Born to Maleta Martin and Frederick MacMurray (concert violinist). Fred sang and played in orchestras to earn tuition. He was educated at Carroll College, Wis. Fred played with a Chicago orchestra for more than a year. Then he joined an orchestra in Hollywood where he played, did some recording and played extra roles. He then joined a comedy stage band, California Collegians, and went to New York. There he joined "Three's A Crowd" revue on Broadway and on the road. After this show closed, he returned to California and worked in vaudeville. He played the vaudeville circuits and night clubs until cast for major role in "Roberta". Signed by Paramount in 1935. MacMurray was raised in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin from the age of 5, eventually graduating from Beaver Dam High School (currently the site of Beaver Dam Middle School), where he was a 3-sport star in football, baseball, and basketball. Fred retained a special place in his heart for his small-town Wisconsin upbringing, referring at any opportunity in magazine articles or interviews to the lifelong friends and cherished memories of Beaver Dam, even including mementos of his childhood in several of his films. In "Pardon my Past" (1945), Fred and fellow GI William Demarest are moving to Beaver Dam, WI to start a mink farm.
Movie | This Is Bob Hope... | Self (archive footage) | 2017-12-29 |
Movie | Inside 'The Apartment' | Self (archive footage) | 2008-01-06 |
Movie | Billy Wilder Speaks | Himself (archive footage) | 2006-06-22 |
Movie | Los Angeles Plays Itself | Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (archive footage) | 2004-07-28 |
Movie | Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire | Self (archive footage) | 1991-07-15 |
Movie | Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC | Self (archive footage) | 1988-05-16 |
Movie | George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey | Self (archive footage) | 1985-03-03 |
Movie | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | (in "Double Indemnity") (archive footage) | 1982-05-21 |
Movie | The Swarm | Maj. Clarance Tuttle | 1978-07-14 |
Movie | Inside 'the Swarm' | Self | 1978-01-01 |
Movie | Joys | Self | 1976-03-05 |
Movie | Beyond the Bermuda Triangle | Harry Ballinger | 1975-11-06 |
Series | Tony Orlando and Dawn | Unknown | 1974-12-04 |
Movie | The Chadwick Family | Ned Chadwick | 1974-04-17 |
Movie | Charley and the Angel | Charley Appleby | 1973-03-23 |
Series | The American Film Institute Salute to ... | Unknown | 1973-04-02 |
Movie | The Movie Orgy | Self (archive footage) | 1968-01-01 |
Movie | The Happiest Millionaire | Anthony J. Drexel Biddle | 1967-11-30 |
Movie | Follow Me, Boys! | Lemuel Siddons | 1966-12-01 |
Series | The Hollywood Palace | Unknown | 1964-01-04 |
Movie | Kisses for My President | Thad McCloud | 1964-08-21 |
Movie | Son of Flubber | Ned Brainard | 1963-01-16 |
Movie | Hollywood Without Make-Up | 1963-07-01 | |
Movie | Bon Voyage! | Harry Willard | 1962-05-17 |
Movie | The Absent-Minded Professor | Ned Brainard | 1961-03-16 |
Movie | Gala Day at Disneyland | Self | 1960-01-21 |
Series | My Three Sons | Steve Douglas | 1960-09-29 |
Movie | The Apartment | Jeff D. Sheldrake | 1960-06-21 |
Movie | The Shaggy Dog | Wilson Daniels | 1959-03-19 |
Movie | Good Day for a Hanging | Marshal Ben Cutler | 1959-01-01 |
Movie | Disneyland '59 | Self | 1959-06-15 |
Movie | The Oregon Trail | Neal Harris | 1959-08-31 |
Movie | Face of a Fugitive | Jim Larsen (aka Ray Kincaid) | 1959-05-01 |
Movie | Day of the Badman | Judge Jim Scott | 1958-01-29 |
Series | The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1957-11-06 |
Movie | Quantez | Gentry | 1957-09-06 |
Movie | There's Always Tomorrow | Clifford Groves | 1956-01-08 |
Series | The Steve Allen Show | Unknown | 1956-06-24 |
Movie | Gun for a Coward | Will Keough | 1956-12-30 |
Series | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | Unknown | 1956-10-05 |
Movie | The Far Horizons | Cpt. Meriwether Lewis | 1955-07-04 |
Series | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Unknown | 1955-10-05 |
Movie | The Rains of Ranchipur | Thomas "Tom" Ransome | 1955-12-14 |
Movie | At Gunpoint | Jack Wright | 1955-12-25 |
Movie | The Caine Mutiny | Lt. Thomas 'Tom' Keefer | 1954-06-24 |
