Kevin Murphy (actor): Difference between revisions
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'''Kevin Wagner Murphy''' (born [[November 3]], [[1956]] in [[River Forest, Illinois]]) is |
'''Kevin Wagner Murphy''' (born [[November 3]], [[1956]] in [[River Forest, Illinois]]) is an [[American]] [[actor]] best known as the voice and [[puppeteer]] of [[Tom Servo]] on the [[Peabody Award]]-winning [[comedy]] series ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. |
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==Biography== |
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===MST3K era=== |
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For eleven years he was a writer for MST3K; for nine of those years, Murphy voiced and operated the robot [[Tom Servo]], replacing original cast member [[J. Elvis Weinstein]]. After taking over the role of Servo, an anonymous person sent him a six-foot long banner that read "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE." Flattered by the enormous amount of effort taken to heckle him, Murphy hung the banner in his office for over a year. During the final three years of the series he additionally portrayed [[Professor Bobo]], an English-speaking [[mountain gorilla]] in the style of ''[[Planet of the Apes (1968 film)|Planet of the Apes]]''. |
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After the end of ''MST3K'', Murphy spent the year 2001 going to a different movie every day (including [[September 11]]) and wrote a book about this experience, entitled ''[[A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey]]''. During his year at the movies, Murphy samples theatres from small-town boxes to urban megaplexes, attempts (and rejects) a theatre-food [[Dieting|diet]], suffers a [[kidney stone]], visits both the [[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]] and [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]] [[film festival]]s, sneaks Thanks-giving dinner into a showing of ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'', and records all of these experiences, both good and bad. His feat — viewing 360+ films on four continents — was mentioned in [[Ripley's Believe It or Not]]. |
After the end of ''MST3K'', Murphy spent the year 2001 going to a different movie every day (including [[September 11]]) and wrote a book about this experience, entitled ''[[A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey]]''. During his year at the movies, Murphy samples theatres from small-town boxes to urban megaplexes, attempts (and rejects) a theatre-food [[Dieting|diet]], suffers a [[kidney stone]], visits both the [[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]] and [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]] [[film festival]]s, sneaks Thanks-giving dinner into a showing of ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'', and records all of these experiences, both good and bad. His feat — viewing 360+ films on four continents — was mentioned in [[Ripley's Believe It or Not]]. |
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Murphy holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Directing for the Stage and Screen, both from the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]. Murphy lives in the [[Minneapolis-St. Paul]] area with his wife, Jane. |
Murphy holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Directing for the Stage and Screen, both from the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]. Murphy lives in the [[Minneapolis-St. Paul]] area with his wife, Jane. |
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===RiffTrax era=== |
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Starting in 2006, Murphy has joined [[Michael J. Nelson]] on many audio commentaries for Nelson's [[RiffTrax]] service. |
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Starting in 2006, Murphy has joined [[Michael J. Nelson]] on many audio commentaries for Nelson's [[RiffTrax]] service. He is notably absent from Joel Hodgson's ''[[Cinematic Titanic]]'' series, which includes most of the original cast of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. During a 2008 interview, Hodgson was asked if Murphy harbored any sort of animosity towards him or the ''Cinematic Titanic'' members; he responded: "I can't really speak for him. We saw him at [[ComicCon]], and we did the Mystery Science Theater 20th anniversary panel, and he seemed totally happy to be there, willing to be there, but he's doing RiffTrax."<ref>http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/19/interview_cinematic_titanicmst3k.php</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 22:36, 20 December 2008
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| Born | |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, puppeteer, television writer, author |
| Spouse | Jane Murphy |
| Website | http://www.ayearatthemovies.com |
Kevin Wagner Murphy (born November 3, 1956 in River Forest, Illinois) is an American actor best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Biography
MST3K era
For eleven years he was a writer for MST3K; for nine of those years, Murphy voiced and operated the robot Tom Servo, replacing original cast member J. Elvis Weinstein. After taking over the role of Servo, an anonymous person sent him a six-foot long banner that read "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE." Flattered by the enormous amount of effort taken to heckle him, Murphy hung the banner in his office for over a year. During the final three years of the series he additionally portrayed Professor Bobo, an English-speaking mountain gorilla in the style of Planet of the Apes.
After the end of MST3K, Murphy spent the year 2001 going to a different movie every day (including September 11) and wrote a book about this experience, entitled A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey. During his year at the movies, Murphy samples theatres from small-town boxes to urban megaplexes, attempts (and rejects) a theatre-food diet, suffers a kidney stone, visits both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals, sneaks Thanks-giving dinner into a showing of Monsters, Inc., and records all of these experiences, both good and bad. His feat — viewing 360+ films on four continents — was mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Murphy holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Directing for the Stage and Screen, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Murphy lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area with his wife, Jane.
RiffTrax era
Starting in 2006, Murphy has joined Michael J. Nelson on many audio commentaries for Nelson's RiffTrax service. He is notably absent from Joel Hodgson's Cinematic Titanic series, which includes most of the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. During a 2008 interview, Hodgson was asked if Murphy harbored any sort of animosity towards him or the Cinematic Titanic members; he responded: "I can't really speak for him. We saw him at ComicCon, and we did the Mystery Science Theater 20th anniversary panel, and he seemed totally happy to be there, willing to be there, but he's doing RiffTrax."[1]
See also
External links
