Josephine Murphy

Josephine Wilson Murphy’s family tree was a sprawling one that branched out in some extraordinary directions and intersected with some of the biggest moments in American history. 

Her distant ancestors immigrated from England and France in 1631, just 11 years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, and settled in Massachusetts. Her great-uncle, Admiral George Dewey, is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. Her grandmother Jean Thomas Dewey was an accomplished watercolorist. Her father, James Patrick Wilson, resided in Tupelo, Miss., one of his neighbors being none other than Elvis Presley.

She was an aspiring actress living in Baldwin when she met Elliott Murphy as he was searching for talent to cast in an outdoor theatrical and aquatics extravaganza called Aquashow, which he had been hired to produce for Robert Moses, the famed urban planner and commissioner of the New York City parks system. 

Rather than offer her an acting job, Mr. Murphy ending up proposing to the 18-year-old. They were married the following year, on Sept. 11, 1945.

Together, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy continued to produce shows throughout their marriage. Featuring the likes of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Henny Youngman, and Sonja Henning, they attracted the attention of Ed Sullivan. Ms. Murphy also collaborated with her husband on Elliott Murphy’s Sky Club, near Roosevelt Field on Long Island, and the Sky Island Club at the same location. She appeared as a co-host with Elizabeth Taylor at the Roosevelt Raceway’s Star Night benefit for the North Shore Hospital in 1957. 

Mrs. Murphy and her husband were living in Garden City when he died of a heart attack in October of 1965 at the age of 48. Mrs. Murphy, then 39, was left to raise their three teenagers on her own.

Beginning in 1990, she spent weekends throughout the year at her son Matt Murphy’s house in Wainscott. Mrs. Murphy died on Dec. 7 of cardiac arrest at the other home she maintained on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. She was 92.

She was born on April 20, 1926, to James Patrick Kirkwood Wilson and Ruth Dewey Wilson. In addition to her son, who also maintains a residence in Garden City, she is survived by another son, Elliott Murphy Jr. of Paris, a daughter, Michelle Murphy Strada of Amagansett, and two grandchildren.

Mrs. Murphy was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.