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Kevin Murphy (actor)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American
actor
and writer
best known as the voice and puppeteer
of Tom Servo
on the Peabody Award
-winning comedy
series Mystery Science Theater 3000
.
, where he studied stage, film, and television directing and earned a Master of Arts
degree. After graduation he worked on the staff of Madison PBS affiliate WHA-TV. Murphy's production work on Jim Mallon
's 1987 horror film, Blood Hook
, led to Murphy following Mallon to Minneapolis
television station KTMA, where Mystery Science Theater 3000 began airing the following year.
, replacing original cast member J. Elvis Weinstein
. After taking over the role of Servo, an anonymous person sent him a 6 feet (1.8 m) banner that read "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE." Flattered by the enormous amount of effort taken to heckle him, Murphy hung the banner in his office for over a year. During the final three years of the series he additionally portrayed Professor Bobo
, an English-speaking mountain gorilla
in the style of Planet of the Apes
.
After the end of MST3K, Murphy spent the year 2001 going to a different movie every day and wrote a book about this experience, entitled A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey
. During his year at the movies, Murphy samples theatres from small-town boxes to urban megaplexes, attempts (and rejects) a theatre-food diet
, suffers a kidney stone
, visits both the Sundance
and Cannes
film festival
s, sneaks Thanksgiving dinner
into a showing of Monsters, Inc.
, and records all of these experiences, both good and bad. His feat — viewing over four hundred films on four continents — was mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Murphy holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Utah and an M.A. in Directing for the Stage and Screen, from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. Murphy resides in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area with his wife, Jane.
on many audio commentaries for Nelson's RiffTrax
movie-riffing website, along with MST Alumnus Bill Corbett
. He is notably absent from Joel Hodgson's
Cinematic Titanic
series, which includes most of the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. During a 2008 interview, Hodgson was asked if Murphy harbored any sort of animosity towards him or the Cinematic Titanic members; he responded: "I can't really speak for him. We saw him at ComicCon, and we did the Mystery Science Theater 20th anniversary panel, and he seemed totally happy to be there, willing to be there, but he's doing RiffTrax."
Murphy also did not appear in a 2008 reunion sketch, which otherwise featured all of the original cast members from the Comedy Central era reprising their roles (excluding Weinstein). The brief skit was included as a bonus feature on the The Giant Gila Monster
disc of the MST3K Volume 10 DVD.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
best known as the voice and puppeteer
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
of Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
on the Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
-winning comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
Early career
Murphy was educated at the University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, where he studied stage, film, and television directing and earned a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree. After graduation he worked on the staff of Madison PBS affiliate WHA-TV. Murphy's production work on Jim Mallon
Jim Mallon
Jim Mallon is an American television and film producer and writer, most notable for being executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000 ...
's 1987 horror film, Blood Hook
Blood Hook
-Plot:The plot of the film revolves around a murderer killing fishermen with an over-sized fishhook during a Wisconsin fishing festival. The film was shot on location in the community of Hayward, Wisconsin; the town's landmark giant fiberglass muskie is prominently featured in the film...
, led to Murphy following Mallon to Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
television station KTMA, where Mystery Science Theater 3000 began airing the following year.
MST3K era
For eleven years Murphy was a writer for MST3K; for nine of those years, he also voiced and operated the robot Tom ServoTom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
, replacing original cast member J. Elvis Weinstein
J. Elvis Weinstein
Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
. After taking over the role of Servo, an anonymous person sent him a 6 feet (1.8 m) banner that read "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE." Flattered by the enormous amount of effort taken to heckle him, Murphy hung the banner in his office for over a year. During the final three years of the series he additionally portrayed Professor Bobo
Professor Bobo
Professor Bobo is a fictional character who appeared in the final three seasons of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a comedy television series that mocks B-movies...
, an English-speaking mountain gorilla
Mountain Gorilla
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic...
in the style of Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (1968 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
.
After the end of MST3K, Murphy spent the year 2001 going to a different movie every day and wrote a book about this experience, entitled A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey
A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey
A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey is a book written by Kevin Murphy about his experiences of seeing a movie each day, for the entire year of 2001. Much of the content derives not only from Murphy's "filmgoing odyssey" but also from his thoughts and observations on the changing...
. During his year at the movies, Murphy samples theatres from small-town boxes to urban megaplexes, attempts (and rejects) a theatre-food diet
Dieting
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...
, suffers a kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
, visits both the Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s, sneaks Thanksgiving dinner
Thanksgiving dinner
The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, generally centered around a large roasted turkey. The majority of the dishes in the...
into a showing of Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...
, and records all of these experiences, both good and bad. His feat — viewing over four hundred films on four continents — was mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Murphy holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Utah and an M.A. in Directing for the Stage and Screen, from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. Murphy resides in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area with his wife, Jane.
RiffTrax era
Starting in 2006, Murphy has joined Michael J. NelsonMichael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
on many audio commentaries for Nelson's RiffTrax
RiffTrax
RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital...
movie-riffing website, along with MST Alumnus Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , for which he voiced the robot Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel and played the character...
. He is notably absent from Joel Hodgson's
Joel Hodgson
Joel Gordon Hodgson is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000 and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson. In 2007 MST3K was listed as "one of the top 100 television shows of all time" by Time.com...
Cinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic is a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator and original host, Joel Hodgson.The project involves "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K....
series, which includes most of the original cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000. During a 2008 interview, Hodgson was asked if Murphy harbored any sort of animosity towards him or the Cinematic Titanic members; he responded: "I can't really speak for him. We saw him at ComicCon, and we did the Mystery Science Theater 20th anniversary panel, and he seemed totally happy to be there, willing to be there, but he's doing RiffTrax."
Murphy also did not appear in a 2008 reunion sketch, which otherwise featured all of the original cast members from the Comedy Central era reprising their roles (excluding Weinstein). The brief skit was included as a bonus feature on the The Giant Gila Monster
The Giant Gila Monster
The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 black-and-white science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis. It stars Don Sullivan, Lisa Simone, as well as Fred Graham, Shug Fisher and Bob Thompson. This low-budget B-Movie featured a cast of unknown actors, and the effects included a...
disc of the MST3K Volume 10 DVD.
See also
- Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
- Timmy Big HandsTimmy Big HandsTimmy Big Hands was a humor webzine. Created in 2000 by the former cast and crew of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the site garnered much critical acclaim and accolades, but eventually was retired....
- The Film CrewThe Film CrewThe Film Crew were a comedic team similar to Mystery Science Theater 3000, comprising former MST3K cast members Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy...
- RiffTraxRiffTraxRiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital...