F. Murray Abraham Biography

F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. He became widely known during the 1980s after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984). He has appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films such as All the President's Men (1976), Scarface (1983), The Name of the Rose (1986), Last Action Hero (1993), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Finding Forrester (2000), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). He is also known for his television and theatre work and is now a regular cast member on the award-winning television series Homeland.

Early life

Abraham was born as Murray Abraham on October 24, 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Fahrid "Fred" Abraham, an auto mechanic, and his wife Josephine (ne Stello), a housewife. His father was Assyrian and emigrated from Syria at age 5 during the 1920s famine; his paternal grandfather was a chanter in the Syriac Orthodox Church. His mother, one of 14 children, was Italian American, and the daughter of an immigrant who worked in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania. He had two brothers, Robert and Jack, who were killed in separate car accidents.

Abraham was raised in El Paso, Texas, near the Mexican border. He attended Vilas Grammar School, and graduated from El Paso High School in 1958. He was a gang member during his teenage years. He attended Texas Western College (later named University of Texas at El Paso), where he was given the best actor award by Alpha Psi Omega for his portrayal of the Indian Nocona in Comanche Eagle during the 1959-60 season. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, then studied acting under Uta Hagen in New York City. He began his acting career on the stage, debuting in a Los Angeles production of Ray Bradbury's The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit.

Abraham added "F." to his stage name in honor of his father, Fahrid. He has stated "Murray Abraham just doesn't seem to say anything. It just is another name, so I thought I'd frame it".

Career

Film and television

Abraham made his screen debut as an usher in the George C. Scott comedy They Might Be Giants (1971). By the mid-1970s, Murray had steady employment as an actor, doing commercials and voice-overs. Abraham can be seen as one of the undercover police officers along with Al Pacino in Sidney Lumet's Serpico (1973), and in television roles including the bad guy in one third-season episode of Kojak. He played a cabdriver in the theatrical version of The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), a mechanic in the theatrical version of The Sunshine Boys (1975), and a police officer in the film All the President's Men (1976).

Despite these small roles, Abraham continued to do commercials and voice-over work for income. But in 1978, he decided to give them up. Frustrated with the lack of substantial roles, Abraham said, "No one was taking my acting seriously. I figured if I didn't do it, then I'd have no right to the dreams I've always had." His wife, Kate Hannan, went to work as an assistant and Abraham became a "house husband". He described, "I cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids. It was very rough on my macho idea of life. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me." Abraham appeared as drug dealer Omar Surez alongside Pacino again in the gangster film Scarface (1983). He gained visibility voicing a talking bunch of grapes in a series of television commercials for Fruit of the Loom underwear.

Abraham won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as envious composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984), an award for which Tom Hulce, playing Mozart in that movie, had also been nominated. He won a Golden Globe Award, among other awards, and his role in the film, directed by Milo Forman, is still his most iconic. (He later continued the classical-music theme by narrating the plot summaries of the operas of Wagner's Ring Cycle in the 1990 PBS broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera, to the largest viewing audience of the Ring Cycle in history, conducted by James Levine.)

After Amadeus, he next appeared in The Name of the Rose (1986), in which he played Bernardo Gui, nemesis to Sean Connery's William of Baskerville. In its DVD commentary, his director on the film, Jean-Jacques Annaud, described Abraham as an "egomaniac" on the set, who considered himself more important than Sean Connery, since Connery did not have an Oscar. That said, the film was a critical success. Abraham had tired of appearing as heavies and wanted to return to his background in comedy, as he explained to People Weekly Magazine in an interview he gave at the time of its release.

Though Abraham had fewer prominent roles in the next decade or so, he became known for his roles in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Ahdar Ru'afo in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester (2000), where he once again played nemesis to Connery. He had a significant role in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), but chose not to be credited due to a contract dispute.

Abraham's relatively low-profile film career subsequent to his Academy Award has been widely considered an example of the "Oscar jinx". According to film critic Leonard Maltin, professional failure following an early success is referred to in Hollywood circles as the "F. Murray Abraham syndrome". Abraham rejected this notion and told Maltin, "The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I'll take two." In the same interview, Abraham said, "Even though I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway in New York, and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing."

A 2009 guest appearance on Saving Grace began a new phase of Abraham's career, wherein he has become gradually more prolific onscreen. Further guest appearances include roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Louie, among others, as well as a recurring role on The Good Wife between 2011 and 2014. Additionally, Abraham was the primary narrator for the PBS series Nature between 2007 and 2010, narrating 32 episodes (plus one more in 2013). Abraham's most notable television role came about through Showtime's drama series Homeland, in which he portrayed black ops specialist Dar Adal. This role resulted in his first Emmy Award nomination in 2015.

