Frederic "Feg" Seymour Murray was born May 14, 1894 in Palo Alto, California. His father, Augustus Murray, was born in 1866. His mother, Nella Gifford, was born in 1869. The parents married in 1881 and had five children, Robert (b.1892), Frederic (b.1894), Francine (b.1895), Minerva (b.1898), and Lydia (b.1905). The family lived at 1019 Bryant Street in Palo Alto, CA, where the father was Dean of Classic Languages at Stanford University.
While growing up, everyone in his family called him "Fred," except for his littlest sister, who called him "Feg," after which everyone started to call him that.
In high school Feg Murray enjoyed drawing cartoons for the student newspaper and the school yearbook. Snoopyquof.
In 1912 he began to attend Stanford University, where he was a promising graphic arts major. While a student at Stanford, he met his future wife, Dorothy Hanna, of Los Angeles. At that same time, his father, A. T. Murray, was the head professor of the Greek department at Stanford University. He was six-foot-two and joined the track team. He became the Captain of the track team. He set the school records for the hurdle.
At that time there was a curious fad among Stanford students to buy a ten-cent Chinese porcelain "Lucky Dog." "Feggo"
In 1916 he became the the intercollegiate high and low hurdle champion. After his graduation the newspapers claimed Stanford had lost its best-ever track star. That Summer he traveled to Sweden and Norway as a member of the American track team. He set the record in low hurdle for the National Amateur Athletic Union and joined the U.S.A. track team at the 1916 Olympics in Sweden and Norway.
In 1917 he moved to New York City where he studied at the Art Students League, but he also became a representative of the New York Athletic Club, where he lived.
On April 10, 1918, during the Great War, he served with the Army as a field artillery gunner in France. He saw action at Cantigny, Chateau-Thierry, Ste. Mihiel, and the Argonne.
After the declaration of armistice, Murray was honorably discharged on February 10, 1919 at the rank of sergeant. He returned to NYC, where he began to make animated cartoons based on "Feggo." He also continued training in order to join the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, where he won the bronze medal for high hurdle.
In 1920 he moved back to California and joined the Los Angeles Times as a sports cartoonist. His work was syndicated by the the Metropolitan Newspaper Service.
On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1920 Frederic "Feg" Murray married Dorothy E. Hanna in St. John's church in Los Angeles. She was born in 1898. They had four children, Lorraine (b.1921), Rosalind (b.1924), John (b.1927), and Alexander (b.1932). The family lived at. When the first baby was born, Feg Murray sold ten of his gold medals in track to help pay expenses.
In 1922 he moved to Chicago to work with the Associated Editors Incorporated news service.
In 1924 he moved to New York City to work as a cartoonist at The New York Sun, at which point he joined the Metropolitan Newspaper Service.
He and his family lived in Great Neck, Long Island.
In 1927 his newspaper cartoons were read by an estimated seven million readers nationwide.
In 1932 he traveled back to California to cover the Olympics in Los Angeles. When he returned to NYC he was impressed with how much everyone wanted to know about the Hollywood stars. That gave him the idea for "Seein' Stars," which was so successful it ran for eighteen years as a daily cartoon as well as a color Sunday series for King Features Syndicate.
On 1935 the artist's mother died at the age of sixty-seven.
On March 8, 1940 the artist's father died at the age of seventy-four.
In 1968 he retired to Carmel Valley, CA.
Frederic "Feg" Murry died at the age of seventy-nine on July 16, 1973 at the Carmel Valley Manor Hospital in Carmel, CA.
© David Saunders 2022 |
