Editing Fred MacMurray (section)

=== Business ventures ===
MacMurray was also a prolific businessman, frequently earning over $400,000 a year in the 1940s.<ref name="metv.com" /> In 1941, he purchased land in the [[Russian River (California)|Russian River Valley]] in [[Northern California]] and established MacMurray Ranch. At the {{Convert|1,750|acre|adj=on}} ranch, he raised prize-winning [[American Angus|Aberdeen Angus cattle]], cultivated prunes, apples, alfalfa and other crops, and enjoyed watercolor painting, fly fishing, and [[skeet shooting]].<ref>Taylor, Dan (2013). [http://arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/23142/healdsburg-museum-exhibits-memorabilia-from-actor-fred-macmurrays-nearby-ranch/ "Healdsburg Museum exhibits memorabilia from actor Fred MacMurray's nearby ranch"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106234136/http://arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/23142/healdsburg-museum-exhibits-memorabilia-from-actor-fred-macmurrays-nearby-ranch/|date=November 6, 2016}}. ''Press Democrat'' (Santa Rosa, California), May 31, 2013, arts section. Retrieved June 4, 2017.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Linda |date=2003-03-06 |title=Hollywood to vine / A film star's daughter returns home to a Pinot paradise |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Hollywood-to-vine-A-film-star-s-daughter-2630274.php |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Evening Independent 05 Mar 1947, page Page 4 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/3858711/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> MacMurray wanted the property's agricultural heritage preserved, so five years after his death, in 1996, it was sold to [[E & J Gallo Winery|Gallo]], which planted vineyards on it for wines that bear the MacMurray Ranch label.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 6, 1996 |title=Gallo Family to Buy MacMurray Ranch |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/NORTH-BAY-Gallo-Family-to-Buy-MacMurray-Ranch-2983362.php |access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> One of MacMurray's children now lives on the property (in a cabin built by her father), and is "actively engaged in Sonoma's thriving wine community, carrying on her family's legacy and the heritage of MacMurray Ranch".<ref name="Ranch">{{cite web |date=February 25, 2008 |title=Kate MacMurray |url=http://www.macmurrayranch.com/About-MacMurray/Kate-MacMurray.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424003250/http://www.macmurrayranch.com/About-MacMurray/Kate-MacMurray.asp |archive-date=April 24, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2012 |website=MacMurray Ranch}}</ref><ref name="MacMurray_Estate">{{cite news |author1=Wright, Johnathan L. |date=July 26, 2017 |title=Inside the wine ranch once owned by a movie legend |work=Reno Gezette Journal |url=https://www.rgj.com/story/life/food/2017/07/26/inside-wine-ranch-once-owned-movie-legend/103993474/ |access-date=April 25, 2020 |quote=Famed actor Fred MacMurray purchased the property in 1941. Today, his daughter Kate is the winery's guiding spirit.}}</ref>

In 1944, he purchased the [[Bryson Apartment Hotel]] in the [[Westlake, Los Angeles]] neighborhood for $600,000, using profits from ''Double Indemnity'', and was a co-owner of three other apartment buildings.<ref name=":0" /> The actor was cautious with his finances, which went hand-in-hand with his sedate lifestyle. The majority of his earnings were used for investments (including a knitting mill, co-owner of a golf-and-tennis club and a cold-storage business).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evening Star 05 Jan 1947, page 39 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/867975626/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> MacMurray insisted upon a percentage of gross of the films in which he starred.

In 1945, along with former actor [[Leslie Fenton]], MacMurray formed a production company, entitled "Mutual Pictures".<ref>{{Cite news |title=SCREEN NEWS; MacMurray and Fenton Form Producing Firm Of Local Origin |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//arch-timesmachine-fe-prd-40741-2-575473780.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/timesmachine/1945/01/30/88189004.html?pageNumber=22 |access-date=2023-07-11 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> With this production company the pair made one film, ''[[Pardon My Past]]'', a moderate success.<ref name=":2" />

A 1977 profile dispelled the myth of MacMurray's wealth, reporting that if he "...sold everything I'd be worth maybe $3 million to $4 million. Maybe". He stated that the myth of his wealth being in league with [[Doris Duke]] and the [[Aga Khan IV|Aga Khan]] ($75 to $100 million range) stemmed from his life-long frugality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Daily Herald-Tribune 27 Oct 1977, page 11 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/731055335/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>