{{short description|American dance instructor (1895-1991)}} {{Other uses|Arthur Murray (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox person |name = Arthur Murray |birth_name = Moses Teichman |image = Arthur-Murray-Kathryn-1925.jpg |caption = Arthur Murray dances with his wife (1925) |birth_date = {{birth date|1895|04|04}} |birth_place = Podhajce, Kingdom of Galicia, Austria-Hungary |death_date = {{death date and age|1991|03|03|1895|04|04}} |death_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, US |spouse = {{marriage|Kathryn Kohnfelder|1925}}<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QsOn9_NviAC&q=%22Kathryn+Murray%22+dancer+1906&pg=PA411|title=The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives: 1997-1999|first1=Kenneth T.|last1=Jackson|first2=Karen|last2=Markoe|date=December 1, 2001|publisher=Gale / Cengage Learning|page=411|isbn=978-0-684-80663-1}}</ref> |occupation = Founder of franchise "Arthur Murray Dance Studios" |alma_mater = Georgia Institute of Technology |years_active = 1938–1991 |nickname = |children = 2 |relatives = Henry Heimlich (son-in-law) }}
'''Arthur Murray''' (born '''Moses Teichman'''; April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name.<ref>Obituary ''Variety'', March 11, 1991.</ref>
==Early life and start in dance== [[File:1920 Radio Dance.png|thumb|right|300px|Arthur Murray's 1920 Radio Dance, as portrayed in the 1920 ''Blueprint''; "Ramblin' Wreck" was one of the songs played that night.]] Arthur Murray was born in 1895 as Moses Teichman in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, to a family of Jewish background.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McFadden|first1=Robert D.|title=Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, Famous for Antichoking Technique, Dies at 96|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/us/dr-henry-j-heimlich-famous-for-antichoking-technique-dies-at-96.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news|access-date=December 17, 2016|work=New York Times|date=December 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4GD-G8V|title=FamilySearch.org|website=FamilySearch |accessdate=18 June 2023}}</ref> In August 1897, he was brought to America by his mother Sarah on the ''S.S. Friesland'', and landed at Ellis Island. They settled on Ludlow Street, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his father, Abraham Teichmann.
He soon began teaching ballroom dancing to patients from the greater Boston area, at the Devereux Mansion Physical Therapy Clinic in Marblehead, Massachusetts,{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} before moving to Asheville, North Carolina. Murray arrived at the Battery Park Hotel November 28, 1914, at age 19 and began teaching dance there. At the outbreak of World War I, under the pressure of the anti-German sentiment prevalent in the U.S., Murray changed his last name of Teichman to a less German-sounding name. The ''Asheville Citizen'' reported in 1920 that Murray had spent six summers teaching at the Battery Park. At that time, he had also begun his chain of dance studios and become a well-paid dance writer. He had also signed a deal to produce records for teaching dance for Columbia Gramophone Company.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/07/31/visiting-our-past-arthur-murray-among-battery-parks-denizens/517517001/|title=Visiting Our Past: Arthur Murray among Battery Park's denizens|last=Neufeld|first=Rob|work=Asheville Citizen-Times|date=2017-07-31|access-date=2017-07-31}}</ref> Murray released many successful dance records for Columbia as well as Capitol Records, some of which included coupons for dance lessons at Arthur Murray Studios.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Borgerson|first1=Janet|title=Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance.|last2=Schroeder|first2=Jonathan|publisher=MIT Press|year=2021|isbn=978-0-262-04433-2|location=[S.l.]|oclc=1230460986}}</ref>
In 1919, Murray began studying business administration at the Georgia School of Technology, and taught ballroom dancing in Atlanta at the Georgian Terrace Hotel. In 1920, he organized the world's first "radio dance"; a band on the Georgia Tech campus played "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" and other songs, which were broadcast to a group of about 150 dancers (mostly Tech students) situated atop the roof of the Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/techtopics/sum91/deaths.html |title=Arthur Murray Taught the World to Dance |work=Tech Topics |publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association |date=Summer 1991 |access-date=2007-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012133809/http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/techtopics/sum91/deaths.html |archive-date=2007-10-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> He graduated from Georgia School of Technology in 1923.
