Murray Seafield Saint-George Head (born 5 March 1946[1]) is a British actor and singer, most recognized for his international hit song, "One Night in Bangkok" and his album Say It Ain't So. He has been involved in several projects since the 60's and continues to record music and make appearances on television either as himself or as a character actor.
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Murray Head was born in London[2] to Seafield Head, a documentary maker, and Helen Shingler, an actress.[3] (Helen played Mme. Maigret alongside Rupert Davies in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of the Maigret novels written by Georges Simenon). His younger brother is Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Anthony Head. Head was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London and Hampton School in Hampton, London.
Head began writing songs as a child, and by the mid-1960s he had a London-based recording contract. He had limited success until asked by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber to play Judas Iscariot on the original concept album version of Jesus Christ Superstar (singing the hit "Superstar").[1]
He made his film debut in The Family Way (1966), which featured Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett and John Mills in the leading roles.[1] Head won a leading role in the Oscar-nominated film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), alongside Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson.[1] Despite these successes, he received little public attention in the next ten years (except for his single release, "Say It Ain't So Joe" in 1975).[1]
In 1973, he appeared in a radio drama, The Fourth Tower of Inverness. In 1979, Head appeared in the final episode of the ITV programme Return of the Saint.
Head reappeared in the spotlight in 1984 as the American on the concept album for the musical Chess. The song "One Night in Bangkok" featured Head on lead vocal. It became the last significant Broadway/West End number to be a hit on American and German radio up until "No Matter What" by Boyzone in 1996. "One Night in Bangkok" was a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic.[1]
Head performed the role of world chess champion Frederick "Freddie" Trumper in the London West End stage production of Chess that premiered on 14 May 1986. The show ran in London until 8 April 1989.
After that, Head had little recording success in the UK or The United States. This fact would later be underscored in a radio segment featured on The Kevin and Bean Show on Los Angeles's KROQ FM, in which the hosts would phone Head in the morning to find out "What's Up with Murray Head?" Fluent in French, he has released a number of albums in that language and is more popular in France and Canada. Noticeably, the song "Une femme un homme", a duet with Marie Carmen released in 1993 became a radio hit in French-speaking Canada.
In 1999, Head co-wrote the screenplay to Les Enfants du Siècle.[3]
Some of his most recent work came in Luc Plamondon's musical comedy Cindy (based on the Cinderella story) where he played Cindy's father.
He has appeared on television in the UK on The Bill, Casualty and Judge John Deed. He also played an artist called Jack Hollins on ITV's Heartbeat from 2005-2006. On the 15th March 2010 he appeared in the B.B.C. drama "Doctors" playing a washed up pop singer, Pete Perry, trying to make a comeback, which Murray sang the old Robert Johnson Blues Song "Love In Vain".
Amongst his more unusual claims to fame is appearing on the album cover of The Smiths' compilation album Stop Me, taken from a still of the film The Family Way.
Head married Susan Ellis Jones in 1972; they were divorced in 1992. He has two daughters: Katherine and Sophie.[3]
   | Fan site - The Unofficial Murray Head :: Murrayhead.com |
| | Official site - Murray Head :: The Offical Website Of The Actor & Musician |
| | IMDb entry on Head - Murray Head (I) |
| | MurrayHead.org - Murray Head :: The Offical Website Of The Actor & Musician |
| | All Music Guide biography - allmusic ((( Murray Head > Biography ))) |
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