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AUDIE MURPHY
SOLDIER - POET / ACTOR - SONGWRITER
 Audie Murphy was born June 20, 1925, in Kingston, Hunt County, Texas, northeast of Dallas. He was the seventh child of twelve, (only nine of whom survived past childhood). His father, Emmett (Pat), was a sharecropper, and the Murphy family was dirt poor, even before Pat abandoned his family. Audie had very little schooling; poverty saw to that. He picked cotton, among other things, to help support his mother Josie and his siblings. He also learned to use a rifle at a young age, shooting small game to put food on the Murphy's supper table.
The picture of Audie and his medals was provided by the Audie Murphy Research Foundation. He is shown with some of the decorations he earned in the European Theater of Operations.
 This picture, from "To Hell and Back", is a portrayal of Audie and his little brother upon hearing the news of their mother's death on May 23, 1941. Audie was very close to her and her loss was devastating to him.
In June 1942, Audie found a way out, a chance to make something of himself. He became a soldier. And what a soldier he turned out to be! Only THE most decorated combat soldier of World War II. [He had tried to join the Marines, but they turned him down ... too small at almost 5'6", 112 pounds. Imagine their surprise later!]
This journal contain pictures taken from the film "To Hell and Back", based on Audie's autobiography, representing events in Audie's life. In addition, there are screencaps from a few of his forty-three other films.
I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Richard L. Rodgers for allowing me to use these pictures. They are borrowed with kind permission from his comprehensive:
"The Audie L. Murphy Memorial Web Site"
Many people have been kind enough to write to me, seeking more information than I have access to. Therefore, I am providing some references for those with questions I am unable to answer. Thank you.
This is the cover of a magazine, dated 1953, that I purchased from "Jim". Being a Doberman Pinscher lover, as well as an Audie Murphy admirer, I think this picture is awesome.
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Created July 8,1999 / Updated December 3, 2005
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| Scenes from Audie's autobiographical movie: "To Hell and Back"¹ and
excerpts from Don Graham's biography of Audie Murphy: "No Name on the Bullet"²
"In To Hell and Back" [Audie's autobiography], Audie spoke succinctly of what Sicily had meant by way of the education of a combat soldier: "The Sicilian campaign has taken the vinegar out of my spirits. I have seen war as it actually is, and I do not like it."
In spite of that, "... Audie Murphy became by skill, training, intelligence, luck, and a dozen imponderables, an astounding soldier." |
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"In the bloody and depressing world of combat Audie became the embodiment of the good soldier, a well-trained, wary, savvy, alert, and fire-producing unit who could apply accurate small arms fire at the right place at the right time. He was an equal opportunity soldier, killing snipers and machine gunners, knocking out tanks, capturing Germans on night patrols, directing artillery fire, doing everything the front line combatant is required to do in order to take and hold ground, by inches, feet, yards, miles, through Sicily, Italy, France, and into Germany."
Audie calls in artillery fire on his own position to stop a German advance. |
January 26, 1945: The action which earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"With the Germans 100 yards away, he climbed onto the tank destroyer ... and began firing ... He was completely exposed to the enemy fire and there was a blaze under him that threatened to blow the detroyer to bits.
Twice the tank ... was hit by direct shell fire and Lt. Murphy was engulfed in clouds of smoke and spurts of flame. His clothing was riddled by flying fragments of shells ... his trouser leg was soaked with blood."
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An officer and a gentleman.
Receiving his second lieutenant's bars in "To Hell and Back", 1955
"General Keith Ware, a Medal of Honor winner, ... saw Audie in action ... Ware remembered him ... as "the finest soldier I have ever seen in my entire military career." |
By contrast, a photo of Audie as he looked in 1945. This child, this boy looking hardly old enough to shave, had already won every medal his nation had to offer, and a few from France and Belgium as well.
(Photo used by permission of Sgt. Wm. Heller.) |
¹ "To Hell and Back", Universal-International, 1955, directed by Jesse Hibbs
² Don Graham, "No Name on the Bullet", c. 1989, Viking Penguin
 One of Audie Murphy's best movie roles concerned another war - the American Civil War. The movie was "The Red Badge of Courage". It was the first of two movies that Audie made with John Huston. The director got the finest performances out of the man Huston called his "gentle little killer". The next time they worked together was eight years later, in "The Unforgiven". John Huston was able to pull some gut wrenching scenes out of Audie, tears and rage that never showed anywhere else, on film or in real life.
