Rosemary Murphy

Rosemary Murphy was an Emmy Award-winning actress known for her work in television, film and theater.

Murphy won an Emmy in 1976 for portraying Sara Delano Roosevelt, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s mother, in the ABC television movie Eleanor and Franklin. Edward Herrmann and Jane Alexander played the president and the first lady.

She also received an Emmy nomination for reprising the role in the 1977 sequel, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years.

Murphy’s additional television credits include the miniseries George Washington and A Woman Named Jackie, in which she played George Washington’s mother and John F. Kennedy’s mother, respectively. 

She also appeared in 1950s and 60s television shows, including Lux Video Theater, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Virginian, Ben Casey and The Fugitive. Later in her career, she acted in the soap operas The Young and the Restless and As the World Turns and in the drama Lucas Tanner.

On the big screen, Murphy is known for portraying Maude Atkinson, Atticus Finch’s neighbor, in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird.

In addition to her work in television and movies, Murphy performed on Broadway in numerous productions. Most notably, she played Helen Gant Barton in Look Homeward, Angel, the 1957 Pulitzer-Prize-winning stage adaptation of Thomas Wolfe’s novel.

Murphy also received Tony nominations for her performances in Period of Adjustment, A Delicate Balance and Any Wednesday. She reprised her role in Any Wednesday opposite Jane Fonda and Jason Robards when it was adapted as a movie in 1966.

Her other stage work includes performances at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut, and the Spoleto Festival in Italy.

Born in Munich but raised mostly in France, Murphy immigrated to the United States in 1939, at WWII’s outbreak. Her father, Robert D. Murphy, was an American diplomat and a vice consul in Munich. She studied acting at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and in New York under Sanford Meisner, and also appeared in French and German films.

Murphy died on July 5, 2014, in New York City. She was 89.