Murray Hamilton

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia 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 wellknown 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 Americas entry into World War II Bad hearing kept him from enlisting so he moved to New York City as a 19yearold 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 Critics 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 Hamiltons bestknown 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 couldnt 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 Spielbergs raucous comedy 1941 released in 1979 He also appeared in a comedic guest spot on Mamas Family in the secondseason episode Mama Cries Uncle as Uncle Roy He was more often cast in dramatic works such as the sciencefiction drama Seconds 1966 which starred Rock Hudson In his most highprofile 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