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Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as Mayor Larry Vaughn in the 1975 film "Jaws" and its sequels, "Jaws 2" and "Jaws: The Revenge". Hamilton also starred in several other well-known films such as "The Graduate", "The Hustler" and "The Amityville Horror". He had a long career in both film and TV and appeared in over 70 films and TV series.
Early life
Hamilton was born in Washington, North Carolina. He displayed an early interest in performing during his days at Washington High School just before America's entry into World War II. Bad hearing kept him from enlisting, so he moved to New York City as a 19-year-old to find a career on stage.
Career
In an early role, he performed on stage with Henry Fonda in the wartime story Mister Roberts as a replacement for David Wayne, playing Ensign Pulver. In 1960, he was onstage again with Fonda in Critic's Choice; Howard Taubman of The New York Times called him "properly obnoxious as the director". Hamilton was teamed once more with Fonda in 1968 for the drama film The Boston Strangler.
Hamilton's best-known performance is as Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity, in the Steven Spielberg thriller Jaws (1975). Hamilton reprised the role in the sequel, Jaws 2 in 1978. He had agreed to reprise the role again in Jaws: The Revenge, but died in 1986, before production began. He was just 63 years old. Hamilton complained in a newspaper article about being typecast, stating "After I was first cast as a heavy on The Untouchables, I couldn't ever persuade them [producers] that I could also do something else." While comic roles were rare for Hamilton during his Hollywood career, he had one opposite Andy Griffith in the 1958 military comedy No Time for Sergeants, as well as an appearance in Steven Spielberg's raucous comedy 1941, released in 1979. He also appeared in a comedic guest spot on Mama's Family in the second-season episode "Mama Cries Uncle" as Uncle Roy. He was more often cast in dramatic works, such as the science-fiction drama Seconds (1966), which starred Rock Hudson. In his most high-profile performances, Hamilton appeared with Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961), playing Findley, a wealthy billiards player who gambles for high stakes, and with Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967) as Mr. Robinson, husband of the seductress Mrs. Robinson. In 1975, Hamilton appeared again with Newman in The Drowning Pool. He also worked with Robert Redford in a pair of films, The Way We Were (1973) and Brubaker (1980). In early 1982 he appeared as a judge presiding over an impromptu court case on an episode of Bret Maverick. Death
Hamilton died of lung cancer at age 63, and is interred at Oakdale Cemetery in his native Washington, North Carolina. He and his wife, Terri DeMarco Hamilton (of The DeMarco Sisters), had a son, David. CLR
as Self (archive footage)
as Gen. Hobart "Hap" Gay
as Jack 'Kill the Commies' Preston (Former US President)
as Big Daddy(1 ep)
as Senator Sam Cotton(7 eps)
as Bud Michaels(1 ep)
as Jack Oberman
as Jack Reardon
as Lt. John Martini
as The Mayor
as Joel Lynch
as Deach
as Jack McCauley
as Claude Crumn
as Father Ryan
as Rutherford T. Grant(15 eps)
as Ralph Muir
as Henry Carpenter
as Mayor Larry Vaughn
as Tom Patterson
as Dr. Ned Folger
as Gen. Landers
as Harvey Murkison
as Sid Gossett(12 eps)
as J.Hugh Kilbourne
as Vaughn
as Mickey
as Harry Harmon(1 ep)
as Brooks Carpenter
as Harold Talbot
as Frank Guilfoyle(1 ep)
as Clete Belford(1 ep)
as Edmund Schilling
as Sheriff Bill Jessup
as Sgt. Manzak
as Roy Kern
as Sgt. Joe Marcus
as Virgil Holley
as Nick McCann(2 eps)
as Donald Yates(1 ep)
as Adrian Becker(1 ep)
as Robert Jennings(1 ep)
as Fred Ferguson
as Jim Egan
as Colonel Jack Forbes
as Det. Frank McAfee
as Inspector Haines
as Capt. Appleton
as Mr. Robinson
as Sgt. Leonard Borth
as Lewis Dunhill(1 ep)
as Charlie Evans
as Jack Forbes(18 eps)
as Arthur Kabot
as E.K. Hornbeck
as Mike Kessler(1 ep)
as Emory Hale(1 ep)
as Richard Mills(1 ep)
as Doug McElroy(1 ep)
as Dr. Raphael(1 ep)
as Lafe
as Capt. Appleton(2 eps)
as Mel Starling(1 ep)
as Joe Steelman(1 ep)
as Wally Sanders
as Mr. Harvey
as Nordick
as Dr. Haldore Mattern(2 eps)
as Lt. Dan Hargrave(2 eps)
as Findley
as Bob Fay(1 ep)
as Miles Morgan(1 ep)
as D.A. Sid Morgan(1 ep)
as District Attorney(2 eps)
as Bryan Phelps(1 ep)
as Tark Bennett(1 ep)
as Marsh
as Coach Sandy Hardy
as Mr. Death(1 ep)
as Sam Crandall
as Steve Baker(26 eps)
as Alphonse Paquette
as Alan Wilson
as D.A. Thomas Stevenson(1 ep)
as Matt Orman(1 ep)
as Irving S. Blanchard
as Charlie Snow
as Sims Delancey
as John Davis 'Johnny' Hale(1 ep)
as Chick O'Hara
as Bud Gurney
as Chick Tolliver
as Sgt. Clyde
as Ed Holley(1 ep)
as Frank Lunt(1 ep)
as Maj. Bromo Lee
as Marsh(1 ep)
as Jake Buley(1 ep)
as Webb Cutter(1 ep)
as Calhoun(1 ep)
as Chris Daniels(1 ep)
as Henry Carpenter(1 ep)
as Mike Finn(1 ep)
as E.K. Hornbeck(1 ep)
as Sgt. Leonard Borth(1 ep)
as Al Webster
as Pete Hamilton
as Snow Pearson(1 ep)
as Joe Bristol(1 ep)
as Soldier (uncredited)
as Member of Soldier Quartet
as Crop Corps Kid (uncredited)
