Born in Hollywood, CA. Tall, rangy, boyish-looking leading man of the American stage and screen. The son of a stage manager-dance director and a former Ziegfeld Girl, he trained for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and after performing in stock made his Broadway debut in The Rose Tattoo in 1951. His stage career was interrupted the following year because of his refusal as a conscientious objector to serve in the Korean War. He worked instead with refugees before returning to Broadway in 1955 in The Skin of Our Teeth. He was seen by Joshua Logan, who gave him his first, and best-remembered, screen role, as the gauche cowboy who romances Marilyn Monroe in BUS STOP (1956). He was Oscar®-nominated for his performance in the film. On the set he met actress Hope Lange, whom he married that same year and divorced in 1961. Apart from such notable exceptions as THE BACHELOR PARTY (1957) and THE HOODLUM PRIEST (1961), Murray's subsequent screen roles have been largely unrewarding. One of Hollywood's most principled citizens, he has often turned down films that haven't agreed with his political or social beliefs and helped sponsor others that did. In 1968-69 he starred in the TV Western series "The Outcasts." In 1970 he directed his first film, THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE (1972), a biographical drama about a country priest who comes to New York to aid a gang of teenagers. He later directed another biographical drama about a priest, DAMIEN (1977), who works with lepers and becomes a leper himself. Subsequent screen credits include ENDLESS LOVE (1981), I AM THE CHEESE (1983), PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986), MADE IN HEAVEN (1987), GHOSTS CAN'T DO IT (1990) and ISLAND PREY and ELVIS IS ALIVE (also director) (both 2001). Murray has appeared in many made-for-TV movies and television series. His son, with Lange, is actor Christopher Murray (b. 1957).  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1956: BUS STOP 1 nomination