Movie | Pushover | Paul Sheridan | 1954-07-14 |
Series | December Bride | Unknown | 1954-10-04 |
Movie | A Star Is Born World Premiere | Self | 1954-09-28 |
Movie | Woman's World | Sid Burns | 1954-09-30 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Movie | Fair Wind to Java | Captain Boll | 1953-01-28 |
Series | The Oscars | Unknown | 1953-03-19 |
Movie | The Moonlighter | Wes Anderson | 1953-09-19 |
Series | This Is Your Life | Unknown | 1952-10-01 |
Movie | A Millionaire for Christy | Peter Ulysses Lockwood | 1951-09-02 |
Movie | Callaway Went Thataway | Mike Frye | 1951-11-15 |
Movie | Borderline | Johnny McEvoy, aka Johnny Macklin | 1950-03-01 |
Movie | Never a Dull Moment | Chris Hayward | 1950-08-19 |
Series | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1950-09-10 |
Movie | Father Was a Fullback | George Cooper | 1949-09-30 |
Movie | Family Honeymoon | Grant Jordan | 1948-12-06 |
Movie | On Our Merry Way | Al | 1948-02-03 |
Movie | The Miracle of the Bells | William 'Bill' Dunnigan | 1948-03-27 |
Movie | An Innocent Affair | Vincent Doane | 1948-10-15 |
Movie | The Egg and I | Bob MacDonald | 1947-05-01 |
Movie | Suddenly It's Spring | Peter Morely | 1947-02-13 |
Movie | Singapore | Matt Gordon | 1947-08-13 |
Movie | Smoky | Clint Barkley | 1946-06-26 |
Movie | Where Do We Go from Here? | Bill Morgan | 1945-05-23 |
Movie | Captain Eddie | Eddie Rickenbacker | 1945-06-18 |
Movie | Murder, He Says | Pete Marshall | 1945-06-23 |
Movie | Pardon My Past | Eddie York / Francis Pemberton | 1945-12-24 |
Movie | Standing Room Only | Lee Stevens | 1944-01-07 |
Movie | And the Angels Sing | Happy Morgan | 1944-04-25 |
Movie | Double Indemnity | Walter Neff | 1944-07-06 |
Movie | Practically Yours | Daniel Bellamy | 1944-12-20 |
Movie | No Time for Love | Jim Ryan | 1943-04-09 |
Movie | Flight for Freedom | Randy Britton | 1943-04-14 |
Movie | Show-Business at War | Self | 1943-05-21 |
Movie | The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith | Narrator Prolog (uncredited) | 1943-09-09 |
Movie | Above Suspicion | Richard Myles | 1943-05-31 |
Movie | The Lady Is Willing | Corey McBain | 1942-02-12 |
Movie | Star Spangled Rhythm | Frank | 1942-03-05 |
Movie | Breakdowns of 1942 | Self | 1942-12-31 |
Movie | Take a Letter, Darling | Tom Verney | 1942-05-06 |
Movie | The Forest Rangers | Don Stuart | 1942-10-21 |
Movie | One Night In Lisbon | Dwight Houston | 1941-06-13 |
Movie | Dive Bomber | Joe Blake | 1941-01-01 |
Movie | Virginia | Stonewall Elliott | 1941-01-28 |
Movie | Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1 | Himself | 1941-10-02 |
Movie | New York Town | Victor Ballard | 1941-10-31 |
Movie | Remember the Night | Jack Sargent | 1940-01-19 |
Movie | Little Old New York | Charles Brownne | 1940-02-09 |
Movie | Too Many Husbands | Bill Cardew | 1940-04-03 |
Movie | Rangers of Fortune | Gil Farra | 1940-09-27 |
Movie | Cafe Society | Crick O'Bannon | 1939-03-03 |
Movie | Honeymoon in Bali | Bill Burnett | 1939-09-29 |
Movie | Invitation to Happiness | Albert 'King' Cole | 1939-06-07 |
Movie | Cocoanut Grove | Johnny Prentice | 1938-05-20 |
Movie | Men with Wings | Pat Falconer | 1938-07-16 |
Movie | Sing, You Sinners | David Beebe | 1938-09-02 |
Movie | Maid of Salem | Roger Coverman | 1937-02-12 |
Movie | Champagne Waltz | Buzzy Bellew | 1937-02-05 |
Movie | Swing High, Swing Low | Skid Johnson | 1937-03-12 |
Movie | Exclusive | Ralph Houston | 1937-08-06 |
Movie | True Confession | Kenneth Bartlett | 1937-12-24 |
Movie | The Trail of the Lonesome Pine | Jack Hale | 1936-03-13 |
Movie | 13 Hours by Air | Jack Gordon | 1936-04-30 |
Movie | The Princess Comes Across | King Mantell | 1936-05-22 |
Movie | The Texas Rangers | Jim Hawkins | 1936-08-28 |
Movie | Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) | Self | 1936-09-11 |
Movie | The Gilded Lily | Peter Dawes | 1935-01-25 |
Movie | Grand Old Girl | Sandy | 1935-01-15 |
Movie | Car 99 | Trooper Ross Martin | 1935-03-02 |
Movie | The Bride Comes Home | Cyrus Anderson | 1935-12-25 |
Movie | Hands Across the Table | Theodore Drew III | 1935-10-18 |
Movie | Alice Adams | Arthur Russell | 1935-08-23 |
Movie | Men Without Names | Richard Hood | 1935-06-29 |
Movie | Tiger Rose | Rancher | 1929-12-21 |