Henry Murdoch

{{Short description|Australian actor (1920–1987)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} '''Henry Murdoch''' (17 September 1920 – 24 April 1987), born as '''George Henry Murdock''', was an Aboriginal Australian actor and stockman who appeared in Australian films of the 1940s and 1950s. He was working as stockman in Rockhampton when discovered by Ralph Smart, who was helping make ''The Overlanders'' (1946).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78264936 |title=PETER KINGSTON'S FILMS. |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Perth |date=31 August 1946 |accessdate=18 July 2012 |page=28 Edition: FIRST EDITION |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The film's director, Harry Watt, later claimed Murdoch and fellow aboriginal actor Clyde Combo "proved to be first-class actors and were exceedingly quick witted and intelligent. They certainly disproved the conventional idea that the Australian aboriginal is an animalistic caveman."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68997724 |title=HOLLYWOOD LETTER. |newspaper=The Advocate |location=Burnie, Tas. |date=18 April 1947 |accessdate=18 July 2012 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> ''Filmink'' said "It was Henry Murdoch who personified a specific type of role in the 1940s and 1950s, the aboriginal stockman who was a sidekick/tracker to the white hero."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/z-non-white-aussie-movies-tv-white-australia/?fbclid=IwAR2a3frfNd9RfNEqJta07m8mnH4x5RejXkRemRiAUmojmurXyhJAAMPuEUE|title=The A to Z of Non-White Aussie Movies and TV in White Australia|date=May 25, 2020}}</ref>

Murdoch thought that was the end of his acting career, but he was called back to make several films by visiting companies in Australia. "I'd like to be a full-time actor and a part-time stockman", he said in 1949. "Film work's good—if there's enough of it."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82577929 |title=Abo. Hopes To Be Full-Time Ham. |newspaper=Singleton Argus |location=NSW |date=18 May 1949 |accessdate=18 July 2012 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He later made two films for Lee Robinson.<ref name="phantom">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-lee-robinson-chips-rafferty-story-part-one-the-phantom-stockman/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 June 2025|access-date=1 June 2025|title=The Lee Robinson-Chips Rafferty Story Part One: The Phantom Stockman}}</ref><ref name="dust">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-films-of-lee-robinson-and-chips-raffety-part-4-dust-in-the-sun/|access-date=18 June 2025|date=18 June 2025|title=The films of Lee Robinson and Chips Raffety Part 4: Dust in the Sun}}</ref>

Chips Rafferty claimed Murdoch carried a volume of Shakespeare with him.<ref> {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2705019 |title="Chips" Rafferty Pleads for Natives. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=13 January 1947 |accessdate=18 July 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Filmography==

===Film=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1946|| ''The Overlanders'' || Aborigine Nipper || Feature film |- |1949|| ''Eureka Stockade'' || || Feature film |- |1950|| ''Bitter Springs'' || Blackjack || Feature film |- |1952|| ''Kangaroo'' || Black Tracker (uncredited) || Feature film |- |1953|| ''The Phantom Stockman'' || Dancer || Feature film |- |1957|| ''The Shiralee'' || Sam || Feature film |- |1958|| ''Dust in the Sun'' || Spider || Feature film |}

===Television=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1961|| ''Whiplash'' || Billy Jo || TV series, 4 episodes, (final appearance) |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0613753}} *[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murdock-george-henry-15822 Henry Murdoch] at Australian Dictionary of Biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdoch, Henry}} Category:1920 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Australian male actors Category:Indigenous Australian male actors Category:20th-century Indigenous Australian people