Wealthy Actor and Miser Fred MacMurray on This Day in History

 

This day in history: American actor and wealthy businessman, Fred MacMurray, died on this day in 1991. MacMurray appeared in over one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His most renowned role was in Double Indemnity, which Cameron Crowe called “flawless film-making” and Woody Allen declared “the greatest movie ever made”. 

In the film Fred MacMurray plays an insurance salesman, and Barbara Stanwyck stars as a provocative housewife who is accused of killing her husband, and Edward G. Robinson plays a claims adjuster whose job is to find phony claims. The term "double indemnity" refers to a clause in certain life insurance policies that doubles the payout in rare cases when the death is accidental. 

MacMurray was a businessman who, at one time, was the fourth highest paid citizen in the United States. In 1941, he purchased land in the Russian River Valley in Northern California and established MacMurray Ranch. At the 1,750-acre ranch he raised prize-winning Aberdeen Angus cattle, cultivated prunes, apples, alfalfa, and other crops. "He was famously shrewd with his money, pinching every penny and investing whatever he could into real estate. At the time of his death in 1991, Fred owned an impressive real estate portfolio that was worth $100 – $150 million." Source

He was also a notorious cheapskate, despite his wealth. He would actually bring a bag full of boiled eggs in to the set everyday as his lunch, and he rode the bus as it was cheaper than driving the car. He was once hunting with Gable and another man. Gable noticed MacMurray didn’t bring a lunch, asking, “Aren’t you going to eat?” MacMurray stated, “Oh, I’ll just eat what you leave.” The Vine Street Brown Derby would hold a large, complimentary buffet dinner once a month, and Fred and his wife June would show up each time.

As cheap as he was, at least he was not like Cary Grant who would charge 25 cents for autographs.

Fred MacMurray also starred in the popular and wholesome TV sitcom My Three Sons. However, MacMurray, by some accounts, didn't really like kids. He insisted that he and the four boys who played his sons had to film as many of their scenes separately as possible. 

In 1939, artist C. C. Beck used MacMurray as the initial model for the superhero character who became Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel.

MacMurray was also a devoted Republican who backed Nixon and Reagan.