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Clan Murray are a family with more than their fair share of talent, success, and vision. We’ve had a great time getting to know just a few of their most famous members better, and we can’t wait to introduce you to them! We’re sure you’ll already be familiar with one or two.
Meet the Famous Murrays
Robert Moray
First, we’d like to take you back to the 17th century when Robert Moray was forging an impressive career, listing soldier, statesman, diplomat, judge, spy, and philosopher amongst his many prestigious titles!
Moray was born in the early 1600s to Sir Mungo Moray of Craigie, and counted numerous esteemed names as his relatives, including one uncle who had supposedly worked closely with Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
He seemed to inherit this knack for making connections and progressed quickly in his working life. In 1633, he joined the Garde Ecossaise, a regiment of King Louis XIII of France’s army, and soon caught the eye of the prominent Cardinal Richelieu. The Cardinal was struck by the young Moray’s cunning and bravery, so hired him as a spy. He excelled so impressively that it wasn’t long until he was promoted to the role of Lieutenant Colonel.
While Moray’s military prowess was remarkable, his most famous achievement was helping to form the Royal Society: the oldest scientific society still in existence! Moray attended the society’s first official meeting on 28th of November 1660 in Gresham College, having played a key role in acquiring a royal charter from King Charles II for the group. This awarded the Society an immediate air of prestige and influence. Moray then served as the first President of the Royal Society, helping to cement its position in the scientific community.
Today, the Society continues to support researchers, champion excellence, and encourage positive engagement with the sciences, so it seems that Moray’s influence is still keenly felt all these hundreds of years later!
Our next two famous faces for today made their names in showbusiness and entertainment.
Chad Michael Murray
Chad Michael Murray will be familiar to anyone who enjoys classic 2000s sitcoms or romantic comedies!
Born in Buffalo, New York in 1981, it was clear that Chad had a knack for the arts from an early age, excelling in literature studies during High School and working at a movie theatre. In 1999, he attended a modelling convention in Florida, where he met an agent who instantly spotted his star potential and encouraged him to move to Hollywood.
Chad followed this advice and managed to get an agent the very next year. His career immediately took off, with the young Murray booking modelling jobs for Sketchers, Tommy Hilfiger, and Gucci!
In 2000, he nabbed his first significant TV role, appearing as supporting character, Tristin DuGray in ‘Gilmore Girls.’ From here, his acting offers snowballed. He was cast in lead roles in the teen hits ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘One Tree Hill,’ and starred in multiple box office successes, including ‘Freaky Friday’ and ‘A Cinderella Story.’ He won 4 Teen Choice Awards over this period, cementing himself as an iconic leading actor!
However, Murray’s talents are not limited to acting, he is also a highly talented, published writer. In 2011, he released a graphic novel named ‘Everlast,’ and in 2017 he released ‘American Drifter: An Exhilarating Tale of Love and Murder,’ a romantic thriller that he wrote alongside writer Heather Graham.
Murray is also strongly philanthropic, and actively supports a number of charities, including Habitat for Humanity, the Elizabeth Pediatric Aids Foundation, and Buffalo’s Hunter’s Hope Foundation.
Anne Murray
Anne Murray also experienced great success in the arts, though her speciality is music.
Anne was born in Nova Scotia in 1945 and exhibited prodigal musical talent from a very early age, often taking long bus journeys out of her hometown to attend singing lessons.
The young Murray initially decided to take a more traditional career path, studying Physical Education at the University of New Brunswick in 1966, before going on to teach PE at a High School in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Even while pursuing this, though, she could not completely leave music behind. In 1965, Murray took part in a university project to create a record, singing two songs, ‘Unchained Melody’ and ‘Little Bit of Soap.’ This built her confidence, and she soon began performing regularly in local venues, where she was spotted and invited to join the cast of ‘Singalong Jubilee.’
The show’s musical director recognised Murray’s outstanding talent and encouraged her to move to Toronto to record a solo album. She followed his advice and quickly found mainstream success, gaining a no.1 hit on only her second album! ‘Snowbird’ topped the charts in Canada and reached no. 8 in the US.
From there on out, her career went from strength to strength, and she enjoyed many more hit singles, including ‘Danny’s song,’ ‘A Little Good News,’ ‘A Love Song,’ and ‘You Needed Me.’
Murray retired from creating and performing music in 2008, but still has a massive 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify today! Her work clearly continues to bring joy to many people's lives.
Andy Murray
Our final famous face for today is perhaps the most well-known yet: the recently retired tennis megastar, Andy Murray!
Born in Glasgow in 1987, Murray began playing tennis at just 3 years old, and played his first competitive tournament when he was only 5! This was not his only talent, however. In fact, he was scouted by Rangers Football Club at the age of 15 and asked to train at their School of Excellence but decided to turn the offer down and focus on tennis instead. Shortly after, he moved to Spain to study at Schiller International School and train on the prestigious courts of the Sanchez-Casal Academy, honing his skills.
Murray started his professional career in 2005 and enjoyed stratospheric success, winning 46 singles titles, including 3 grand slams, 14 masters 1000, and 2 Olympic medals. His talent gained him attention from public and press, and he has been awarded numerous accolades including BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2013, 2015, and 2016. He also received an OBE medal from Prince William in 2013 and was knighted by Prince Charles in 2019, becoming only the second ever tennis player to receive this honour.
Admirably, Murray has used his fame and success to give back, as he is a Global Ambassador for UNICEF, United for Wildlife, Malaria No More and WWF.
Even though he wrapped up his tennis career at the Paris Olympics, we are sure this iconic member of the Murray Clan will go on to inspire generations of young Scottish sportspeople for years to come.
That brings us to the end of this month’s Famous Faces blog. We hope you enjoyed meeting this collection of talented characters as much as we did! If you are lucky enough to belong to Clan Murray, we hope you feel proud discovering the accomplishments of just a few of your peers.
Do you think there’s anyone else we should have mentioned? Feel free to get in touch and let us know! In the meantime, please head over to our Clan Murray page to learn more about this fascinating family.
Image Sources:
The entrance to the Royal Society by Tom Morris - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Chad Michael Murray by MasterGracey at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0
Anne Murray by Courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate c/o Guy MacPherson - Fraser MacPherson & Anne Murray, CC BY 2.0
Andy Murray by Carine06 from UK - Andy Murray, CC BY-SA 2.0
