NEW YORK
-- Ben Murphy, the Robert Redford of television, has been "ridiculing
television for years." This is why the star of NBC's Fall
Monday night television series, "Gemini Man," sought
help from a hypnotist, he said. "I had to get rid of my
negative attitude toward the industry."
Murphy's last long-running series was ABC's "Alias Smith and Jones," the television version of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." He played the fast-drawing Kid Curry. This time out he'll be known as Sam Casey, a special agent with the SIA--"you're not allowed to say CIA"--who is capable of invisability [sic] at 15 minute intervals because of the after affects [sic] of an underwater radiation explosion.
If it sounds like "The Invisible Man," the NBC series that became invisible fast last season, it definitely evolved from the failure and has the same production team of Herv Bennett and Leslie Stevens. Perhaps it's television determination to spin-off a series from one that has already been rejected by the public that helped create some of those negative attitudes in Murphy.
But he's determined to get rid of them. In fact, he was on his way to the hypnotist the day we met for breakfast in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. "If I'm going to earn my living in television I must approach it in a positive way," explained the actor. "There's no sense in doing it otherwise."
Murphy has decided that underlying his attitude, with the help of his hypnotherapist, of course, is fear. "I used my education and background as an excuse to think that I should be doing better things than acting in television series. I used to stay out late and be compulsively late for appointments. Now, to my surprise, I'm always early and prepare for an appointment in advance."
What background is Murphy talking about that places him on a lofty pedastal [sic] high above television? Born in Jonesboro, Ark., he received a B.S. degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois. He also studied international relations at the University of the Americas in Mexico. He estimates all told he has attended eight universities.
A bachelor who lives in Malibu, Murphy, once a swinger, is now living the good life. He's addicted to tennis, runs on a track near the Pacific Ocean at sunset where he can regenerate his spiritual life, and eats health food. "I ran five miles yesterday and weighed myself before and after and discovered I lost three pounds. I weigh 173," said the 5-foot-10-1/2 inch actor.
Murphy, born a Catholic attended a private boys school in a Green Orthodox monastery outside of Chicago. It was early training that made him accustomed to seclusion. So today, instead of running around to all hours of the night--something he admittedly once did--he's reverting back. "I go to bed early, spend lots of time alone, read and have a better organized life than before.
He admits that all the while he took courses at various universities, like picking up items in a supermarket, he had a longing to act.
I had to get rid of culturization first," said the handsome actor, who studied theater arts at the USC graduate school. After that, he said, he landed a contract with Universal. He appeared in "The Name of The Game" and the short-lived "Grif" along with "Alias Smith & Jones."
He admits he still gets guilty feelings when he realizes he's channeling his talents toward the marketplace. But his hypnotherapist, he says, can cut through and get right to the heart of the matter.
New York News
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