He featured prominently in two widely acclaimed recent films: first as folk music impresario Bud Grossman in the Coen brothers' drama Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), then as the mysterious Mr. Moustafa in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Theater

Since Amadeus, he has mainly focused on classical theatre, and has starred in many Shakespearean productions such as Othello and Richard III. He was highlighted in many other plays by the likes of Samuel Beckett and Gilbert and Sullivan, and played the lead in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (for which he received an Obie Award).

Abraham has focused on stage work throughout his career, giving notable performances as Pozzo in Mike Nichols's production of Waiting for Godot, Malvolio in Twelfth Night for the New York Shakespeare Festival, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice for the Off-Broadway Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) in March 2007, which was performed at the Duke Theatre in New York and also at the Swan Theatre, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He reprised this role in February 2011, when he replaced Al Pacino in the Public Theater's production. In the 1997/98 Broadway season, he starred in the new chamber musical Triumph of Love opposite Betty Buckley, based on Marivaux's classic comedy. The production did not find a large audience, running 85 performances, after its pre-opening preview period. He has also taught theater at Brooklyn College. In 2016, he played the title role in Classic Stage Company's production of Nathan the Wise.

Personal life

Abraham has been married to Kate Hannan since 1962; they have two children, Mick and Jamili, and one grandchild.

In January 2010, Abraham was the on-the-scene hero of a real-life crime scene at the Classic Stage Company in New York City, when he traded blows with a thief in the dressing room area during a public rehearsal.

Abraham has spoken about his faith: "I've attended many churches. I grew up as an Orthodox Christian and I was an altar boy. I love the Society of Friends, the Quakers. I attended their meetings for almost 15 years. I'm (2008) now attending the First Presbyterian Church of New York because they're such a generous, terrific church with outreach. They reach out to old people, to homeless, to A.A., to cross-dressers; it's truly a church of the teachings of Christ. Religion is essential to my life."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	They Might Be Giants	Clyde
1973	Serpico	Serpico's partner	Uncredited
1975	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Taxi driver
1975	The Sunshine Boys	Car mechanic
1976	All the President's Men	Paul Leeper
1976	The Ritz	Chris
1978	The Big Fix	Eppis
1983	Scarface	Omar Surez
1984	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	Academy Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1986	The Name of the Rose	Bernardo Gui
1988	The Third Solution	Father Carafa
1989	Slipstream	Cornelius
1989	Beyond the Stars	Dr. Harry Bertram
1989	The Favorite	Abdul Hamid
1989	An Innocent Man	Virgil Cane
1990	Cadence	Capt. Ramon Garcia	Uncredited
1990	The Battle of the Three Kings	Osrain
1990	The Bonfire of the Vanities	D.A. Abe Weiss	Uncredited
1991	Mobsters	Arnold Rothstein
1991	Money	Will Scarlet
1991	By the Sword	Max Suba
1991	Eye of the Widow	Kharoun
1992	Through an Open Window	Narrator	Short film
1993	National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon	Dr. Harold Leacher
1993	Sweet Killing	Zargo
1993	Last Action Hero	Detective John Practice
1994	Fresh	Chess Hustler	Uncredited
1994	'	Lucien Haslans
1994	Surviving the Game	Wolfe Sr.
1994	Nostradamus	Scalinger
1995	Mighty Aphrodite	Leader
1996	Children of the Revolution	Joseph Stalin
1997	Mimic	Dr. Gates
1997	Una vacanza all'inferno	Belisario
1997	Eruption	President Mendoza
1998	Star Trek: Insurrection	Ahdar Ru"?afo
1999	Muppets from Space	Noah	Cameo
2000	Finding Forrester	Prof. Robert Crawford
2000	David Proshker	Narrator	Short film
2001	The Knights of the Quest	Delfinello da Coverzano
2001	Thir13en Ghosts	Cyrus Kristicos
2002	Ticker	Airport Guru	Short film
2002	Joshua	Father Tardone
2003	Five Moons Square	The Entity
2003	Rua Alguem 5555: My Father	Paul Minsky
2004	Another Way of Seeing Things	Narrator	Short film
2004	Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers	Jeffrey
2004	The Bridge of San Luis Rey	Viceroy of Peru
2006	The Stone Merchant	Shahid
2006	'	Pantaley
2006	The Inquiry	Nathan
2007	Wine and Kisses	Ruggero
2007	Blood Monkey	Professor Hamilton	Direct-to-DVD
2008	Carnera: The Walking Mountain	Lon Se
2008	A House Divided	Grandfather Wahid
2009	Perestroika	Prof. Gross
2009	Barbarossa	Siniscalco Barozzi
2010	The Unseen World	John Henry Newman
2012	Goltzius and the Pelican Company	The Margrave of Alsace
2012	September Eleven 1683	Father Marco d'Aviano
2013	Dead Man Down	Gregor
2013	Inside Llewyn Davis	Bud Grossman
2013	The Gambler Who Wouldn't Die	Braque
2014	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Mr. Moustafa	Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2014	The Mystery of Dante	Dante Alter Ego
2014	A Little Game	Norman Wallach

