The man who played himself

Some surprises found in fond bio of Fred MacMurray

Tom Clagett | For The New Mexican

1/13/2008 - 1/13/08

FRED MacMURRAY: A Biography


By Charles Tranberg


BearManor Media
390 pages, $24.95

A show business biography without wild sexual antics, alcoholism or drug abuse might seem odd these days. However, Charles Tranberg's biography of Fred MacMurray, who convincingly played smarmy villains, absent-minded professors as well as the all-American father, is a true Hollywood success story, well told for the most part, about a saxophone player from a small Wisconsin town who suffered from stage fright early on.

Tranberg interviewed MacMurray's friends, family and associates to help flesh out this shy man who disliked doing interviews almost as much as doing love scenes because they made him nervous.

Following a brief stint on stage, MacMurray arrived in Hollywood landing a few small movie roles. For The Gilded Lily, it helped that he could eat popcorn and deliver his lines. "Not as easy as it seems," Tranberg states.

Initially, MacMurray didn't want the part of the smart-aleck murderer in Double Indemnity. It became one of his signature performances, along with the two-faced officer in The Caine Mutiny, the philandering heel in The Apartment and the quintessential dad on television from 1960 to 1972 in My Three Sons. MacMurray liked to say, "I play myself. Most actors do."

Tranberg reveals surprises, too. MacMurray turned down the role Fredric March played in Best Years of Our Lives, and the part Don Ameche took in Cocoon. Both actors won Oscars for their performances. MacMurray was never nominated for an Oscar, but after his portrayal of the perfect cad in The Apartment, MacMurray took his family to Disneyland where a female fan who'd seen the film whacked him with her purse.

Other surprises, well handled by Tranberg, include MacMurray's quiet rebuff of Marlene Dietrich's advances during the filming of (ironically) The Lady is Willing, and the uneasiness he felt at bi-sexual director Mitch Leisen's overtures toward him. Leisen's films from the 30s made MacMurray "a viable romantic leading man," Tranberg writes.

MacMurray had no interest in doing television, though he was considered for the part of Marshal Dillon on Gunsmoke. (That may not be as surprising as it seems. Allegedly, MacMurray's popularity and good looks served as the inspiration for the comic book hero Captain Marvel.)

Eventually television did pay huge dividends to MacMurray with My Three Sons and what became known as "The MacMurray System." His enviable deal provided he would only work 65 days each year with all of his scenes shot in that time. That meant cast and crew would continue without him. One actress called it "the strangest show she'd ever been in because the star was never there."

Outside work, MacMurray was partial to red wine, enjoyed fishing and had two stable, loving marriages. Lily, his first wife, died from complications from bulimia. His second wife, actress June Haver, had given up acting and entered a convent for eight months before deciding she did not have the calling. They adopted two children.

Legendary for his frugal ways, one story goes MacMurray gave a friend a quarter on the way into a theater telling him to buy a 50-cent candy bar, adding, "We'll split it." (When he died in 1991 at age 83, Tranberg says MacMurray left an estate worth more than $500 million.)

Tranberg does slip in places. He writes that a character in Double Indemnity "had a broken or sprained ankle." It's stated several times in the film it is a broken leg. The book is also marred by occasional typographical errors.

Still, this is a fond look at one of the most durable and under-appreciated stars in Hollywood history.


Clagett is a Santa Fe writer.