Ben Murphy

{{Infobox person

|image =Ben Murphy 1970.jpg

|caption=Murphy in Alias Smith and Jones

| name = Ben Murphy

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1942|03|6}}

| birth_place = Jonesboro, Arkansas, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Actor

| spouse = Jeanne Davis (1978–81)

| yearsactive = 1967–2010

}}

Ben Murphy (born March 6, 1942{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uzY_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=f1EMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5439,4701521&dq=ben-murphy+march-6+1942+-wikipedia&hl=en| title=Ask the Star — Your Questions Answered| newspaper=The Windsor Star| date=March 7, 1973| access-date=January 25, 2022}}) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Kid Curry in the ABC television series Alias Smith and Jones.

Early life

Murphy was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Benjamin R. Castleberry and Nadine nee Steele. His mother remarried in 1949 to Patrick Henry Murphy. Ben was raised Catholic in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills, Illinois. An alumnus of St. Procopius Academy in Lisle, Illinois, predecessor to today's Benet Academy,{{cite journal |title=More Notable Alumni... |journal=The Alumni Herald |publisher=Benet Academy |issue=9 |date=November 2007 |pages=11–14}} he attended eight colleges before deciding to pursue acting.

Personal life

Murphy has a son, Joshua Spriestersbach, from his relationship with Suzanne Bardin.{{Cite news |last=Kolker |first=Robert |date=2022-07-26 |title=Why Was Joshua Held for More Than Two Years for Someone Else's Crimes? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/magazine/joshua-spriestersbach-wrongful-incarceration.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |issn=0362-4331}}

Career

Murphy appeared in a supporting role in The Name of the Game, a series featuring a rotating leading cast including Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack. Murphy played a semi regular role as 'Joseph Sample' assistant to Robert Stack's leading character 'Dan Farrell' in Stack's segments of the show. From 1971–73, he starred in Alias Smith and Jones with Pete Duel (1971–72) and Roger Davis (1972–73). After Alias Smith and Jones, Murphy joined Lorne Greene in the 1973 ABC crime drama Griff.

File:Ben Murphy Patricia Stich Lorne Greene Griff 1973.JPG

In the 1983–84 season, Murphy co-starred with Marshall Colt in the ABC drama series Lottery! Murphy played Patrick Sean Flaherty, the man who informed lottery winners of their stroke of fortune, and Colt, formerly with James Arness on NBC's short-lived crime drama, McClain's Law, portrayed the Internal Revenue Service agent, Eric Rush, who made sure the winners pay the U.S. government up front. In 1985, Murphy co-starred as department store heir, Paul Berrenger, on the short-lived drama, Berrenger's. His character was at odds with his former wife, Gloria (Andrea Marcovicci) and his own father, Simon (Sam Wanamaker) due to his romance with executive, Shane Bradley (Yvette Mimieux). Murphy starred in his own series Gemini Man, in which he played a secret agent who could become invisible for 15 minutes a day through the use of a special wristwatch. The show did not run beyond a single season. Murphy has since appeared in guest-starring parts, including a murder suspect in CBS's Cold Case.

After becoming a highly ranked tournament tennis player in California in the 1980s, Murphy competed on the USTA singles and doubles circuit and in celebrity events.[https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/benjamin-edward-6233/ Profile], encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Accessed December 27, 2023.

Filmography

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role

! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes

1967

| The Graduate

|Shaving Student

|Uncredited

rowspan=4|1968

| The Virginian

|Mike Bradbury

| 2 episodes

It Takes a Thief

|King Pineau

|Episode: "A Matter of Royal Larceny"

Yours, Mine, and Ours

|Larry

The Outsider

| Patrick Forrester

| Episode: "Tell It Like It Is... and You're Dead"

1968–71

| The Name of the Game

|Joseph Sample

|6 episodes

rowspan=2|1969

| The Thousand Plane Raid

|Lt. Archer

Anatomy of a Crime

|Patrick Forrester

|TV film

rowspan=2|1970

| Medical Center

|Jerry Lambert

|Episode: "His Brother's Keeper"

The Mod Squad

| Bob

| Episode: "A Far Away Place So Near"

1971–73

| Alias Smith and Jones

|Jed 'Kid' Curry (Thaddeus Jones)

|50 episodes

rowspan=3|1973

| The Letters

| Joe Randolph

| TV film

Runaway!

|Les Reever

| TV film

Love, American Style

| Bart

| Segment: "Love and the Postal Meeter"

1973–74

| Griff

| Mike Murdoch

|12 Episodes

rowspan=2|1974

| Heatwave!

|Frank Taylor

This Is the West That Was

|Wild Bill Hickok

rowspan=2|1975

| Sidecar Racers

|Jeff Rayburn

Marcus Welby, M.D.

|Alan Peterson (1

| Episode: "Four Plus Hot"

rowspan=3|1976

| Code Name-Minus One

|Sam Casey

|TV film

Gemini Man

|Sam Casey

|11 episodes

Bridger

|Kit Carson

1979

| $weepstake$

|Episode: "Cowboy, Linda and Angie, Mark"

1979, 1983

| Fantasy Island

|Billy Blake

|2 episodes - 1979 and 1983

1979–80

| The Chisholms

|Will Chisholm

|13 episodes

1979–84

| The Love Boat

|Gregory King/Paul in S2 E18

|5 episodes

1980

| Secret War of Jackie's Girls

|Buck

| TV film

1981

| Riding with Death

|Sam Casey

| TV film

rowspan=2|1982

| Trapper John, M.D.

|Ned Travers

|Episode: "Medicine Man"

Time Walker

|Prof. Douglas McCadden

rowspan=4|1983

| Uncommon Valor

|Jim Merritt

| TV film

The Winds of War

|Warren Henry

|7 episodes

Matt Houston

|Terry Noble

|Episode: "The Beverly Hills Social Club"

The Cradle Will Fall

|Dr. Richard Carroll

1983–84

| Lottery!{{cite news| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/09/arts/tv-weekend-lottery-series-tennis-and-boxing.html| title=TV WEEKEND; 'LOTTERY!' SERIES, TENNIS AND BOXING| first=John J.| last=O'Connor| date=September 9, 1983}}

|Patrick Sean Flaherty

|17 episodes

rowspan=2|1984

| Finder of Lost Loves

|David Carson

|Episode: "Losing Touch"

Hotel

|Robbie Joe Carson

|Episode: "Fantasies"

rowspan=4|1985

| Berrenger's

|Paul Berrenger