Ryan Murphy (producer)

Murphy was born on November 9, 1965, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was raised in a Catholic family. His ancestry includes Irish and Danish. He attended Catholic school from first through eighth grade, After coming out as gay at age 15, Murphy saw his first therapist, who found nothing wrong with him other than being "too precocious for his own good". He performed with a choir as a child, which would later inform his work on Glee. ==Career==

1990–2008: Popular and Nip/Tuck Murphy started as a journalist working for The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Knoxville News Sentinel and Entertainment Weekly. He began scriptwriting in the late 1990s, when Steven Spielberg purchased his script ''Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn? and ran for two seasons, ending in 2001. During the time, his production company Ryan Murphy Productions signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television. He then created the FX drama series Nip/Tuck, which premiered on July 18, 2003. In 2004, Murphy earned his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Murphy won his first Primetime Emmy Award for directing the pilot episode. The series concluded in 2015 following its sixth season. Murphy was one of four executive producers on the reality television series The Glee Project, which premiered on Oxygen on June 12, 2011. The show featured a group of contestants vying for the prize of a seven-episode arc on Glee, with someone being eliminated each week, until the winner is chosen in the final episode. The show was renewed for a second season, which ended up being its last. Murphy was openly critical of several prominent bands for not releasing music for use in Glee'', for which he subsequently apologized. In 2010, Murphy directed an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love. The film was a box office success but a critical failure, receiving harsh reviews criticizing its pacing and lack of credibility. To date, the film has grossed $204,482,125 worldwide. Murphy and Falchuk created the anthology series American Horror Story, which premiered on FX on October 5, 2011. Most of the same cast have played different characters in different settings each subsequent season. Murphy and Glee co-executive producer Ali Adler created the half-hour comedy The New Normal, which premiered on NBC on September 10, 2012. The series was based on Murphy's own experiences of having a child via surrogate, with the main characters, Bryan and David, named for Ryan and his husband. The series was ultimately cancelled after one season. Murphy next directed the 2014 television film adaptation of Larry Kramer's Broadway play The Normal Heart. Murphy then collaborated with The Normal Heart executive producer Jason Blum to produce a metasequel to the cult-classic horror film The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The film was the directorial debut of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and was also released in 2014. In October 2014, FX greenlit a companion anthology series, American Crime Story, which Murphy and Falchuk executive produce. The series premiered on February 2, 2016. Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan next co-created the comedy-horror series Scream Queens, which premiered on Fox on September 22, 2015. The series was cancelled after two seasons. Murphy's next project, the drama anthology series Feud, premiered on FX in 2017. The first season focused on the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set of their 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 2018–present: 9-1-1, Pose and Netflix productions In 2018, Murphy co-created the police procedural drama 9-1-1 and also served as its director, writer and executive producer. With newcomer Steven Canals, Murphy and Falchuk launched a new series, Pose, set in the Ball community in mid-1980s New York City. Murphy had wanted to adapt and knock off Paris Is Burning as a series and Canals had been writing a script while at graduate school centered on a young African American teen made homeless for being gay, who moved to New York with dreams of going to dance school and who became adopted by a House mother. Joining Canals, Murphy and Falchuk in the writing room were Our Lady J and Janet Mock, who Murphy also encouraged to direct an episode, The first season boasted the largest cast of transgender actors ever for a scripted network series, with over 50 transgender characters all played by trans actors. On July 12, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2019. In May 2018, ahead of the Pose premiere, Murphy announced that he would donate all of his profits from the series to charitable organizations working with LGBT people, tweeting different non-profits including Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center telling Variety that: "The thing that struck me in talking to so many of them, was how much they've struggled, how under attack they feel, how many of them find it difficult getting healthcare, and finding jobs. I just decided I need to do more than just making a show for this community. I want to reach out and help this community." In 2018, Netflix signed Murphy for a development deal with compensation of $300 million over a period of five years. In September 2019, The Politician was released on Netflix to generally positive reviews. The series was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and renewed for a second season, which was released in mid-2020. Murphy then co-created the 9-1-1 spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star, which premiered on Fox in January 2020. In May 2020, Murphy's period miniseries Hollywood was released to mixed reviews. Murphy served as co-creator, writer and director for the series. In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people". In 2021, Murphy wrote for and executive produced Halston, a miniseries about the designer Halston starring Ewan McGregor. Alongside his Glee co-creator Ian Brennan, Murphy co-created the true crime anthology series Monster (2022–present) for Netflix. Initially intended to be a ten-part limited series, the first season was titled Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022) and became one of the most-watched Netflix series of all time. The second season, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, was released in September 2024. Both seasons were met with commercial success but mixed reviews, with most critics criticizing the ethics of true crime media and Murphy's approach to the victims. ==In the media==

, Murphy, and Norte's husband, gay activist Kevin Norte, at Spring Time GLAAD 2010's charitable event in Century City, Los Angeles, California. In October 2015, Murphy received the Award of Inspiration from amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research for his contributions to TV and film as well as his work in the fight against AIDS. In 2017, Murphy launched the Half Initiative, which aims to make Hollywood more inclusive by creating equal opportunities for women and minorities behind the camera. Less than one year after launching Half, Ryan Murphy Television's director slate hired 60% women directors and 90% met its women and minority requirement. In conjunction with the hiring goals, he helped many people with the Initiative launched the Half-Director Mentorship Program in which every director on every Ryan Murphy Television production mentors emerging women and minority directors through pre-production and post-production along with offering a significant stipend for their commitment. Filmmaker Kristin Fairweather, the first recipient of a HALF award, described her experience in an interview with Screen Comment's Rudy Cecera. ==Unproduced projects==

Murphy has created and produced various unsuccessful television pilots. The WB's sitcom pilot St. Sass, starring Delta Burke and Heather Matarazzo, was not picked up. In 2008, Murphy wrote and directed the FX pilot Pretty/Handsome, which also was not picked up. By April 2013, HBO had given a pilot order for Murphy's sexuality drama Open, which began filming in late 2013. By September 2014, HBO had opted not to proceed to series. Murphy also had several films in development: Dirty Tricks, a political comedy based on the play by John Jeter, One Hit Wonders, a musical comedy, and a sequel to The Normal Heart. He was also courted by studios to direct film versions of the Broadway musicals The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wicked, and Annie. In 2014, Murphy was developing a feature film of the life of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, based on the best-selling book Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune. In 2018, Murphy was developing a MeToo anthology series called Consent. ==Personal life==

While Murphy grew up in a Catholic household, he is "done with the Church," having left it; however, he still occasionally goes to church. He serves on the National Advisory Board of Young Storytellers. He once owned a house designed by renowned mid-century modern architect Carl Maston. In an interview about his show Pose, which is set in 1987, during the height of the initial AIDS crisis, Murphy described his concern about contracting HIV while at college, getting tested frequently even when celibate. Murphy has been married to photographer David Miller since July 2012. They have three sons born via surrogacy. == Filmography ==

Film Television Numbers in directing and writing credits refer to number of episodes. Unsold TV pilots Non-fiction TV series == Awards and nominations ==

Throughout Murphy's various film and television projects, he has worked with various actors and actresses repeatedly. This includes Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Nathan Lane, Leslie Grossman, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Darren Criss, Matt Bomer, Patti LuPone, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, John Stamos, and Naomi Watts among many others. Sarah Paulson has appeared the most frequently in 7 different television projects while Matt Bomer, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd, Niecy Nash-Betts, Hudson Oz, and Sophie von Haselberg have all appeared in 5. Note the table below only lists frequent collaborators from Murphy's television series, with several actors listed also appearing in his films. Footnotes for collaboration table ==References==