Audie Murphy legacy

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The Audie Murphy legacy or cultural influence involves events and organizations that endure beyond the lifetime of Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated soldier during World War II, and who also became a Hollywood actor appearing in 44 films and on various television shows.^[1] The legacy also connects Audie Murphy with many other people beyond his personal biography.

Contents 1 Military citations 2 Audie Murphy clubs 3 Films made 4 Filmography 5 Iconic name 6 External links 7 Notes

[edit] Military citations

Audie Murphy became famous as the "most decorated soldier" during World War II, receiving 33 military citations. The list of citations for Audie Murphy also provides a snapshot of all the military honors that were established during World War II.

[edit] Audie Murphy clubs

In early 1986, the United States Army established the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club at Fort Hood, Texas,^[2][3] a post located in Killeen, Texas (halfway between Austin and Waco). Since 1994, other units of the U.S. Army have established chapters of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC)^[3] as exclusive clubs to honor noncommissioned officers (sergeants) who have acted in a manner consistent with the actions of Audie Murphy.^[2][3]

The SAMC membership selection process has four phases:^[2]

• Phase One: Army Commanders nominate their finest NCO leaders for selection as SAMC members. Candidates are screened by the unit to determine their leadership ability; training excellence (technical and tactical); care for Soldiers and families; commitment to Army Values; demonstration of Warrior Ethos, Soldier's Creed, and NCO Creed.

• Phase Two: Units conduct a performance evaluation, based on the training accomplishments of the candidates and their soldiers.

• Phase Three: Units conduct at least one screening board, which will evaluate the candidate's appearance, bearing, speaking and thinking abilities, mastery of common warrior tasks (hands-on evaluation) and Army policies and programs (question-answer evaluation).^[2]

• Phase Four: The SMDC CSM chairs the final selection board. This board focuses on a candidate's knowledge of their soldiers and families as well as Army policies and programs. Emphasis is on situational questions which have no single correct answer, but which force the candidates to apply policies and programs to given situations, and to defend the solutions.^[2]

[edit] Films made

Another notable aspect of Audie Murphy's legacy is the collection of films in which he appeared,^[1] some having been re-released as DVD videos.^[4] Because of Murphy's initial fame as a war hero, his military influence is often more noted than that of other contemporary Hollywood-actor servicemen, such as James Stewart, Karl Malden, and Elvis Presley. Audie Murphy appeared in 33 Hollywood westerns,^[1] but those films are not all formula-style pictures, as they include a range of productions spanning 20 years, including The Cimarron Kid, Destry, The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), No Name on the Bullet (1959) and A Time for Dying (1969).

[edit] Filmography

The following are films (or television shows) in which Audie Murphy appeared (listed in reverse chronological order, with name of character portrayed):^[1]

