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A hero like no other: Audie Murphy

Flags flown at Dallas City Hall. Photo/Leslie Wagner

Although military records show his year of birth year to be 1924, Audie Leon Murphy may have been born in 1926, but lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1942, failing to enlist in the U.S. Marines Corps after his mother died in 1941. He grew up in Hunt County and was born near Kingston, Texas, one of many children born to sharecroppers Emmett and Josie Murphy. He attended school in Celeste, Texas and left school with only an eighth grade education to find enough work to support his mother and siblings during the Great Depression.

 

With his youthful good looks and pleasing personality, along with being a celebrated hero, Audie Murphy headed to Hollywood in September 1945 at the invitation of James Cagney, but struggled along with small bit roles until his big break in 1949 in Bad Boy. During his Hollywood struggle, he filled his spare time by writing his autobiography, To Hell and Back, which became a bestseller in 1949. He signed a film contract in 1950 with Universal-International and proceeded to make 23 westerns among his 26 films for the studio. In 1955, the studio premiered the movie version of his autobiography, which held Universal’s top-grossing movie record until Jaws came along in 1975. The youthful Audie Murphy played himself in the film. He left Universal in 1965, and made an additional 18 films. His female costars included Sandra Dee, Audrey Hepburn, Gale Storm, Barbara Rush, Anne Bancroft, Gia Scala, and Fort Worth’s celebrated Ruta Lee.

 

Audie Murphy made his fortune in Hollywood, but is said to have lost his fortune three times over to gambling. Audie Murphy owned ranches in Perris, California, in Tuscon, Arizona, and here in Addison, Texas, raising prize thoroughbred racing horses. His small ranch in Addison was bought back in the 1950s when much of Addison was open prairie. The home had originally been built in 1930, and in 1980, the home which bears the address 14671 Midway Road, was purchased by new owners and converted into Dovie’s Restaurant while maintaining much of the home’s original character; Dovie’s, however, is no longer in business, although the building is still there, set back from the main road behind larger commercial buildings which now surround it. A portrait of Audie Murphy, painted by the renowned Dallas portrait artist, Dimitri Vail  had hung in the home, but its ownership reverted to the Murphy family. Much of Vail’s work captured the spiritual essence of his subjects, and his work included portraits of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

 

The small community of Farmersville, west of Greenville, has a downtown memorial in his honor at the corner of McKinney and Washington Streets. There are several Texas State Historical markers in Hunt County covering various aspects of his life, including one which notes his birthplace near Kingston, Texas and one attributing Celeste as his hometown. The American Cotton Museum in Greenville, Texas has a major exhibit devoted to Audie Murphy and annually celebrates Audie Murphy Days during the last weekend of June.

 

Unlike most World War II veterans who kept a lid on their emotional turmoil from the war, Audie Murphy recognized his own struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, then labeled ‘battle fatigue,’ and urged the government to conduct research and provide support for Korean and Vietnam War era veterans suffering from PTSD. The Veterans hospital in San Antonio was named for Audie Murphy in 1971, just months after his death at age 46 in a private airplane crash. His birthday, June 20^th, was declared Audie Murphy Day in Texas. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery near the Amphitheater, and his grave is the second most visited gravesite there, second only to that of John F. Kennedy.

 

 For more info: .Audie Murphy Memorial Website