Biography
A handsome, affable presence, he made an ideal onscreen romantic partner to some of Hollywood's biggest female stars, including Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard. So believable was MacMurray as upstanding young men that it seemed unlikely that he could play anything else, a notion that was dispelled by his chilly turn as a doomed murderer in Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" (1944). He proved equally successful in portraying the dark …
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Career Milestones
1985 | Appeared as himself in the feature documentary, "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey" | |
1978 | Last acting role in a feature, "The Swarm" | |
| Went into semi-retirement on his 2,300-acre California ranch where he raised Black Angus cattle in the 1970s | ||
1975 | Starred in TV-movie, "The Bermuda Triangle" | |
1974 | TV-movie debut, "The Chadwick Family" (pilot for unsold series) | |
1972 | Returned to features for the last of his seven films with Disney, "Charley and the Angel" | |
1967 | Last feature for five years, "The Happiest Millionaire" | |
| Starred on the long-running TV sitcom, "My Three Sons" | ||
1959 | First film for Walt Disney Productions, "The Shaggy Dog" | |
1955 | TV debut on "Bachelor's Bride" episode of "G.E. Theatre" | |
1952 | Starred on radio series, "Bright Star" | |
1948 | Last co-starring appearance with Claudette Colbert, "Family Honeymoon" | |
1945 | Affiliation with Paramount comes to an end; made one more film there in 1947 and one in 1955, but otherwise largely free-lanced; last film under long-term contract, "Murder, He Says" | |
1944 | Attracted considerable critical attention with his change-of-pace role in Billy Wilder's film noir, "Double Indemnity" | |
| Appeared on 17 episodes of Lux Radio Theatre during the 1930s | ||
1935 | Achieved stardom with first leading role in "The Gilded Lily"; also marked his first of seven co-starring appearances with Claudette Colbert | |
1934 | Film acting debut in "Friends of Mr. Sweeney" | |
1934 | Signed contract with Paramount | |
| Appeared with the California Collegians on Broadway in two revues, "Three's a Crowd" (1930) and "The Third Little Show" and in the Jerome Kern musical, "Roberta" (1934; was also Bob Hope's understudy) | ||
1929 | Performed in vaudeville | |
1929 | Film debut as extra in "Girls Gone Wild"; also bit as rancher in "Tiger Rose" | |
1929 | Made record (as singer) with George Olsen's Orchestra; worked as orchestra musician for silent films; joined band The California Collegians as singer-saxophonist-comedian | |
1928 | Moved to Los Angeles where he worked in a car painting shop and as a Hollywood extra | |
1926 | Moved to Chicago where he worked as a shoe salesman; continued music career performing with various bands (including "The Royal Purples) as saxophonist and vocalist | |
| Worked in a pea-canning factory after high school graduation | ||
| Before attending college, formed three-piece musical outfit, Mac's Melody Boys | ||
| Lived in Madison, WI and Gilroy, CA before settling in Beaver Dam, WI after parents' separation when he was five | ||
Awards
1961 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in The Absent-Minded Professor |