Early life

Murphy was born on 25 September 1932 in Ventnor, Isle of Wight.^[3] He was the son of grocer's assistant Gerald Murphy and his wife Mabel, both of whom later became restaurateurs.^[4] His two brothers Ken and Eric died during active service in the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} He was called up to do his national service at RAF Northwood, where he met future The Good Life actor Richard Briers. On leaving the RAF the two aspiring actors both performed in productions by the Dramatic Society at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, now London South Bank University.

Early career

Murphy was a member of the Theatre Workshop (alongside future TV co-star Yootha Joyce), and a jobbing actor in the 1960s and early 1970s, combining his theatre work with guest appearances in television shows such as The Avengers, Z-Cars, Callan and Dixon of Dock Green, before being cast in the role which would make him a household name.

Man About the House and George and Mildred

Murphy first came to prominence in the ITV television sitcom Man About the House, playing lazy landlord George Roper, whose wife, Mildred, played by Yootha Joyce, was a domineering, social-climbing character who was a sharp contrast to George, whose desire was for an easy and quiet life, and the pairing was an instant hit.^[2] A contributing factor to the actors' immediate chemistry was that they had been friends for many years. Aside from their Theatre Workshop years, Murphy also featured opposite Joyce in Sparrows Can't Sing (1963).

When Man About The House ended in 1976, a spin-off was created for Murphy and Joyce, entitled George and Mildred. This ran for five series until 1979. In 1978 he released the single "Jogging" in the George persona (b/w "The Great Gnome Robbery") on the Pye label. Murphy later said, "Out of the blue I was requested to record "Jogging" in the manner of George, and naturally could not refuse. I had been told I had an excellent singing voice and in fact did some training, but sadly I lacked confidence and missed opportunities - one of my biggest regrets."^[5] Murphy reprised his role in feature films of both sitcoms. Joyce died in 1980, and the planned final series of George and Mildred was cancelled.

After George and Mildred

In 1981, another television sitcom was created specifically for Murphy with him in the title role in The Incredible Mr. Tanner (the series would feature regular Man About The House and George and Mildred co-star Roy Kinnear), but the show failed to gain popularity. He moved to the BBC in 1982 for the driving school TV sitcom L for Lester, but this was also a ratings failure and was cancelled after just six episodes.

Murphy was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1998.^[4]

Last of the Summer Wine and others

He continued to appear regularly on television, most notably as "Alvin Smedley" in Last of the Summer Wine from 2003 to 2010, that was promoted by a cast return to Rose Theatre site and also with roles in On Your Way, Riley (1985) as Arthur Lucan,^[6] Lame Ducks (as a private investigator); The Bill (as a drunken tramp dressed as an elf at Christmas); comedy series Pond Life, an animation series, as Len Pond, the father of protagonist Dolly Pond (Sarah Ann Kennedy), One Foot in the Grave starring Richard Wilson (playing a character called Mr Foskett);^[7] Brookside; and as a shopkeeper called Stan in the pre-school children's TV series Wizadora.

In 2010 he appeared in an episode of Hustle called "The Thieving Mistake". He has more recently made appearances in comedy shows The Catherine Tate Show, This is Jinsy and Benidorm. Murphy can also be seen in all three episodes of the ITV comedy The Booze Cruise, playing Maurice. He also appeared as Frank Dobson in The Cafe from 2011 and 2013 and also in the Channel 4 comedy Man Down as music teacher Frank Field-Williams in the 2013 Christmas special.

In 2023, Murphy wrote the introduction to the autobiography of his Oh, What a Lovely War! co-star Larry Dann.^[8]

Film

Television