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	All in the Family	Clerk	Episode: "The Unemployment Story: Part 1"
1977	Kojak	Solly Nurse / Eddie Gordon	2 episodes
1982-1983	Marco Polo	Jacopo	6 episodes
1986	Dream West	Abraham Lincoln	2 episodes
1989	The Betrothed	Innominato	2 episodes
1990	A Season of Giants	Pope Julius II	Television film
1992	The First Circle	Joseph Stalin	Television film
1993	Journey To The Center Of The Earth	Professor Harlech	Television film
1993	Il caso Dozier	Goldstein	Television film
1996	Dead Man's Walk	Captain Caleb Cobb	TV miniseries
1999	Excellent Cadavers	Tommaso Buscetta	Television film
1999	Esther	Mordechai	Television film
2000	The Darkling	Bruno Rubin	Television film
2000	ill it Un dono semplice	Thomas Barlow	Television film
2003	Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites	Narrator	Television documentary
2003	Pompeii: The Last Day	Narrator	Television documentary
2008	Shark Swarm	Bill Girdler	Television film
2009	Saving Grace	Matthew	Episode: "What Would You Do?"
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Dr. Theodore Nichols	Episode: "Three-In-One"
2010	Bored to Death	Professor Richard Hawkes	Episode: "I've Been Living Like a Demented God!"
2011-2012, 2014	The Good Wife	Burl Preston	4 episodes
2011-2012, 2014	Louie	John / Uncle Excelsior / Louie's father	3 episodes
2012	Blue Bloods	Leon Goodwin	Episode: "The Job"
2012-present	Homeland	Dar Adal	27 episodes Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2013	Do No Harm	Cozar	Episode: "Six Feet Deep"
2013	Elementary	Daniel Gottlieb	Episode: "A Landmark Story"
2016	Inside Amy Schumer	Diplomat	Episode: "Madame President"

Theatre

Broadway

• The Ritz (1975-76) ... Chris
• Legend (1976) ... Jesse Lymburner
• Teibele and Her Demon (1979-80) ... Alchonon
• Macbeth (1986-87) ... Macbeth
• Angels in America (1994) ... Roy Cohn
• A Month in the Country (1995) ... Ignaty Illyich Shpichelsky
• Triumph of Love (1997-98) ... Hermocrates
• Mauritius (2007) ... Sterling
• It's Only a Play (2014-15) ... Ira Drew

Off-Broadway

• The Fantasticks (1967) ... The Actor (Henry)
• Landscape of the Body (1977) ... Holahan
• Uncle Vanya (1983-84) ... Astrov
• Twelfth Night (1986) ... Malvolio
• Waiting for Godot (1988) ... Pozzo
• A Life in the Theatre (1992) ... Robert
• King Lear (1996) ... Lear
• The Jew of Malta (2007) ... Barabas
• Almost an Evening (2008) ... Control/God Who Judges
• The Merchant of Venice (2011) ... Shylock
• Nathan the Wise (2016) ... Nathan

Awards and honors

Theatre

• 1980: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, for Teibele and Her Demon - Nominated
• 1984: Obie Award for Best Performance, for Uncle Vanya - Won
• 1992: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, for A Life in the Theatre - Nominated
• 2011: Obie Award for "sustained excellence of performance", for The Merchant of Venice - Won
• 2015: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, for It's Only a Play - Nominated

Film

• 1984: Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, for Amadeus - Won
• 1985: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (Tied with Albert Finney for Under the Volcano (1984)), for Amadeus - Won
• 1985: Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for Amadeus - Won
• 1985: Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, for Amadeus - Won
• 1985: Albert Schweitzer Award for Classic Film Acting, for Amadeus - Won
• 1986: BAFTA Award for Best Actor, for Amadeus - Nominated
• 2015: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for The Grand Budapest Hotel - Nominated

Television

• 2014: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Homeland - Nominated
• 2015: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Homeland - Nominated

Audio Recording

• 1987: Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Interview With The Vampire - Nominated

Awards for lifetime achievement

In July 2004, during a ceremony in Rome, he was awarded the "Premio per gli Italiani nel Mondo". This is a prize distributed by the Marzio Tremaglia foundation and the Italian government to Italian emigrants and their descendants who have distinguished themselves abroad.

In 2009, he was recognized by the Alumni Association of the City College of New York with John H. Finley Award in recognition of exemplary dedicated service to the City of New York.

In 2010, Abraham was the recipient of The Gielgud Award (Theatre) for that year.

In 2015, Abraham was an inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fame.

He also has an honorary doctorate from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.