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.
Known For
Double Indemnity
(1944)
Walter Neff
The Apartment
(1960)
Jeff D. Sheldrake
The Swarm
(1978)
Maj. Clarance Tuttle
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Double Indemnity") (archive footage)
The Caine Mutiny
(1954)
Lt. Thomas 'Tom' Keefer
The Absent-Minded Professor
(1961)
Ned Brainard
The Egg and I
(1947)
Bob MacDonald
Son of Flubber
(1963)
Ned Brainard
Los Angeles Plays Itself
(2004)
Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (archive footage)
Borderline
(1950)
Johnny McEvoy, aka Johnny Macklin
The Shaggy Dog
(1959)
Wilson Daniels
Family Honeymoon
(1948)
Grant Jordan
The Far Horizons
(1955)
Cpt. Meriwether Lewis
Follow Me, Boys!
(1966)
Lemuel Siddons
Pushover
(1954)
Paul Sheridan
True Confession
(1937)
Kenneth Bartlett
Full Filmography
Acting
Tiger Rose
(1929)
Rancher
The Bride Comes Home
(1935)
Cyrus Anderson
Car 99
(1935)
Trooper Ross Martin
Grand Old Girl
(1935)
Sandy
Men Without Names
(1935)
Richard Hood
Alice Adams
(1935)
Arthur Russell
Hands Across the Table
(1935)
Theodore Drew III
The Gilded Lily
(1935)
Peter Dawes
The Princess Comes Across
(1936)
King Mantell
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
(1936)
Jack Hale
The Texas Rangers
(1936)
Jim Hawkins
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
(1936)
Self
13 Hours by Air
(1936)
Jack Gordon
Swing High, Swing Low
(1937)
Skid Johnson
True Confession
(1937)
Kenneth Bartlett
Champagne Waltz
(1937)
Buzzy Bellew
Exclusive
(1937)
Ralph Houston
Maid of Salem
(1937)
Roger Coverman
Cocoanut Grove
(1938)
Johnny Prentice
Sing, You Sinners
(1938)
David Beebe
Men with Wings
(1938)
Pat Falconer
Cafe Society
(1939)
Crick O'Bannon
Invitation to Happiness
(1939)
Albert 'King' Cole
Honeymoon in Bali
(1939)
Bill Burnett
Little Old New York
(1940)
Charles Brownne
Remember the Night
(1940)
Jack Sargent
Rangers of Fortune
(1940)
Gil Farra
Too Many Husbands
(1940)
Bill Cardew
Dive Bomber
(1941)
Joe Blake
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1
(1941)
Himself
One Night In Lisbon
(1941)
Dwight Houston
New York Town
(1941)
Victor Ballard
Virginia
(1941)
Stonewall Elliott
Take a Letter, Darling
(1942)
Tom Verney
Breakdowns of 1942
(1942)
Self
Star Spangled Rhythm
(1942)
Frank
The Lady Is Willing
(1942)
Corey McBain
The Forest Rangers
(1942)
Don Stuart
Above Suspicion
(1943)
Richard Myles
No Time for Love
(1943)
Jim Ryan
The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith
(1943)
Narrator Prolog (uncredited)
Show-Business at War
(1943)
Self
Flight for Freedom
(1943)
Randy Britton
Standing Room Only
(1944)
Lee Stevens
And the Angels Sing
(1944)
Happy Morgan
Practically Yours
(1944)
Daniel Bellamy
Double Indemnity
(1944)
Walter Neff
Captain Eddie
(1945)
Eddie Rickenbacker
Pardon My Past
(1945)
Eddie York / Francis Pemberton
Where Do We Go from Here?
(1945)
Bill Morgan
Murder, He Says
(1945)
Pete Marshall
Smoky
(1946)
Clint Barkley
Singapore
(1947)
Matt Gordon
The Egg and I
(1947)
Bob MacDonald
Suddenly It's Spring
(1947)
Peter Morely
Family Honeymoon
(1948)
Grant Jordan
On Our Merry Way
(1948)
Al
The Miracle of the Bells
(1948)
William 'Bill' Dunnigan
An Innocent Affair
(1948)
Vincent Doane
Father Was a Fullback
(1949)
George Cooper
Never a Dull Moment
(1950)
Chris Hayward
Borderline
(1950)
Johnny McEvoy, aka Johnny Macklin
Callaway Went Thataway
(1951)
Mike Frye
A Millionaire for Christy
(1951)
Peter Ulysses Lockwood
Fair Wind to Java
(1953)
Captain Boll
The Moonlighter
(1953)
Wes Anderson
Woman's World
(1954)
Sid Burns
A Star Is Born World Premiere
(1954)
Self
The Caine Mutiny
(1954)
Lt. Thomas 'Tom' Keefer
Pushover
(1954)
Paul Sheridan
At Gunpoint
(1955)
Jack Wright
The Far Horizons
(1955)
Cpt. Meriwether Lewis
The Rains of Ranchipur
(1955)
Thomas "Tom" Ransome
Gun for a Coward
(1956)
Will Keough
There's Always Tomorrow
(1956)
Clifford Groves
Quantez
(1957)
Gentry
Day of the Badman
(1958)
Judge Jim Scott
The Oregon Trail
(1959)
Neal Harris
Face of a Fugitive
(1959)
Jim Larsen (aka Ray Kincaid)
The Shaggy Dog
(1959)
Wilson Daniels
Disneyland '59
(1959)
Self
Good Day for a Hanging
(1959)
Marshal Ben Cutler
Gala Day at Disneyland
(1960)
Himself
The Apartment
(1960)
Jeff D. Sheldrake
The Absent-Minded Professor
(1961)
Ned Brainard
Bon Voyage!
(1962)
Harry Willard
Son of Flubber
(1963)
Ned Brainard
Kisses for My President
(1964)
Thad McCloud
Follow Me, Boys!
(1966)
Lemuel Siddons
The Happiest Millionaire
(1967)
Anthony J. Drexel Biddle
The Movie Orgy
(1968)
Self (archive footage)
Charley and the Angel
(1973)
Charley Appleby
The Chadwick Family
(1974)
Ned Chadwick
Beyond the Bermuda Triangle
(1975)
Harry Ballinger
Joys
(1976)
Self
The Swarm
(1978)
Maj. Clarance Tuttle
Inside 'the Swarm'
(1978)
Self
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Double Indemnity") (archive footage)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
(1985)
Self (archive footage)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
Anthony Quinn: An Original
(1990)
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
(1991)
Self (archive footage)
Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door
(1996)
Self (archive footage)
Los Angeles Plays Itself
(2004)
Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (archive footage)
The Shaggy Dog Kids
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Fred MacMurray: With Fondness
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Shadows of Suspense
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Inside 'The Apartment'
(2008)
Self (archive footage)
This Is Bob Hope...
(2017)
Self (archive footage)
Production