This is a scene from "The Red Badge of Courage". Audie (back in a uniform once again!) is Henry Fleming, the Youth. Audie, somewhere around 5'7", stands next to actor John Dierkes, 6'6". (I love the testy look on Audie's face!) | |
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|  After the end of World War II, and a period of restless and uneasy readjustment to civilian life, Audie wound up in Hollywood, making movies. He eventually made over forty films, most, though not all of them, Westerns.Audie never thought of himself as a good actor. Who knows? Maybe by Hollywood's standards he wasn't. But, in my humble opinion, Audie Murphy out-cowboy-ed anyone in Hollywood [or Spain] who ever strapped on a holster or mounted a horse. Audie could really ride; he looked like he was born in a saddle, (though he certainly wasn't). He was fast on the draw, for real; his Texas twang was authentic, so thick he had to study to tame it; and that steely glint in his gray-blue eyes was very real, too, as anyone who angered him could easily testify.Given the mostly mediocre material he was forced to work with I believe Audie Murphy turned in some fine performances. He was by turns cold as ice, playing a very convincing villain, or warm as a puppy. He could be mean or sweet, dead serious or comically cute, even making fun of his own short stature.
Audie sold himself short (!) when he said, "As an actor, I'm a pretty good stuntman." Photo is from the film "The Kid From Texas"; Audie played Billy the Kid in his first role.
 Audie was occasionally given the chance to work with "A-movie" actors, like Jimmy Stewart, as here in "Night Passage", and with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn in "The Unforgiven".He usually played the kid brother, mainly because of his height and his baby face, but he invariably held his own against them. In The Unforgiven", Burt Lancaster was required to slap Audie, to bring him to his senses. He did it, but then John Huston had to call a break, and walk Audie around to cool him off before they could continue. No one, but no one, slapped Audie Murphy!In "Night Passage" he's the Utica Kid, Lee McClain, wicked younger brother. Jimmy Stewart is Grant McClain, the good older brother who wins in the end, holding his dying little brother in his arms. "Lee" and "Grant"; not too heavy on the symbolism, huh?
 In one of life's little ironies Audie was often required to play the cowboy who was up against "Indians". In reality, both Audie's mother, Josie, and his second wife, Pam, were part Indian. In most of the pictures in which Audie faced off against "Indians" he may have ended up shooting it out, but he also played peacemaker between cultures, as in "Walk The Proud Land", or else he learns the hard way to respect another culture, as in "Drums Across the River".It's just another reason I have such respect for him. Those portrayals were more than just a little "anti-establishment" behavior for those times.
 DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER: Universal-International (1954), director: Nathan Juran.
Gary Brannon's mother was killed by Indians. He learned to hate. Then, through a series of Hollywood complications, Gary is forced into an uneasy truce with the same people who killed his mother. He learns the Chief's son was the person responsible, and that the Chief had executed his own son for commiting the crime.
Throughout their ordeals, Gary comes to understand that his own people are not altogether blameless, and he learns to trust and respect these people of a different culture, and understand the common humanity they share.
 TUMBLEWEED: Universal-International (1953), director: Nathan Juran.
Jim Harvey stops to help an Indian, shot by white men and left to die in the desert. He gives the man water and removes the bullet, and almost loses his life in return. First they struggle, then they talk, and Jim explains he is one cowboy who believes in peace between all men.
When Jim is accused of cowardice, and nearly lynched by his own people, this same Indian gives up his own life to save Jim's. Warfare between the cultures is narrowly averted only because of the selfless acts of these two men of different cultures. (Tumbleweed is Jim's scruffy, skinny, no account horse - who has the heart of a lion and wings on his feet. He's darn cute and it adds a nice light touch to the drama.)
 THE UNFORGIVEN: United Artists (1960), director: John Houston.
Cash Zachary's father was killed by Kiowas who resented white homesteaders encroaching on their land. Cash's hatred is deep rooted, and bitter. His sister, adopted as an infant by their parents, stands accused of being Kiowa herself. When the truth is revealed, that she is indeed Kiowa, Cash flies into a rage, drinks himself senseless, and runs away. (This scene is priceless: Cash's girlfriend sees a golden opportunity and tries to talk him into marriage. He says, "I'm drunk, but I'm not that drunk!"
