Fred MacMurray

Remembering Fred MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991)

He was an American actor who appeared in more than one hundred films, and he also had a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century.

His career as a major film leading man began in 1935, with a stand-out performance that year as “Arthur Russell”, opposite Katharine Hepburn in the titular role, in George Stevens’ romantic film drama ‘Alice Adams’ (1935), which was made by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The screenplay was by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner, and Jane Murfin, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning 1922 novel ‘Alice Adams’ by Booth Tarkington.

‘Alice Adams’ featured, in supporting roles, Fred Stone as “Virgil Adams”; Evelyn Venable as “Mildred Palmer”; Frank Albertson as “Walter Adams”; Ann Shoemaker as “Mrs. Adams”; Charles Grapewin as “Mr. Lamb”; Grady Sutton as “Frank Dowling”, Hedda Hopper as “Mrs. Palmer”, and Hattie McDaniel as “Malena”, and who is magnificent in the dinner scene.

But Fred MacMurray’s most renowned role was as “Walter Neff”, opposite Barbara Stanwyck as “Phyllis Dietrichson”, and Edward G. Robinson as “Barton Keyes’, in Billy Wilder's American Film Noir crime thriller, ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944), which was co-written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was adapted from James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same title, which appeared as an eight-part serial for ‘Liberty’ magazine in February 1936.

‘Double Indemnity’ also featured, in supporting roles, Porter Hall as “Jackson”; Jean Heather as “Lola Dietrichson”; Tom Powers as “Dietrichson”; Byron Barr as “Nino Zachette”; Richard Gaines as “Norton”; Fortunio Bonanova as “Sam Gorlopis”; a truck driver; and John Philliber as “Joe Pete”, an elevator operator.

Later on, between the years 1959 and 1973, Fred MacMurray appeared in numerous Disney films, including ‘The Shaggy Dog’, ‘The Absent-Minded Professor’, ‘Follow Me, Boys!’, and ‘The Happiest Millionaire’. He also starred as “Steve Douglas” in the American television series ‘My Three Sons’ on both the ABC and CBS television networks between 1960 and 1972.