Jack Murdock (October 28, 1922 – April 27, 2001) was an American actor.
He was born in
Urbana, Ohio
Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is the burial place ...
to performer parents. His father had a vaudeville group called Teck Murdock and Company; his mother and her sister had an act called The Kennedy Sisters. The two acts combined as Teck Murdock and the Kennedy sisters. He lived with an aunt and uncle in
Put-in-Bay
Put-in-Bay is a village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, east of Toledo. The population was 154 at the 2020 census.
The village is a popular summer resort and recreational destinati ...
in
South Bass Island
South Bass Island is a small island in western Lake Erie, and a part of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. It is the southernmost of the three Bass Islands and located 3 miles (4.6 km) from the south shore of Lake Erie. It is the third l ...
.
Murdock enlisted in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
after he graduated from high school; he served as a
gunner's mate
The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" schoo ...
in the north
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Murdock, who intended to study law, earned a bachelor's degree in speech from the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
WBNS-TV
WBNS-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside the company's sole radio properties, WBNS (1460 AM) and WBNS-FM (97.1). The stations share studios on Twi ...
in Columbus. He hosted an afternoon show with
Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...
.
St. Louis
Murdock came to the St. Louis, Missouri area in 1953 to serve as director and star of ''Coffee Break'', a morning program on WTVI in Belleville, Illinois. He cowrote and costarred in ''Hiram and Sneed''. He started as the host of ''Apartment Eleven'', an interview show, on KPLR in St. Louis in 1960.
Another role was as Kronos, the host of the television show ''Zone 2'' on
KTVI
KTVI (channel 2) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station KPLR-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios o ...
from August 1965 to August 1966. The show was named ''Zone 2'' because KTVI-TV (the local ABC affiliate at the time) broadcast on Channel 2. It aired low-budget science fiction and horror movies. It aired at 3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. The movies shown were severely edited to fit into the time slot, to make room for commercials, and to allow for Kronos to introduce each segment.
He hosted the local KTVI-TV presentation of '' Adventures of Superman'' in 1962, appearing as Mr. Willoughby on a program called ''Treehouse Time''. Mr. Willoughby lived in a treehouse and introduced Superman and a cartoon from there. The show was 45 minutes long, leaving 15 minutes for local news at the head of the hour.
Murdock was active in theatre productions in the St. Louis area, including at
The Muny
The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheatre, amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first ...
and at the old Crystal Palace in Gaslight Square.
He served as master of ceremonies at the St. Louis bicentennial activities center dedication in 1964.
Murdock was also familiar to St. Louis television viewers as the personification of "Grandpa Pidgeon" on commercials for the
GrandPa's
GrandPa's or GrandPa Pidgeon's was a discount store founded in 1954 by Tom and Mildred Pidgeon, spreading across the midwest from its Bridgeton, Missouri (located in St. Louis County) origins, which remained truly "discount", when most others lik ...
chain of 15 discount retail stores in the St. Louis area.
New York
Murdock left St. Louis in 1968 to pursue a career on Broadway. He lived in
Glen Rock, New Jersey
Glen Rock is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,133, reflecting an increase of 532 (+4.6%) from the 11,601 counted in the 2010 census,
Hollywood
Murdock and his wife moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. He appeared in 50 films between
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
and
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
.
Murdock appeared in ''
Big Top Pee-Wee
''Big Top Pee-wee'' is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser. A stand-alone sequel to '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' (1985), the film stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman with Susan Tyrrell, Kris Kristofferson, Penelope Ann Mil ...
'' with
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
natives Albert Henderson and David Byrd.
Later life
Murdock had a wife, Bette Graf, and two children: Teck and Christine.
He died in Burbank, California of emphysema at age seventy-eight. His remains were cremated.