Kathy Pinna
Comedian Ken Murray dead at 85
BURBANK, Calif. -- Ken Murray, the cigar-waving comedian whose racy World War II-era revue 'Blackouts' was one of the longest-running stage shows in history, died at St. Joseph's Medical Center. He was 85. Murray, whose career spanned five decades in every facet of the entertainment industry, including theater, radio, television and motion pictures, died Wednesday of natural causes. The crew-cut Murray was best known for his 'Blackouts,' a series of cornball skits and sketches starring bosomy Marie Wilson, to whom he played the bumbling straight man that became a fixture at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, playing to some 5 million people in the 1940s.
During its seven-year run, many top stars of the era left the audience to join the fun on stage. His guests included Edgar Bergen, Jack Oakie, Rudy Vallee and Errol Flynn. Murray also appeared in films and on television, making a name for himself as a Hollywood historian with home movies that he had shot of film stars over a 50-year period.
He would take 16mm home movies of his friends and associates, gathering thousands of feet of film that he presented in television specials and in a theater act titled 'An Unofficial History of Hollywood -- An Evening of Film and Fun.' Murray was born Kenneth Abner Doncourt on July 14, 1903, in New York City. But much of his early life was spent on a farm near Kingston, N.Y., where he attended high school. In 1922 he joined a vaudeville act and two years later formed his own act, Murray and Charlotte, to play the old Keith Albee circuit. By 1928 he had played the Palace in New York.
He went on to become a headliner on the Orpheum circuit and made his movie debut in 'Half Marriage' for RKO in 1929. A year later he co-starred with Irene Dunne in her first film, 'Leathernecking.' During the 1930s, Murray had his own network radio show and starred in Broadway in Earl Carroll's 'Vanities.' His radio shows included 'Hollywood Hotel' and 'Texaco Star Theater.' Murray launched 'Blackouts' in 1942 with the help of sneeze comedian Billy Gilbert. The audiences of servicemen and aircraft plant workers loved the show that most critics panned. It went 3,844 performances until 1949 -- when it moved on withuot Wilson to Broadway and folded in six weeks.
He also was an early television star in 1949 following a movie feature with 300 trained love birds titled 'Bill and Coo,' for which he was given a special Academy Award in 1947 for 'artistry and patience.' Murray co-authored his biography, 'Life on a Pogo-Stick' and continued to make personal appearances on stage and guest shots on television long after starring in his own shows. n later years he played dramatic roles on television and in movies, one of which was 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' in 1961.
Murray had two sons by his marriage to actress Cleatus Caldwell. In 1948 he married Betty Lou Walters, a showgirl in his 'Blackouts,' and they had two daughters.
- UPI at upi.com
During its seven-year run, many top stars of the era left the audience to join the fun on stage. His guests included Edgar Bergen, Jack Oakie, Rudy Vallee and Errol Flynn. Murray also appeared in films and on television, making a name for himself as a Hollywood historian with home movies that he had shot of film stars over a 50-year period.
He would take 16mm home movies of his friends and associates, gathering thousands of feet of film that he presented in television specials and in a theater act titled 'An Unofficial History of Hollywood -- An Evening of Film and Fun.' Murray was born Kenneth Abner Doncourt on July 14, 1903, in New York City. But much of his early life was spent on a farm near Kingston, N.Y., where he attended high school. In 1922 he joined a vaudeville act and two years later formed his own act, Murray and Charlotte, to play the old Keith Albee circuit. By 1928 he had played the Palace in New York.
He went on to become a headliner on the Orpheum circuit and made his movie debut in 'Half Marriage' for RKO in 1929. A year later he co-starred with Irene Dunne in her first film, 'Leathernecking.' During the 1930s, Murray had his own network radio show and starred in Broadway in Earl Carroll's 'Vanities.' His radio shows included 'Hollywood Hotel' and 'Texaco Star Theater.' Murray launched 'Blackouts' in 1942 with the help of sneeze comedian Billy Gilbert. The audiences of servicemen and aircraft plant workers loved the show that most critics panned. It went 3,844 performances until 1949 -- when it moved on withuot Wilson to Broadway and folded in six weeks.
He also was an early television star in 1949 following a movie feature with 300 trained love birds titled 'Bill and Coo,' for which he was given a special Academy Award in 1947 for 'artistry and patience.' Murray co-authored his biography, 'Life on a Pogo-Stick' and continued to make personal appearances on stage and guest shots on television long after starring in his own shows. n later years he played dramatic roles on television and in movies, one of which was 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' in 1961.
Murray had two sons by his marriage to actress Cleatus Caldwell. In 1948 he married Betty Lou Walters, a showgirl in his 'Blackouts,' and they had two daughters.
- UPI at upi.com
Kathy Pinna 
