Frederic Seymour Murray (May 15, 1894 – July 16, 1973), known as Fred Murray or Feg Murray, was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 meter hurdles. He won a bronze medal in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

. After his athletic career ended, Murray became a well-known artist, writer, and cartoonist. He drew a daily comic strip called "Seein' Stars" from 1933 until 1941. A Sunday-only version continued until 1951. Murray was also the host of the radio show ''

The Baker's Broadcast ''The Baker's Broadcast'' is the name applied to three old-time radio variety programs in the United States. The first one went on the air October 8, 1933; the third one's last broadcast was June 26, 1938. The name applied to all three apparently w ...

'' in its final year in 1938.

Biography

Murray was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1894, the second oldest of five children. His older brother was chemist and tennis champion

Robert Lindley Murray Robert Lindley Murray (November 2, 1892 – January 17, 1970) was an American chemist and tennis player. Early life Robert Lindley Murray was born in San Francisco, California to Augustus Taber Murray and Nellie Howland Gifford. He graduated fr ...

. Feg Murray competed for the United States in the

held in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the 110 meter hurdles where he won the bronze medal. He had been captain of the track team at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1916. He was the 1915 U.S. National Champion in the 120 yard high hurdles and the 1915 and 1916 National Champion in the 220 yard

low hurdles Low hurdle races are a generally defunct form of track and field hurdle racing. The event, generally run at or near a distance of 200 metres, was popular through 1960 at the international level. After that, the IAAF stopped ratifying records in ...

. In 1917, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Murray went to France as part of the

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946 ...

of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. In April 1918, he enlisted in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

, where he served in the trenches. After the war, Murray returned to Stanford, where he became head coach of the track team for a year. After studying at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, Murray began drawing sports-related cartoons for '' The Sun'' and

United Media United Media was a large Column (periodical), editorial column and comic strip newspaper print syndication, syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comi ...

, which syndicated his work. He returned to California in 1934, and worked for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' as a sports columnist and cartoonist. He also drew the daily cartoon "Seein' Stars", syndicated by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

, in which Murray drew Hollywood celebrities accompanied by brief anecdotes. Murray died in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and municipal corporation, incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its n ...

at the age of 79.

Personal life

Murray got his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in graphics arts from

in 1916. He married Dorothy Hanna in 1920.

References

External links

* * *
Lambiek Comiclopedia article about Feg Murray.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Feg American male hurdlers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics 1894 births 1973 deaths Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from San Francisco Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics American cartoonists American comics artists American radio DJs