On April 24, 1925, Murray married his famous dance partner, Kathryn Kohnfelder (September 15, 1906, Jersey City, New Jersey – August 6, 1999, Honolulu, Hawaii),<ref name="books.google.com"/> whom he had met at a radio station in New Jersey. She had been in the audience while he was broadcasting a dance lesson.
==The start of Arthur Murray Studios== thumb|A 1922 advertisement for Arthur Murray's dance system [[File:ECMB-ArthurMurray1aByVernBarber.jpg|thumb|Arthur Murray dance class at a Municipal Band concert in Eau Claire, Wisconsin]]
After WWII, Murray's business grew with the rise of interest in Latin dance, and he regularly taught and broadcast in Cuba in the 1950s. Murray went on television with a dance program hosted by his wife, Kathryn; ''The Arthur Murray Party'' ran from 1950 to 1960, on CBS, NBC, DuMont, ABC, and then on CBS.
Among the Arthur Murray dance instructors in the early 1950s was aspiring TV and film director Harvey Hart (thereby supporting himself while attending the Dramatic Workshop wing of Manhattan's New School for Social Research),<ref>Lanken, Diane (February 6, 1971). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/193711649/ "Director Harvey Hart: A Fortune for an apostle"]. ''The Montreal Gazette''. p. 38. Retrieved March 19, 2026. "After graduating from the University of Toronto, he decided he wanted to be a television director. The only problem was that in those days, around 1949, there was no television in Canada. So Hart went down to New York, studied at the Dramatic Workshop, supported himself as an Arthur Murray dancing instructor, and waited for Canadian TV to be born. When it was, he was one of the original 'Twelve Apostles' who formed the nucleus of the CBC's production crew."</ref> and future television evangelist D. James Kennedy, who won first prize in a nationwide dance contest.<ref name=Chandler>{{cite book |last=Chandler |first=E. Russell |title=The Kennedy Explosion |publisher=David C. Cook Publishing |location=Elgin, IL |year=1972 |page=18 |quote=Jim had gone to work for Arthur Murray after two and one-half years of college. He had always liked dancing. On a whim one day he answered a newspaper ad for a job at the Tampa studio. During the six years he was with Arthur Murray in Tampa he worked his way to the top: instructor; interviewer; analyst; adviser; supervisor; and finally, manager. He mastered the mambo, samba, tango, rumba, paso doble and other 'in' dances of the fifties. He won trophies and prize money, topping his honors with first place in the Murray national 'All-American' contest. |isbn=978-0-912692-02-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kennedyexplosion00chan/page/10/mode/2up?q=%22James+Kennedy%22+%22Arthur+Murray%22}}</ref>
As for Murray himself, two notable appearances include that of Mr. and Mrs. Murray as interview subjects of Edward R. Murrow on the December 30, 1955 episode of ''Person to Person'',<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer/193729379/ "What's Doing"]. ''The News and Observer''. December 30, 1955. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2026. "Murrow will visit Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Murray, the well known dance instructors, in their New York apartment tonight at 10:30 o'clock on Person Person over WNAO-TV, WNCT. WCSC, WTAR and WTVR. He will also visit Mrs. Peter Marshall and her teen-age son, Peter John, in their Washington, D. C. home."</ref> as well as Arthur's 1956 turn as one of the featured 'mystery' guests on the June 17 episode of ''What's My Line?''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xfGY_palCI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/4xfGY_palCI| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=What's My Line? - Arthur Murray; Pier Angeli & Vic Damone; Paul Winchell [panel] (Jun 17, 1956)|website=Youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The Murrays retired in 1964; but they continued to be active for some time, appearing as guests on the ''Dance Fever'' disco show in the late 1970s. By then, there were more than 3,560 dance studios bearing his name. In 2020, about 275 Arthur Murray Studios remained in operation. Arthur Murray Dance Studios claims to be the second-oldest franchised company (the first, A&W Restaurants, began in 1919). In 2012, Arthur Murray Studios celebrated more than 100 years of teaching dance at over 270 Arthur Murray Dance Studios in 22 countries across the globe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arthurmurray.com/history|title=The History of Arthur Murray Dance Studios: Celebrating 100 years of ballroom dancing Arthur Murray International|website=arthurmurray.com|access-date=2019-03-18}}</ref> These range from studios in Australia (where the prestigious Crows Nest<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dance Programs {{!