Joe Murphy (actor)

[2] His mother Anna (Mahoney) and father John Murphy were married in Michigan, January 13, 1875 before moving to San Jose, California.

[6] His biggest success came during the five years (1923–1928) in which he played the very popular main character Andy Gump in Universal Pictures silent film shorts.

[1] Murphy's unusual and distinctive physical appearance (he was 6'3" tall and lanky), as well as being a naturally gifted slapstick comedian, made him ideally suited to playing the role (aided by an artificial nose).

The popularity of the comic strip eventually led to the making of nearly 50 silent film shorts, produced by Samuel Von Ronken and released by Universal Studios.

[10] Carl Laemmle, owner of Universal Pictures at the time, recognized Joe Murphy's physical suitability for playing the Andy Gump character.

Carl knew Joe was an ex-vaudevillian who had experience with L-KO, Keystone, FOX, Triangle, Reelcraft, and Educational Studios.