History Creator / AudieMurphy

* ''Tumbleweed'': Murphy gets accused of a crime he didn't commit, breaks out of jail, and sets out to clear his name, with sheriff [[Film/DrStrangelove Slim Pickens]], deputy Creator/LeeVanCleef and sleazy romantic rival [[Series/GilligansIsland Russell Johnson]] hot on his trail. Murphy has help in the shape of the title character-a scruffy little white horse who subverts TheAllegedSteed trope by being [[CoolHorse superfast, supersmart, and super-sure-footed.]] Turns up on TV occasionally.

The action that earned him the Medal of Honor occurred January 26, 1945, in Holtzwihr, during the liberation of Alsace (Eastern France). Murphy's company was reduced from 128 to 19. The Germans had also knocked out all but six of the [=M10=] Tank Destroyers supporting his company. Murphy sent his remaining men to the rear while he [[{{Determinator}} kept firing at the Germans with his [=M1=] Carbine until he ran out of ammunition]], then climbed aboard an abandoned and burning [=M10=] (with a full fuel tank, and presumably about to explode), [[MoreDakka using its .50 calibre to gun down an entire German company]], [[KindaBusyHere using a land phone to direct artillery fire]], falling back only when his communications line was cut. He then led his men in a counter attack, driving the Germans from Holtzwihr. He was promoted again to First Lieutenant a month later. When he was asked later what it was like on that burning tank, Murphy would respond that "it was the only time that winter that my feet were warm."

** In the mid-fifties, at the height of his success, Murphy wanted to buy the rights to John Huston's version of ''Literature/RedBadgeOfCourage'' (which Murphy had starred in) and restore the large amount of footage that the studio had hacked out of it. He gave up when he was told that the deleted scenes no longer existed.

* ''Ride a Crooked Trail'': Murphy plays a petty criminal who is mistaken for a marshal and drafted by a crazy judge ([[Theatre/TheOddCouple Walter Matthau]]) to keep order in town. Available on DVD in the US and most other places.

* ''No Name on the Bullet'': John Gant (Murphy) is a gun for hire who always provokes his targets into shooting first, and never gives away who he's gunning for. The town goes nuts and tears itself apart trying to figure out who hired him and who he's coming for, while he sits back and watches with a CatSmile. Written by [[Franchise/StarTrek Gene L. Coon]] and directed by [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Jack Arnold,]] frequently considered the best of Murphy's westerns. Available on DVD in the US and most other places.

* {{Determinator}}: His attempts to join the military, and his accomplishments in uniform, show this side of his personality pretty clearly. His film characters were pretty much the same: it didn't matter whether you were dealing with the {{Hero}} version, the AntiHero version, or one of his rare VillainProtagonist characters, if Audie Murphy came gunning for you in the movies, the only sensible thing to do was pick out the inscription on your tombstone.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy Audie Leon Murphy]] (June 20, 1924 – May 28, 1971) was the single most decorated US soldier of all time. Born in rural [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Texas]], he was the sixth out of twelve children in a poor Scots-Irish family reputed to have Cherokee ancestry. Two of his siblings died before reaching adulthood. As the eldest boy still living at home when his father deserted the family, he was forced to support his mother and younger siblings, by various odd jobs and sustenance hunting. He could kill small, fast-moving targets like rabbits and squirrels with a slingshot, which already says a lot about his marksmanship skills, but he proved even better with a light .22 rifle. Due to the poverty of his family and the fact that the people who tried to help them out were not much better off, he often had to go out hunting with only a single cartridge in his gun. If he didn't kill something edible with his first shot, his family would go hungry. When his mother died, he was obliged to put his youngest siblings in an orphanage, but he dreamed of earning enough money to reunite the family and provide for them.

[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Audie_Murphy_273.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:The most decorated soldier in the American Army. [[{{Series/Mash}} Good. We can put our Christmas presents under him.]] ]]

The action that earned him the Medal of Honor occurred January 26, 1945, in Holtzwihr, France. Murphy's company was reduced from 128 to 19. The Germans had also knocked out all but six of the [=M10=] Tank Destroyers supporting his company. Murphy sent his remaining men to the rear while he [[{{Determinator}} kept firing at the Germans with his [=M1=] Carbine until he ran out of ammunition]], then climbed aboard an abandoned and burning [=M10=] (with a full fuel tank, and presumably about to explode), [[MoreDakka using its .50 calibre to gun down an entire German company]], [[KindaBusyHere using a land phone to direct artillery fire]], falling back only when his communications line was cut. He then led his men in a counter attack, driving the Germans from Holtzwihr. He was promoted again to First Lieutenant a month later. When he was asked later what it was like on that burning tank, Murphy would respond that "it was the only time that winter that my feet were warm."