}} Adult Dance Classes Near Me {{!}} Arthur Murray International |url=https://arthurmurray.com/programs |access-date=2019-09-25 |website=Dance Programs {{!}} Adult Dance Classes Near Me {{!}} Arthur Murray International |language=en-GB}}</ref> and Parramatta<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dances We Teach - Arthur Murray International Dance Studios - Dance Classes |url=https://arthurmurray.com/dances-we-teach |access-date=2019-03-18 |website=www.arthurmurray.com/dances-we-teach}}</ref> Dance Studios are located) and throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
==Death== For many years, Murray had two homes – one in Honolulu and another in Rye, New York. He died at his Honolulu home at the age of 95; according to his daughter, Phyllis Murray McDowell, pneumonia was the cause of death. He had been active and in good health until a short time before his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/obituaries/arthur-murray-dance-teacher-dies-at-95.html|title=Arthur Murray, Dance Teacher, Dies at 95|first=Eric|last=Pace|date=March 4, 1991|website=The New York Times}}</ref>
==In popular culture== Hal Borne and His Orchestra recorded the Mercer-Schertzing song in a Soundie released May 25, 1942, with the Three Murtah Sisters.<ref>The Soundies Distributing Corporation of America: a history and filmography of their "jukebox" musical films of the 1940s. Terenzio, MacGillivary, Okuda. 1954. page 79. {{ISBN|978-0-89950-578-7}}</ref>
The name and franchise of Arthur Murray were prominently referenced in the popular song "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry", published in 1942 by Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger.<ref name="Shedd">{{cite web |title=Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In A Hurry |website=The Shedd Institute |url=https://www.theshedd.org/divp/series.aspx?artwork=2438&event=3561&series=3552 |access-date=October 5, 2024}}</ref> The song was featured in the film ''The Fleet's In'' and was covered by various artists, including the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and Betty Hutton.<ref name="AM Castle Rock">{{cite web |title=Arthur Murray {{!}} Ballroom Dance Lessons {{!}} Arthur Murray International |url=https://arthurmurray.com/ |access-date=October 5, 2024 |website=Arthur Murray Dance Studios}}</ref><ref name="Bergan 2007">{{cite web |last=Bergan |first=Ronald |title=Obituary: Betty Hutton |website=The Guardian |date=March 14, 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/14/guardianobituaries.obituaries1 |access-date=October 5, 2024}}</ref>
Arthur Murray is mentioned in Richard Brautigan's book "Dreaming of Babylon".
Arthur Murray and his dance lesson patterns are mentioned in Steve Goodman's song, "Would You Like To Learn To Dance?"
Arthur Murray is mentioned in ''Dirty Dancing'' movie as Johnny's dance teacher.
Arthur Murray is mentioned in the 1953 popular song "Just Another Polka" written by Frank Loesser and Milton DeLugg.
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Portal|Biography}} *{{Commons category-inline}} *[http://www.arthurmurray.com/ Arthur Murray Dance Studios]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Arthur}} Category:1895 births Category:1991 deaths Category:American ballroom dancers Category:American draughtsmen Category:American businesspeople in education Category:American businesspeople in the entertainment industry Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American reporters and correspondents Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Category:Jews from Austria-Hungary Category:Businesspeople from Atlanta Category:Businesspeople from Massachusetts Category:Businesspeople from New Jersey Category:American dance teachers Category:Dance education organizations Category:Educators from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Educators from New Jersey Category:Georgia Tech alumni Category:Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Category:People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Category:People from Pidhaitsi Category:20th-century American businesspeople