The 'brains' and 'action' heavies who had meaty roles and lots of dialog ... and the players who were fathers, ranch owners, lawman, mayors, judges, lawyers, storekeepers, newspaper editors, wardens, etc. |
Above - Murdock in Bob Steele's HEADIN' NORTH (Tiffany, 1930). Above - a crop of Murdock from the still below from John Wayne's PARADISE CANYON (Lone Star/Monogram, 1935). | Perry Murdock
Full name: Perry Harrison Murdock 1901 - 1988
By the late 1930s, Murdock quit acting and moved behind the camera. In the 1940s, he was a member of the Property/Set Decoration group at Republic Pictures.
"One of the studio's top set dressers, (Earl) Wooden was in the good company of Moe Braun, Otto Siegel, James Redd, Charles Thompson, George Milo, and Perry Murdock who always embellished Republic sets with scrupulous realism and detail."
After the demise of Republic, Murdock performed set decoration duties at Universal. He also appied his set decoration talents on television, and his many TV credits include WAGON TRAIN, THE TALL MAN, LARAMIE, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, ALFRED HITCHCOCK, THE RESTLESS GUN, lots more.
Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Perry Murdock: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0613806/ |
The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), California Death Index, Social Security Death Index (SSDI), and death certificate provide more on Perry Murdock and family:
Above is a screen capture of Perry Murdock and Lafe McKee from Bob Steele's first sound film, NEAR THE RAINBOW'S END (Tiffany, 1930). In this, Steele and Murdock harmonize on a couple tunes including "Ragtime Cowboy Joe". (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from left to right are Perry Murdock (as Steele's helper 'Snicker'), Bob Steele and Barbara Luddy in a scene from Steele's HEADIN' NORTH (Tiffany, 1930). Luddy did other films and TV work, but is best remembered as the star of radio's "The First Nighter" program. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - leading lady Rita Rey and lawman Perry Murdock in a crop from a still from the Bob Steele OKLAHOMA CYCLONE (Tiffany, 1930). The director was J. P. McCarthy and Murdock was assistant director. (Courtesy of Dorothy Hack) Above from left to right are lawman Earl Dwire (standing), Gordon Clifford (sitting), Perry Murdock, John Wayne, Herman Hack (as a Deputy) and Reed Howes in a scene from Wayne's PARADISE CANYON (Lone Star/Monogram, 1935). In this one, Murdock and Clifford are singers/entertainers working on the medicine show run by fast talking Earle Hodgins. Gordon Clifford was a witness to the marriage of Perry to Erma Purviance in 1932. |