elizabeth R Walsingham Miniseries 1977 Hitler: A Career Narrator (English Version)1981Lady KillersArchibald BodkinEpisode: My Perfect Husband