Episode 254

Character actor Sam McMurray's media path winds through connections, coincidences and many, MANY contacts with industry legends (and assorted relations.) Sam carves a path through the backroads of Friends, The Golden Girls, Freaks & Geeks, Raising Arizona, The King Of Queens and beyond while we scramble to keep up!

Raised in New York by actor parents, his dad was on The Edge Of Night. His mom graced Broadway and Off Broadway stages and Sam, an athlete, nursed a high school broken heart by running straight for what felt like home, the school theater. He’s been an actor ever since.

His Hollywood career began when he and his wife headed west in 1986. He was quickly cast in The Jeffersons, The Ropers and Hill Street Blues. He was on his way to becoming one of the most recognizable faces on the screen.

Sam shares insights from inside a career defined by a wide range of memorable appearances. He tells the  story of meeting a 17 year old Matthew Perry while working on The Tracey Ullman Show. It would not be until ten years later that Sam’s stage directions, on Friends, instructed him to smack Matt in the butt. 

Sam shares his thoughts and concerns about the migration of Hollywood production to other states and countries and how the audition process has become so much less personal via Zoom calls and self-tapes. 

We discuss the McCarthy era as Sam’s parents were both under fire and even skipped town for Florida when they got wind that a subpoena for his mom to appear before HUAC was heading their way. The red scare and its impact on creative voices has informed the course of his life.

We also explore the wide variety of mediums in which he has worked. From television and film to web series, like Then We Got Help! Sam also returned to the stage after many years away. How did he salvage the night when he went up on his lines playing a gravedigger in the 2019 play, Buzz, about groundbreaking British theater director Buzz Goodbody? His story will delight you.

He also shares personal anecdotes about legends Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Kevin James, Steve Martin, and Tom Hanks.  

And, with refreshing honesty, Sam admits that not every role, in a long career, receives the same level of focus. Some projects demand everything an actor has to breathe life into the part, and he’ll wonder if there was more he could have given. While others, like The Sopranos, are so brilliantly written that embodying the character is a joy.

By the time we made our way to IMDB Roulette we knew that this was an interview to be studied and interpreted by future entertainment historians, as Sam guides us through the threads and relationships which become the fabric of our entertainment. 

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