Long before Arnold Schwarzenegger made the modulation from acting to politics , and even before Ronald Reagan run short from Gipper to governor , George Murphy pave the way of life with his tap shoes .
With more than40 moviesunder his belt , Murphy held his own opposite the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly from the former 1930s to the early fifties . He perform with Shirley Temple , Judy Garland , Eleanor Powell , and even the man who would eventually follow in his shoes — Ronald Reagan .
Murphy conflate his love of the silver screen with an interestingness in political sympathies when he became thepresidentof the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to 1946 . Reagan now come through him .
When Murphy was appoint the conductor of entertainment for Dwight D. Eisenhower ’s presidential inaugurations , his insider statusensuredthat “ half of Hollywood and three - quarters of Broadway ” do at four inaugural balls , and , in 1957 , observers marvel at the splendor and spectacle of Murphy ’s amusement docket .
The political bug had bitten him hard by this point , and in 1964 Murphy ousted John F. Kennedy ’s former imperativeness escritoire as the senator from California . A pocket-sized malicious gossip kept him from winning re - election in 1970 — voters were n’t please when theydiscoveredthat he continue to earn a salary from the Technicolor Corporation ( he was their vice president ) while employed by Congress .
nevertheless , Murphy leave behind a sweet legacy in the Senate : the famous Candy Desk . When the player first claimed a place in the Senate sleeping accommodation , he kept his fresh tooth quenched by hoarding a stash of confections in his desk . In 1968 , he proceed to an aisle bottom oft passed by other members of the Senate and began sharing his stash with anyone who take the air by . Though Murphy was just a one - termer , the custom stuck . [ PDF ]
To this day , Murphy is the only senator who has anOscar(albeit an honorary one ) and astaron the Hollywood Walk of Fame .
