Though he looked and acted like a true Son of Ireland (one suspected he was born with a clay pipe in his mouth), Charlie Murray was born in Laurel, IN. He began his show business career as a circus performer, later appearing in vaudeville as one-half of the popular Mack and Murray comedy team. Entering films in 1911, he joined Mack Sennett's Keystone troupe the following year, quickly building up a huge following with his slapstick comedy characterizations (at first he was unbilled, identified only as "Hogan"). Alternating between features and two-reelers into the 1920s, he gained a whole new flock of fans when he began appearing in the Cohens and the Kellys series in 1925, playing opposite portly Jewish comedian George Sidney. Murray and Sidney continued to work together well into the early talkie era, at one point co-starring in a group of Columbia two-reelers. Charlie Murray kept busy in character roles until his retirement at age 66; his son, Charlie Murray Jr., also enjoyed a brief Hollywood career.
by Hal Erickson
biography
