George Murphy

After giving up college, George Murphy decided to become a dancer. Starting in 1927, he worked with his wife and partner Julie Johnson on Broadway.

In 1934, after his wife retired from show business, he worked with Shirley Temple, in Hollywood, as well as Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, and Ronald Reagan.

A Republican since 1939, in 1945 he became president of the Screen Actors Guild.

(1944-1946) President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Served as director of entertainment for U.S. presidential inaugurations in 1952, 1956, and 1960.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election held following the death of Senator Clair Engle (Democrat of California) from a malignant brain tumor in 1964. Murphy's opponent in this election was former JFK press secretary Pierre Salinger, who was trounced by a huge margin. During Murphy's term (1965-1971) he contracted throat cancer. He battled this successfully, but, sadly, because of the cancer it was necessary to remove his larynx, causing him to be unable to speak above a whisper for the remainder of his life.

Ran for re-election in 1970, but was defeated by another "celebrity" candidate, Congressman John V. Tunney, son of former heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney. Tunney was also defeated for re-election, after serving only one term, by former San Francisco State University President S.I. Hayakawa.

During the Broadway run of their hit show "Roberta", Murphy advised his co-star Bob Hope to check out a pretty singer at the Vogue Club, "Dolores Reade". Hope was immediately smitten and married her after a brief courtship. The marriage lasted until Hope's death at age 100 in 2003.