Actor.
Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1905, daughter of Gertrude Everett MacDonald (1882-1981) and Charles Douglas Kirk, she came to Winnipeg with her family at an early age, attending Kelvin High School and the University of Manitoba.
An actress, her career in live theatre and radio began in the early 1930s. She first became well-known as a radio comedy actress in the Betty and Frank series playing opposite Frank McQuillan, with her journalist husband writing the scripts. She was a founder of the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and served as its President. She was a board member of the Dominion Drama Festival and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Her last acting role was as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady on Rainbow Stage in 1966.
On 24 November 1928, she married Victor Vereker Murray at Winnipeg. They had a son, Victor Murray.
She died suddenly at her Winnipeg home on Jubilee Avenue on 5 October 1966. She posthumously received a Canadian Film Award (1968) for her distinguished service to Canadian broadcasting.
Marriage registration [Jean Moore Kirk, Victor Versker Murray], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Winnipeg actress dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1966.
“Actress Jean Murray dies in sleep,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 October 1966.
“Jean Murray,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1968.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 March 2023
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