Editing Fred MacMurray (section)

=== Stardom ===
[[File:Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray.jpg|left|thumb|MacMurray with [[Irene Dunne]] in a promotional photo for ''[[Invitation to Happiness]]'' (1939)]]
In the 1930s, MacMurray worked with film directors Billy Wilder and [[Preston Sturges]], and actors [[Barbara Stanwyck]], [[Henry Fonda]], [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Marlene Dietrich]], and in seven films, [[Claudette Colbert]], beginning with ''[[The Gilded Lily (1935 film)|The Gilded Lily]]''. He co-starred with [[Katharine Hepburn]] in ''[[Alice Adams (1935 film)|Alice Adams]]'', with [[Joan Crawford]] in ''[[Above Suspicion (1943 film)|Above Suspicion]]'', and with [[Carole Lombard]] in four productions: ''[[Hands Across the Table]]'', ''[[The Princess Comes Across]]'', ''[[Swing High, Swing Low (film)|Swing High, Swing Low]]'' and ''[[True Confession]]''. Usually cast in light comedies as a decent, thoughtful character (''[[The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936 film)|The Trail of the Lonesome Pine]]''), and in melodramas and musicals, MacMurray became one of the film industry's highest-paid actors of the period. In 1943, his annual salary had reached $420,000, making him the highest-paid actor in Hollywood and the fourth-highest-paid person in the nation.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news| last=Flint| first=Peter B.| title=Fred MacMurray Is Dead at 83; Versatile Film and Television Star| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/06/arts/fred-macmurray-is-dead-at-83-versatile-film-and-television-star.html| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=November 6, 1991|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="metv.com">{{cite web |title=How My Three Sons star Fred MacMurray became one of the wealthiest actors in the biz |url=https://metv.com/stories/how-my-three-sons-star-fred-macmurray-became-one-of-the-wealthiest-actors-in-the-biz}}</ref>

MacMurray did not serve in the military during the [[World War II|Second World War]], instead working to sell [[war bond]]s and as an air-raid warden in his [[Brentwood, Los Angeles|Brentwood]] neighborhood. The movies that he did produce during this period were mostly considered to be "morale-boosters" rather than outright "war pictures" that some of his contemporaries were churning out. In 1944, his earnings increased to $439,000, making him again the highest-paid actor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Tranberg |first=Charles |title=Fred MacMurray - A biography |publisher=BearManor Media |year=2007 |isbn=978-1593930998 |edition=1st}}</ref>

During the production of the 1947 film [[The Egg and I (film)|''The Egg and I'']], the hens appearing in the movie laid over 300 eggs. MacMurray and costar Claudette Colbert autographed one egg each in fifty cartons. The eggs were sold at a local farmers market and profits were donated to the [[Braille Institute of America]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Daily Times 25 Jan 1947, page 3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/303174689/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

Having starred in many episodes of [[Lux Radio Theatre]] in the late 1930s and 1940s, MacMurray returned to the medium in 1952. He featured in ''[[Bright Star (radio)|Bright Star]],'' along with [[Irene Dunne]], in which he portrayed a reporter for a local newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RUSC - Old Time Radio Shows - Bright Star |url=https://www.rusc.com/old-time-radio/Bright-Star.aspx?s=498 |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=www.rusc.com}}</ref>
[[File:Double-Indemnity-LIFE-1944-2.jpg|right|thumb|MacMurray with [[Barbara Stanwick]] in ''[[Double Indemnity]]'' (1944)]]
Despite being typecast as a "nice guy", MacMurray often said his best roles were when he was cast against type, such as under the direction of Billy Wilder and [[Edward Dmytryk]]. Perhaps his best known "bad guy" performance was that of Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who plots with a greedy wife to kill her husband in the [[film noir]] classic ''[[Double Indemnity]]''. MacMurray stated in 1956 that this was his favorite role, and that it "...proved I could do serious acting".<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The Kansas City Times 12 Dec 1956, page 24 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/658704503/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> In another turn in the "not so nice" category, MacMurray played the cynical, duplicitous Lieutenant Thomas Keefer in Dmytryk's film ''[[The Caine Mutiny (1954 film)|The Caine Mutiny]].''<ref name="TCM Movie Database">{{cite web |url=http://tcmdb.com/participant/participant.jsp?participantId=119195 |title=TCM Movie Database |publisher=Tcmdb.com |access-date=August 24, 2012 |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001002647/http://tcmdb.com/participant/participant.jsp?participantId=119195 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Six years later, MacMurray played Jeff Sheldrake, a two-timing corporate executive in Wilder's [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-winning film ''[[The Apartment]]''. In 1958, he guest-starred in the premiere episode of [[National Broadcasting Company|NBC]]'s ''[[Cimarron City (TV series)|Cimarron City]]'' Western series, with [[George Montgomery (actor)|George Montgomery]] and [[John Smith (actor)|John Smith]]. MacMurray's career continued upward the following year, when he was cast as the father in the [[Walt Disney Studios (production)|Disney]] film ''[[The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)|The Shaggy Dog]].''<ref name="TCM Movie Database" />