Trivia

When the government replaced the tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery, tombstones of Medal of Honor recipients were embossed in gold leaf, but Murphy's family requested that the "Medal of Honor" on his tombstone remain plain, as he would have wanted. His is the second most-visited grave at Arlington, after John F. Kennedy's.

Most decorated combat soldier in American history, earning every commendation the army could bestow by the time he was 20, including the Medal of Honor. He was also awarded France's and Belgium's highest decorations.

Medal of Honor Citation: "2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective".

Has a military hospital named after him: The Audie L. Murphy Veteran's Hospital in San Antonio, TX.

While photographing the making of The Unforgiven (1960), Inge Morath accompanied John Huston and his friends on a duck hunt. Up the river, she noticed Murphy in the water, having fallen out of his boat. She stripped to her underwear, reached Murphy, who was in the last stages of exhaustion, and hauled him ashore by her bra strap while the hunt continued uninterrupted over them.

His friends in Hollywood were mostly character actors and film crew members (cameramen, makeup artists, horse wranglers, stunt people both male and female), and he was often protective of them, and tried to help them succeed in their careers. There is also a story of him staying with a wealthy friend in Dallas, and blowing off a party full of wealthy people to go hang out with the African-American kitchen staff and compliment them on their cooking.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1601 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Died broke and in debt. His widow spent the next 35 years working as a patient liaison at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center (North Hills, CA) paying off his debts. She died in 2010, age 90.

Although commonly referred to as Sgt. Audie Murphy, he was given a battlefield commission and was promoted to 2nd Lt. prior to receiving his Medal of Honor. He received most of his decorations before he turned 20.

A non-smoker who rarely drank alcohol, he turned down large offers of money to advertise cigarettes and spirits.

Just before his death he was offered the role of the villain in the original Dirty Harry (1971), which went to Andrew Robinson.

Reputedly once frightened a drunken, misbehaving movie tough-guy Lawrence Tierney, one of the more notorious brawlers in Hollywood, into leaving a party without raising his voice or physically harming Tierney.

Buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His ex-wife attended his memorial service.

He was born in Kingston, TX, and grew up in Celeste. He went to school in Celeste until 8th grade, when he dropped out to help support his family.

Disliked the name "Audie" when he was a child and usually went by his middle name, Leon. In the army he discovered that "Leon" was considered synonymous with rednecks, and spent the rest of his life going by "Audie" or "Murph".

The Audie Murphy Research Foundation was established by Murphy's family, for collection, preservation and distribution of historical information about him. Contact info is 18008 Saratoga Way, Ste. 516, Santa Clarita, CA 91351; fax 805-251-8432.

Had two sons with Pamela Archer: Terry Michael (b. 4/14/52) and James Shannon ("Skipper"; b. 3/24/54).

He and James Arness both served in the 3rd Infantry Division during World War II. Murphy was in the 15th Infantry Regiment and Arness was in the 7th Infantry Regiment. Both regiments took part in the landings in Sicily and Anzio while part of the 3rd Division. Arness was wounded at Anzio and shipped back to the US.

6/20/96 was proclaimed Audie Murphy Day by the Greenville Area Postal Customer Advisory Council in Greenville, TX. US Hwy, 69 North, from North Greenville city limits to the Fannin County line, was renamed The Audie Murphy Memorial Highway. In addition, he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame that year in Oklahoma.

Mentioned in Pork Chop Hill (1959)--Gregory Peck says to Robert Blake, "Who do you think you are, Audie Murphy?".

Pulp Western novelist J.T. Edson created a character named Dusty Fog based on Murphy. A thinly-disguised version of Murphy appears in one of Stephen Hunter's novels. The character of Fredrick Zoller in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is sort of a Mirror Universe Nazi analogue to Murphy. Robert Stack cited Murphy as a partial inspiration for his take on Eliot Ness in The Untouchables. David Morrell ("First Blood") cited Murphy as a partial inspiration for John Rambo, although even in his more troubled moments, Murphy was a lot more functional than Rambo.

While many people are aware of him being the most decorated service man of world war II few have seen the list of his awards - Medal of Honour ,Distnguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with V, 2 Purple Hearts, US Army Outsanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal,, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Silver Star, 4 Bronze Service Stars representing 9 campaigns, Bronze Arrowhead representing Assault Landing at Sicily and Southern France, WWII Victory Medal, Army of GCC6 Patiou Medal with Germany Clasp Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Medal of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerres 1940 Palm.

He and producer Hal B. Wallis tried unsuccessfully to persuade Desmond T. Doss to sell them the rights to his life story. Doss refused all offers to turn his story into a film. A film about Doss was finally made and released ten years after his death. Hacksaw Ridge (2016) was directed by Mel Gibson and starred Andrew Garfield as Doss.

First wife Wanda Hendrix claimed he had horrible nightmares, and held her at gunpoint once. Four days after his divorce from Hendrix was finalized, he married airline stewardess Pamela Archer.

In 1995 he was chosen by "Empire" magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars (#55) in film history.

He was sought to run for political office by liberal Democrats in Hollywood but declined.

Referenced in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).

Was a life member of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). He was also a supporter of the Democratic Party.

Was honored by the USPS with a stamp on May 3rd, 2000 along with Alvin York, Omar Bradley, and John L. Hines in the Distinguished Soldiers Set. Scott Catalogue # 3393-3396.

He joined the army at18 from being a cotton picker in Texas and served in Africa, Italy and France and became the most decorated soldier of WWII.