F. Murray Abraham

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F. Murray Abraham

Born Fahrid Murray Abraham
October 24, 1939 (1939-10-24) (age 68)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Other name(s) Frank Murray Abraham
Occupation Actor, presenter
Years active 1971-present
Spouse(s) Kate Hannan (1962-present)

Fahrid Murray Abraham[1] (born October 24, 1939) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. He became known during the 1980s, after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Amadeus, and has since appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films, television, and mainly on stage.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Abraham was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Josephine, a housewife, and Fahrid Abraham, an auto mechanic.[1] His father was an Assyrian[2] Christian who immigrated from Syria during the 1920s famine; his paternal grandfather was a chanter in the Syriac Orthodox Church.[1] Abraham's mother, one of fourteen children, was an Italian American, the daughter of an immigrant who worked in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania.[1] Abraham was raised in El Paso, Texas, near the Mexican border, where he was a gang member during his teenage years.[1] He attended the University of Texas at Austin, then studied acting under Uta Hagen in New York City. He began his acting career on the stage, debuting in a Los Angeles production of Ray Bradbury's The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit.

[edit] Career

Abraham can be seen as one of the undercover cops along with Al Pacino in the film Serpico. He also appears very early in All the President's Men as one of the police officers who arrests the Watergate burglars in the offices of the Democratic National Headquarters.

Prior to his acclaimed role in Amadeus, Abraham was perhaps best known to audiences as a talking leaf in a series of television commercials for Fruit of the Loom underwear.[3] He worked with Pacino again in the gangster film "Scarface" in 1983, playing drug dealer Omar Suarez. Abraham won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984). After Amadeus he has mainly focused on classical theatre, and has starred in many Shakespearean productions such as Othello and Richard III, as well as many other plays by the likes of Samuel Beckett and Gilbert and Sullivan.

Abraham has focused on stage work throughout his career, giving notable performances as Pozzo in Mike Nichols' production of Waiting for Godot, Malvolio in Twelfth Night for the New York Shakespeare Festival, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice for a New York based theatre company called Theatre For A New Audience (TFANA) which has been performed in March 2007 at The Swan Theatre, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Abraham's movie career has been held up by many critics as an example of the "Oscar jinx," in that he has not achieved the stardom that other actors have achieved after winning the Academy Award. However, Abraham himself rejects this notion. He once told an interviewer, "The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I'll take two."

In the same interview, Abraham said, "Even though I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway [in New York] and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing."

[edit] Personal life

Abraham has been married to Kate Hannan since 1962; they have two children.[4] He taught Theater at Brooklyn College.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1971 They Might Be Giants Clyde the usher
1973 Serpico Detective partner uncredited
1975 The Prisoner of Second Avenue Taxi Driver
1976 All the President's Men Sgt. Paul Leeper, Arresting Officer #1
The Ritz Chris
1978 The Big Fix Eppis
Madman
1983 Scarface Omar Suarez
1984 Amadeus Antonio Salieri Academy Award for Best Actor
1986 The Name of the Rose Bernardo Gui
1988 Russicum - I giorni del diavolo aka The Third Solution
1989 The Favorite Abdul Hamid aka Intimate Power
An Innocent Man Virgil Cane
Slipstream Cornelius (at Museum)
Beyond the Stars Dr. Harry Bertram, the Whale Man
Eye of the Widow Kharoun
1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities D.A. Abe Weiss uncredited
La Batalla de los Tres Reyes Osrain aka Drums of Fire, English title
Cadence Capt. Ramon Garcia uncredited
1991 Mobsters Arnold Rothstein aka The Evil Empire
Money Will Scarlet
By the Sword Max Suba
1993 Last Action Hero John Practice
Sweet Killing Zargo
Through an Open Window
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon Dr. Harold Leacher
1994 Nostradamus Scalinger
Surviving the Game Wolfe Sr.
L’Affaire Lucien Haslans aka The Case
Jamila Older Seit
Fresh Chess Hustler uncredited
1995 Mighty Aphrodite Leader
Dillinger and Capone Al Capone
Baby Face Nelson Al Capone
1996 Children of the Revolution Josef ‘Uncle Joe’ Stalin
1997 Mimic Dr. Gates
Eruption President Mendoza
1998 Star Trek: Insurrection Ad’har Ru’afo
1999 Excellent Cadavers Tommaso Buscetta
The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in 'For Love or Mummy' Prof. Covington
Muppets From Space Noah
2000 Finding Forrester Prof. Robert Crawford
2001 Th13een Ghosts Cyrus Kriticos
I Cavalieri che fecero l'impresa Delfinello da Coverzano aka The Knights of the Quest USA title
2002 Joshua Father Tardone
Ticker Airport Guru aka The Hire: Ticker
2003 My Father, Rua Alguem 5555 Paul Minsky aka Josef Mengele – My Father
Piazza delle cinque lune Entita aka Five Moons Plaza - English title
2004 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Viceroy of Peru
Peperoni ripieni e pesci in faccia Jeffrey aka Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers – USA title
Another Way of Seeing Things Narrator
2006 L’Inchiesta Nathan aka The Inquiry – English title
Quiet Flows the Don Pantaley
Il Mercante di pietre Shahid aka The Stone Merchant – English title
A House Divided Grandfather Wahid
2007 Carnera: The Walking Mountain Leon See
Come le formiche Ruggero aka Wine and Kisses – English title
Perestroika Prof. Gross
2008 BloodMonkey Professor Hamilton

[edit] Theatre credits

Awards
Preceded by
Robert Duvall
for Tender Mercies		 Academy Award for Best Actor
1984
for Amadeus		 Succeeded by
William Hurt
for Kiss of the Spider Woman

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Salomon, Andrew. "The Lion in Winter", Backstage.com, 2007-02-15. Retrieved on 2007-02-15. 
  2. ^ F. Murray Abraham, Oscar Winner, Seeks Tolerance Through Arts
  3. ^ F. Murray Abraham Biography - Yahoo! Movies
  4. ^ http://www.amadeusimmortal.com/movie/abraham.php

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Actor

Henry Fonda (1981) · Ben Kingsley (1982) · Robert Duvall (1983) · F. Murray Abraham (1984) · William Hurt (1985) · Paul Newman (1986) · Michael Douglas (1987) · Dustin Hoffman (1988) · Daniel Day-Lewis (1989) · Jeremy Irons (1990) · Anthony Hopkins (1991) · Al Pacino (1992) · Tom Hanks (1993) · Tom Hanks (1994) · Nicolas Cage (1995) · Geoffrey Rush (1996) · Jack Nicholson (1997) · Roberto Benigni (1998) · Kevin Spacey (1999) · Russell Crowe (2000)

Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME Abraham, F. Murray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abraham, Fahrid Murray
SHORT DESCRIPTION actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH