Emmy-Winning Legend Rosemary Murphy Dies at 89

Emmy-winning legend and Broadway star Rosemary Murphy has died at home in New York City. She was 89. Born in Germany, Murphy’s distinguished film career started with That Night (1957), and featured roles in Horton Foote’s Oscar-winning adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and both the Henry Kaplan-directed Broadway (1964) and Robert Ellis Miller-directed film (1966) versions of Any Wednesday. A favorite of writers Edward Albee, Woody Allen, and others, Murphy also was thrice nominated for Tony Awards. She appeared in Allen’s September (1987), Don’t Drink the Water (telefilm: 1994), and Mighty Aphrodite (1995).

At home in comedy and drama, Murphy is best known on Broadway for her performance as the drunken Claire in Albee's 1966 Pulitzer Prize-winning A Delicate Balance. A revival of the play, with John Lithgow, Glenn Close, and Lindsay Duncan as Claire, is slated to open on Broadway this fall.