James S. Murray

This article by John William Kellette appeared in The New Rochelle Pioneer, December 12, 1914: “James Murray and his first picture work in Daniel Carson Goodman’s The Escape, directed by the peer of all directors—David W. Griffith, and he liked it so much that he came to New Rochelle and began posing for Thanhouser. That was about a year ago. He took up a residence here and intends to remain, because he believes the pictures have a bigger future than the past has guaranteed, and with better stories and better production they will view with the legitimate stage for permanent value. ‘Jim’ has a good singing voice, and was on the stage for a long time, taking a flyer occasionally into vaudeville, where he traveled the Orpheum circuit booked solid from coast to coast. He has had many good roles in the screen stuff, but because of his character work his lines have been cast in comedy places.

“He’s always the chief of the ‘Keystone Police,’ and it’s not all peaches and cream, as for instance a recent happening to the festive Jeems. He was playing the chief of police in ‘The Dead Line,’ a Princess comedy that ran riot with Keystone stuff, and it was written in the script that ‘Jim’ had to appear asleep when the phone rang. He’d awaken and then fall over his bench onto the waiting laps of other policemen. ‘Jim’ went to sleep, all right, but the waiting laps were non est. Gordon Hollingshead’s back was supposed to be in place for the drop, when both would flop to the floor at once and no one would be injured. But Hollingshead had cold feet or something else, because when ‘Jim’ made the drop ‘Holly’ got from under. ‘Jim’ dropped about five feet over the bench onto the floor below, landing direct on his shoulder. It was a case for the Workingmen’s Compensation Law to worry about in addition to the care that ‘Jim’ had to give his bum wing. It was quite a number of days before he could work in anything that called for bodily action after that, and he’s been timid on the ‘rough stuff’ since. In the same script he had to take a hose away from a gang of ‘roughnecks’ and restore order. The script didn’t call for Murray’s wetting, but it was too good a chance to miss, and he was soaked from head to feet. Then he entered into the spirit of the thing and what he didn’t do in the soaking line after that wasn’t worth doing. Mr. Murray has been in about 200 photoplays, from high society to the lowest of ‘lowbrows,’ and has acquitted himself admirably. He has a big future in pictures.”

James S. Murray died October 17, 1939, in the House of Calvary, Bronx, New York, and was buried in the Catholic Actors Guild plot of the Calvary Cemetery.

Note: Do not confuse the Thanhouser player with another actor named James Murray (born in New York in 1901; died in New York on July 10, 1936), who appeared in The Crowd in 1928.