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy Audie Murphy]] (June 20, 1924 – May 28, 1971) was the single most decorated US soldier of all time. Born in rural [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Texas]], he was the sixth out of twelve children in a poor Scots-Irish family reputed to have Cherokee ancestry. Two of his siblings died before reaching adulthood. As the eldest boy still living at home when his father deserted the family, he was forced to support his mother and younger siblings, by various odd jobs and sustenance hunting. He could kill small, fast-moving targets like rabbits and squirrels with a slingshot, which already says a lot about his marksmanship skills, but he proved even better with a light .22 rifle. Due to the poverty of his family and the fact that the people who tried to help them out were not much better off, he often had to go out hunting with only a single cartridge in his gun. If he didn't kill something edible with his first shot, his family would go hungry. When his mother died, he was obliged to put his youngest siblings in an orphanage, but he dreamed of earning enough money to reunite the family and provide for them.

* NoodleIncident: Information on how and why he was promoted to 2nd Lt. is surprisingly difficult to find.

* TheGunslinger: Usually Type D. Supposedly within a few days of the studio hiring someone to teach him the quick draw, Murphy was outdrawing the instructor.

The filming of ''Guns of Fort Petticoat'' sums up his post-war life pretty well. He not only produced and starred in this film, about a cavalry officer who goes rogue in order to teach a group of women how to fight off an Indian attack, he also trained the actresses in real life for the task, using his experience in the Army and the Texas National Guard to teach them gun safety and formation drills. On the side, he worked as an [[UndercoverCopReveal undercover narcotics agent]], helping bring about some twenty convictions. [[PetTheDog He also rescued an abused German Shepard puppy by buying it from its cruel owner.]]

* PintSizedPowerhouse: He was only 5'5" during his military service, eventually growing to 5'8" in his early twenties after he returned to civilian life and started getting decent food. The Marines and Army Air Corps actually rejected him for being too short, and the Navy for being underweight, only 110 pounds. In the Army one of his commanding officers tried to have him transferred as a cook.

* LighterAndSofter: Between Hollywood censorship, interference from the Army, and his own modesty, the film version of ''To Hell And Back'' suffers from this. He's also unique in being one of the few Hollywood leading men whose characters were consistently {{Badass}}, and yet consistently wimpier than he was.

* {{Badass}}: Makes a pretty convincing case for being the ''biggest'' badass in American history.

* ''Duel at Silver Creek'': A boneheaded sheriff tries to reform a young drifter (Murphy) by deputizing him. The drifter turns out to be way smarter and more competent than the sheriff, and much more honorable than people are willing to give him credit for. [[ThisIslandEarth Faith Domergue]] costars. Creator/LeeMarvin has a tiny role. Director [[{{DirtyHarry}} Don Siegal]] found the story so silly he treated the film as a StealthParody. Available on DVD in the US and most other places.

* ThousandYardStare: His default facial expression, most obvious in his early films before he became more comfortable with being in front of the camera. Sir Creator/MichaelRedgrave, who costarred with him in ''Literature/TheQuietAmerican'' found his distant, unblinking stare so unnerving that he asked the director: "Couldn't you tell him to blink every now and again?" The director refused to cooperate; perhaps because he liked the way Murphy's intense stare emphasized the character's misguided idealism.

* ThousandYardStare: His default facial expression, most obvious in his early films before he became more comfortable with being in front of the camera. Michael Redgrave, who costarred with him in ''Literature/TheQuietAmerican'' found his distant, unblinking stare so unnerving that he asked the director: "Couldn't you tell him to blink every now and again?" The director refused to cooperate; perhaps because he liked the way Murphy's intense stare emphasized the character's misguided idealism.

* MuggingTheMonster[=/=]BullyingADragon: A 6-foot-two drifter tried to carjack him in Texas in the late forties. Said drifter got his rear end handed to him. In Hollywood, various macho types took one look at the little man with all the medals and thought they could take him on. According to Murphy's friend Budd Boetticher, they invariably got curb-stomped.

* RankUp

* ReallySeventeenYearsOld

* TheGunslinger: Usually Type D. Supposedly within a few days of the studio hiring someone to teach him the quick draw, Murphy was outdrawing the instructor.
* ThePrankster: Noted in real life for his wacky gags, ranging from giving a co-star a hot foot, to leaving frogs and snails around the house for his wife to find, to handing a friend an envelope and convincing him that it was full of rattlesnake eggs in the process of hatching. His finest achievement in this direction was probably when he was staying with a prominent citizen during the US publicity tour for ''Literature/TheQuietAmerican''. Murphy used toothpaste to foam up his mouth and claimed that he had developed some dire disease during the shoot in Vietnam and Rome, Italy, creating a minor health panic in his upper class hosts. Nobody ever saw his pranks coming, due to his generally quiet demeanor, but the victims usually agreed that they were ActuallyPrettyFunny.
* TheTropeKid: Murphy played youthful outlaws and frontier adventurers so often that he once joked that he had "kidded his way through the movies."

