K. Gordon Murray (1922–1979) was an American producer, most notable for his redubbing and re-releasing of foreign fairy tale films for U.S. audiences.
By the late 1930s, Murray was using his circus friends' various connections to aid a casting director to hire little people to act as the Munchkins in the 1939 MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz.
In 1949, Ken and Irene settled in Hollywood, where Cecil B. DeMille hired Murray to help promote his 1952 Academy Award-winning circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth.
The movie Santa Claus made so much money, that it is the only film in U.S. history (with the possible exception of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) to be released profitably in theaters every few years for three decades.
[citation needed] But on December 30, 1979, before he could take the IRS to court to reclaim his movies, Murray suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 57 while watching an NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers during his visit to his sister-in-law in St.