Jonathan Murray (born October 26, 1955) is an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

and co-creator of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's '' The Real World'', ''

Road Rules ''Road Rules'' is an MTV reality show that was a sister show of the network's flagship reality show, '' The Real World''. The series debuted on July 19, 1995, and ended on May 9, 2007. This allowed ''Road Rules'' a total of 14 seasons and 12 yea ...

'' and '' The Challenge'', and the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel prima ...

's ''

Bad Girls Club ''Bad Girls Club'' (abbreviated ''BGC'') is an American reality television series created by Jonathan Murray for the Oxygen network in the United States. The show focused on the altercations and physical confrontations of seven aggressive, ...

''.

Early life

Murray was born in

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...

. He grew up in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

, and attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School and is currently in thei
Hall of Distinction
He attended

State University of New York at Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...

for two years before receiving his bachelor's degree in journalism from the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourt ...

, in 1977.

Career

In 1987, Murray founded Bunim-Murray with partner

Mary-Ellis Bunim Mary-Ellis Bunim (July 9, 1946 – January 29, 2004) was an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's '' The Real World'' and ''Road Rules''. Biography A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas. She oversaw ...

. Agent Mark Itkin of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...

put the two together to develop a scripted soap opera for MTV. When that was too expensive, they decided to try an unscripted soap and ''The Real World'' was born. "We knew within 20 minutes of shooting that we had a show," Bunim said. Murray and Bunim's company,

Bunim/Murray Productions Bunim/Murray Productions is an entertainment production company based out of Glendale, California, and is considered a pioneer in the reality television genre. It is best known for '' The Real World'', ''Road Rules'', ''Bad Girls Club''. Mary-El ...

, spearheaded the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

genre. Among the numerous other reality programs that Murray and Bunim co-created over the years were ''Road Rules'', ''Love Cruise'', ''Making the Band'', ''The Challenge'', the reality feature film ''

The Real Cancun ''The Real Cancun'' is a 2003 American reality film directed by Rick de Oliveira and written by Brian Caldirola. Inspired by the reality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13–23, 2003 as they celebrate ...

'', the real-life daily syndicated '' Starting Over'', as well as Fox's '' The Simple Life''. Bunim/Murray Productions are also executive producers on ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

'' for Lifetime and for ''

Total Divas ''Total Divas'' is an American reality television series that aired from July 28, 2013, to December 10, 2019, on E!. The series gave viewers an inside look into the lives of female WWE wrestlers from their work within WWE to their person ...

, ''

Keeping Up with the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian–Jenner blended family, airing between 2007 and 2021. Its prem ...

'', ''

Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami ''Kourtney and Kim Take Miami'' (previously titled ''Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami'') is an American reality television series. It premiered on E! on August 16, 2009, as the first ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' spin-off. The series origina ...

'', ''

Kourtney and Kim Take New York ''Kourtney and Kim Take New York'' is an American reality television series that premiered January 23, 2011, on E! and ran for two seasons. The series followed sisters Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian as they opened a Dash boutique in New ...

'', and '' Khloe and Lamar'', all on E!. Murray and Bunim were inducted into the

Television Academy Hall of Fame The Television Academy Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. The hall of fame was founded by former Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) president John H. Mitchell (1921–1988). In ...

in 2012.

Personal life

Murray's partner is Harvey Reese. They have been together since 1992. They adopted a son. Jonathan Murray's son Dyllan Murray is a current teen pop singer. Dyllan has recorded songs with major artists such as Meghan Trainor, Tyga, and Jack & Jack. Murray's niece, Hailey Murray, appeared on the daytime reality series, '' Starting Over'', another show he helped create, during the show's first season, with her mother, Lynnell.

References

External links

* *
Official website of Bunim/Murray Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Jonathan 1955 births Living people Television producers from New York (state) LGBT people from New York (state) Fayetteville-Manlius High School alumni American reality television producers Missouri School of Journalism alumni State University of New York at Geneseo alumni LGBT producers Businesspeople from Syracuse, New York People from Gulfport, Mississippi LGBT people from Mississippi People from Manlius, New York