Sam McMurray

A character actor in films and on television for over three decades, Sam McMurray's career longevity was due entirely to his ability to slip effortlessly and believably into a wide variety of roles and deliver consistently fine performances in projects ranging from "Raising Arizona" (1987) to "The Tracy Ullman Show" (Fox 1987-1990), "The Sopranos" (HBO 1999-2007) and "Breaking Bad" (AMC 2008-2013). Given his skill at comedic roles - he specialized in playing blowhards, unctuous professionals and self-described lives of the party, as well as a host of zany characters on "Ullman" - one could be forgiven for believing that McMurray had come up through the improv/sketch comedy ranks. But the native New York began his career on stage in the 1970s before finding regular work in episodic television. He established himself a decade later as Nicolas Cage's crass brother-in-law in "Raising Arizona" and a versatile sketch player on "The Tracy Ullman Show," which led to more comedy work and numerous but short-lived stints as a cast member on TV series. Though never a household name, McMurray enjoyed immediate face recognition by audiences, which kept him busy as a guest player of choice on countless comedy and dramatic series well into the 21st century. Sam McMurray's talents granted him the same degree of respect and reliability enjoyed by many of the entertainment business's best-loved character actors.