* TranquilFury

* UnstoppableRage

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller [=/=] PintSizedPowerhouse: He was only 5'5" during his military service, eventually growing to 5'8" in his early twenties after he returned to civilian life and started getting decent food. The Marines and Army Air Corps actually rejected him for being too short, and the Navy for being underweight, only 110 pounds. In the Army one of his commanding officers tried to have him transferred as a cook.

* FieldPromotion

* GoingColdTurkey: See below, under ShellShockedVeteran

* HumbleHero

* NiceGuy

* OneManArmy: His actions that earned him the Medal of Honour.

* '''{{Badass}}:''' Makes a pretty convincing case for being the ''biggest'' badass in American history.
* BadassAdorable [=/=] KillerRabbit: Just a cute, boyish-looking guy...who happened to have lightning reflexes, nerves of steel, super aiming skills, and the willingness to do whatever it took to neutralize a threat.

* ThePrankster: Noted in real life for his wacky gags, ranging from giving a co-star a hot foot, to leaving frogs and snails around the house for his wife to find, to handing a friend an envelope and convincing him that it was full of rattlesnake eggs in the process of hatching. His finest achievement in this direction was probably when he was staying with a prominent citizen during the US publicity tour for ''Literature/TheQuietAmerican''. Murphy used toothpaste to foam up his mouth and claimed that he had developed some dire disease during the shoot in Vietnam and Rome, Italy, creating a minor health panic in his upper class hosts.

He was tried for attempted murder in 1970, after getting into a fistfight with a massive, six-foot-three man who trained guard dogs for a living. In the course of the trial, it was discovered that the dog-trainer had abused a German Shepherd belonging to a female friend of Murphy. The trainer had also groped and verbally abused the woman when she protested. Unsurprisingly, Murphy was acquitted. Several members of the jury shook his hand after the verdict was handed down. It is not clear whether they were fans of his film work, or just liked his tendency to PayEvilUntoEvil.

* {{Badass}}

* {{Expy}}: Pulp western novelist Creator/JTEdson created a character named Dusty Fog based on Murphy, and a thinly disguised version of Murphy appears in one of Creator/StephenHunter's novels. Fredrick Zoller in ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' is sort of a MirrorUniverse Nazi analogue to Murphy. Robert Stack cited Murphy as a partial inspiration for his take on Elliot Ness in ''Series/TheUntouchables''. The author of ''First Blood'' cited Murphy as a partial inspiration for [[Franchise/{{Rambo}} John Rambo]], although even in his more troubled moments Murphy was a lot more functional than Rambo. An expy of Murphy also shows up, along with expies of other influential gunfighters, as part of a BadassCrew Earl Swagger recruits in Stephen Hunter's ''Pale Horse Coming.''

* TanksButNoTanks: His autobiographical movie, ''To Hell and Back'', has him jumping into a burning [=M4=] Sherman to return fire at the Germans, not an [=M10=] Wolverine tank destroyer as really happened.

* ''Drums Across the River'': Gary Brannon (Murphy) blames the local Indians for his mother's death, in sharp contrast to his dad (Walter Brennan), who is a friend to the tribe. But when Old Man Brannon is injured, and evil whites are trying to start a war, it's up to Gary and the Indian leader ([[TheLoneRanger Jay Silverheels]]) to keep the peace. Available on DVD in the US.

The action that earned him the Medal of Honor occurred January 26, 1945, in Holtzwihr, France. Murphy's company was reduced from 128 to 19. The Germans had also knocked out all but six of the [=M10=] Tank Destroyers supporting his company. Murphy sent his remaining men to the rear while he [[{{Determinator}} kept firing at the Germans with his [=M1=] Carbine until he ran out of ammunition]], then climbed aboard an abandoned and burning [=M10=] (with a full fuel tank, and presumably about to explode), [[MoreDakka using its .50 calibre to gun down an entire German company]], [[KindaBusyHere using a land phone to direct artillery fire]], falling back only when his communications line was cut. He then led his men in a counter attack, driving the Germans from Holtzwihr. He was promoted again to First Lieutenant a month later.

* ''Forty Guns to Apache Pass'': Another cavalry movie, very low budget. Kind of a Cold War allegory about treacherous soldiers selling advanced weaponry (repeating rifles in this case) to the enemy (Cochise's Apaches as the Soviet analogues). Murphy's last lead role, it is probably also the film he and [[Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld Kenneth Tobey]] were making when the latter discovered the NoodleImplements in Murphy's car. Available on ITunes and on an Amazon-exclusive DVD in the US.

* WarIsHell: He knows ''exactly'' how horrifying and soul-crushing war often is. His autobiography is even titled ''To Hell And Back''.

* LighterAndSofter: Between Hollywood censorship, interference from the Army, and his own modesty, the film version of ''To Hell And Back'' suffers from this. He's also unique in being one of the few Hollywood leading men whose characters were consistently BadAss, and yet consistently wimpier than he was.