Cash returns when he senses trouble at home, an attack by the Kiowa who want the young girl back. He's in time to save the lives of his siblings, including his "sister", and he realizes in the end she is as much his family as the others, regardless of her heritage.
These are only some of the films featuring Native Americans relative to the theme of the action. Audie treated the People with respect, unlike so many other "big star cowboys" in Hollywood did. Eddie Little Sky, one of Hollywood's authentic Indian actors, credited Audie with encouraging him not to give up on the movie business. Audie even went so far as to convince him to use the name "Little Sky"; at that time he was calling himself Eddie Little.
Audie Murphy was a most unique individual. Short of stature, he may have been, but he had a heart as big as all Texas. | |
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AUDIE L. MURPHY
JUNE 20, 1924 - MAY 28, 1971
Audie Leon Murphy died on May 28, 1971, when the private plane in which he was a passenger crashed into a mountain near Roanoke, Virginia. Audie was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
His is the second most visited gravesite there, John F. Kennedy's being first.
They are in good company.
My brother-in-law, William G. Conlon, Jr., decorated veteran of the Viet Nam War, lies there, too.
On May 14, 2001, his wife, JoAnne Conlon was laid to rest with him.
Rest in peace, guys, and thank you.
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| AUDIE MURPHY FILMOGRAPHY | 1. Beyond Glory | | 1948 | | 2. Texas, Brooklyn, and Heaven | | 1948 | | 3. Bad Boy | | 1949 | | 4. Kid From Texas, The | Billy Bonney | 1950 | | 5. Sierra | Ring Hassard | 1950 | | 6. Kansas Raiders | Jesse James | 1950 | | 7. Cimarron Kid, The | Bill Doolin | 1951 | | 8. Red Badge of Courage, The | Henry Fleming | 1951 | | 9. Duel at Silver Creek, The | Luke Cromwell | 1952 | | 10. Gunsmoke | Reb Kettredge | 1953 | | 11. Column South | Jed Sayre | 1953 | | 12. Tumbleweed | Jim Harvey | 1953 | | 13. Ride Clear of Diablo | Clay O'Mara | 1954 | | 14. Drums Across the River | Gary Brannon | 1954 | | 15. Destry | Tom Destry | 1955 | | 16. To Hell and Back | Audie Murphy | 1955 | | 17. World in My Corner | | 1956 | | 18. Walk the Proud Land | John Clum | 1956 | | 19. Guns of Ft. Petticoat, The | | 1957 | | 20. Night Passage | Lee McClain | 1957 | | 21. Joe Butterfly | Pvt. John Woodley | 1957 | | 22. Quiet American, The | | 1958 | | 23. Ride a Crooked Trail | Joe Maybe | 1958 | | 24. Gun Runners, The | | 1958 | | 25. No Name on the Bullet | John Gant | 1959 | | 26. Wild and the Innocent, The | Yancy Hawks | 1959 | | 27. Cast a Long Shadow | Matt Brown | 1959 | | 28. Hell Bent for Leather | Clay Santell | 1960 | | 29. Seven Ways From Sundown | Seven Jones | 1960 | | 30. Unforgiven, The | Cash Zachary | 1960 | | 31. Posse From Hell | Banner Cole | 1961 | | 32. Battle at Bloody Beach | Craig Benson | 1961 | | 33. Six Black Horses | | 1962 | | 34. Showdown | | 1963 | | 35. Gunfight at Comanche Creek | Bob Gifford | 1963 | | 36. Quick Gun, The | Clint Cooper | 1964 | | 37. Bullet for a Badman | | 1964 | | 38. Apache Rifles | | 1964 | | 39. Arizona Raiders | Clint Stewart | 1965 | | 40. Gunpoint | | 1966 | | 41. Texican, The | Jess Carlin | 1966 | | 42. Forty Guns to Apache Pass | Bruce Coburn | 1967 | | 43. Trunk to Cairo | | 1967 | 44. Time For Dying, A
(released 1971 in Europe, 1981 in USA) | Jesse James | 1969 |
TELEVISION
1954 This is Your Life
1958 GE Theater "Incident"
1959 Suspicion "The Flight"
1960 Ford Startime "The Man"
1961 TV series "Whispering Smith" (5/8-9/18)
1963 WAR IS HELL Intro by Audie | |
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| REFERENCES
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audie_murphy_lj's journal
Sgt. William Heller's World War II Memoirs