1. A Time for Dying (1969) .... Jesse James
2. 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967) .... Capt. Bruce Coburn
3. The Texican (1966) .... Jess Carlin
   ... aka "Texas Kid" (Spain)
4. Trunk to Cairo (1966) .... Mike Merrick
   ... aka "Cairo Campaign"
   ... aka "Einer spielt falsch" (West Germany)
   ... aka "Mivtza Kahir" (Israel: Hebrew title)
5. Gunpoint (1966) .... Chad Lucas
6. Arizona Raiders (1965) .... Clint Stewart
7. Apache Rifles (1964) .... Jeff Stanton
8. Bullet for a Badman (1964) .... Logan Keliher
   ... aka "Renegade Posse" (USA)
9. The Quick Gun (1964) .... Clint Cooper
10. Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) .... Bob 'Gif' Gifford aka Judd Tanner
    ... aka "Gun Fight at Comanche Creek" (USA: poster title)
11. War Is Hell (1963) .... Narrator
    ... aka "War Hero" (USA)
12. Showdown (1963) .... Chris Foster
13. Six Black Horses (1962) .... Ben Lane
14. Battle at Bloody Beach (1961) .... Craig Benson
    ... aka "Battle on the Beach" (UK)
15. "Whispering Smith" (1961) TV Series .... Det. Tom 'Whispering' Smith (unknown episodes)
16. Posse from Hell (1961) .... Banner Cole
17. Seven Ways from Sundown (1960) .... Seven Ways From Sundown Jones
18. The Unforgiven (1960) .... Cash Zachary
    (directed by John Huston, also starred Burt Lancaster & Audrey Hepburn)
19. Hell Bent for Leather (1960) .... Clay Santell
20. "Startime" .... Howard Wilton (1 episode, 1960)
    ... aka "Ford Startime"
    ... aka "Lincoln-Mercury Startime"
      - The Man (1960) TV Episode .... Howard Wilton
21. Cast a Long Shadow (1959) .... Matt Brown
22. The Wild and the Innocent (1959) .... Yancy Hawks
23. No Name on the Bullet (1959) .... John Gant
24. The Gun Runners (1958) .... Sam Martin
    ... aka "Gunrunners" (International: English title)
25. Ride a Crooked Trail (1958) .... Joe Maybe
26. "General Electric Theater" .... Tennessee (1 episode, 1958)
    ... aka "G.E. Theater" (USA: informal short title)
      - Incident (1958) TV Episode .... Tennessee
27. The Quiet American (1958) .... The American
    (based on British author Graham Greene's 1955 novel The Quiet American; a controversial film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, also starred Michael Redgrave and Giorgia Moll)
28. "Suspicion" .... Steve Murray (1 episode, 1957)
      - The Flight (1957) TV Episode .... Steve Murray
29. Night Passage (1957) .... The Utica Kid
    (an "A" level Western top-billing James Stewart)
30. Joe Butterfly (1957) .... Pvt. Joe Woodley
31. The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) .... Lt. Frank Hewitt
32. Walk the Proud Land (1956) .... John P. Clum
    ... aka "Apache Agent"
33. World in My Corner (1956) .... Tommy Shea
34. To Hell and Back (1955) .... Audie Murphy
35. Destry (1954) .... Tom Destry
    (a remake of the 1939 film titled Destry Rides Again.)
36. Drums Across the River (1954) .... Gary Brannon
37. Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) .... Clay O'Mara
    ... aka "The Breckenridge Story" (USA)
38. Tumbleweed (1953) .... Jim Harvey
    ... aka "Three Were Renegades" (USA)
39. Column South (1953) .... Lt. Jed Sayre
40. Gunsmoke (1953) .... Reb Kittridge
    ... aka "A Man's Country" (USA)
    ... aka "Roughshod" (USA)
41. The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) .... Luke Cromwell, The Silver Kid
    ... aka "Claim Jumpers" (USA)
42. The Cimarron Kid (1952) .... Bill Doolin aka The Cimarron Kid
43. The Red Badge of Courage (1951) .... The Youth
44. Kansas Raiders (1950) .... Jesse James
45. Sierra (1950) .... Ring Hassard
46. The Kid from Texas (1950) .... William Bonney ('Billy the Kid')
    ... aka "Texas Kid, Outlaw" (UK)
47. Bad Boy (1949) .... Danny Lester
    ... aka "The Story of Danny Lester"
48. Beyond Glory (1948) .... Thomas
49. Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948) .... Copy boy
    ... aka "The Girl from Texas" (UK)

The films from 1948 involved bit parts. The first starring role for Audie Murphy was in Bad Boy (1949).

[edit] Iconic name

Audie Murphy has become an American icon, with references to his name ("like Audie Murphy") implying various qualities, along with other related personalities:

• American hero: along with Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone;
• movie soldier hero: along with John Wayne and Henry Fonda;
• movie cowboy: along with Randolph Scott;
• lasting fame: with other names Airey Neave and Pappy Boyington;
• war hero: with other names Sergeant Alvin C. York (World War I), Jimmy Doolittle, Bob Howard, Colin Kelly, Colonel Pappy Boyington, Arthur MacArthur and John Basilone;
• conventional U.S. war hero: along with John Glenn;
• childhood hero: along with sports names, such as Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig (1903–1941);
• kill count: along with Neville Brand and Colonel Pappy Boyington.

Audie Murphy is also acknowledged for capturing many German prisoners during World War II.

[edit] External links

Audie Murphy at the Internet Movie Database

Audie Murphy legacy at Allmovie

[edit] Notes