Fred MacMurray was arguably the biggest Hollywood movie star to successfully move from film to television, but behind the camera, he was quietly furious during the final years of his most famous TV project. The actor, born Frederick Martin MacMurray on August 30, 1908, had already built an impressive film career with classics like *Double Indemnity*, *The Egg and I*, *Alice Adams*, *The Caine Mutiny*, and *The Apartment* before starring in Disney favorites like *The Shaggy Dog*, *The Absent-Minded Professor*, and *Son of Flubber*. In 1960, MacMurray took on the lead role in the ABC sitcom *My Three Sons*. Because of his heavy schedule, he insisted that all episodes be filmed out of sequence across the show’s entire run—a technique now known as the “MacMurray method.
” This allowed him to complete all of his scenes in just 65 days, leaving the other cast members to shoot their parts without him. To keep continuity, the rest of the cast were required to get haircuts once a week. . The series co-starred William Frawley, who played Bub his among the three sons, along with Tim Considine, Don Grady, and Stanley Livingston.
Frawley, however, was deemed too ill to work for Desilu Studios by 1964, because insuring him had become too costly; he was eventually replaced by William Demarest, who took over the role of Uncle Charlie that same year. also in 1965 wild changes hit the show when it moved to the CBS network, which produced it in color ere, Tim Considine chose not to renew his contract after an argument with producers, creating a major problem: the show now literally no longer had three sons in its cast o overcome this, the storyline had his character, Mike, move away, and the family adopted Chip’s friend Ernie, played by Barry Livingston, who was the real-life brother of Stanley Livingston e series ratings fluctuated heavily over its 12-year run, often depending on which time slot it landed in the network scheduled many new characters and plotlines to keep the show fresh: Don Grady’s character Robbie married Tina Cole’s character Katie, and the couple had triplets, while MacMurray’s character Steve remarried Barbara, played by Beverly Garland, who brought a daughter named Dodie, played by Don Lynn, whom Steve adopted e show also survived the departure of its star, William Frawley, and its network move without losing its core audience. In 1971, a television pilot starring Don Grady and Tina Cole, called *Three of a Kind*, was produced with the storyline that Robbie, Katie, and their triplets moved to San Francisco, unfortunately, that pilot was never picked up as a series. On June ưu, however, proved disastrous: *My Three Sons* was moved to Mondays at 10 p.
m. , which killed its ratings, and the network canceled the show after that season despite initially deciding to bring it back for a 13th season were the decision flip-flopped, leaving MacMurray deeply angered and bitter e felt disrespected by the network that he had served so loyally, especially since he had been the only cast member to appear in all 380 episodes. In his later years, MacMurray suffered from throat cancer, a stroke, and leukemia, and he ultimately died from pneumonia on November , 1991, at his home in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 83; he was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery. .
. . ** The revised list:3. The final draft omitted the core detail that MacMurray’s anger was directly tied to the show’s cancellation mishandling.
6. The revised list remains correct. Revised F is “G” revised. 4.
The final draft omitted the core detail that the cancellation decision flip-flopped after CBS initially wanted a 13th season. 5. The final draft omitted the core detail that MacMurray’s anger was directly tied to the show’s cancellation mishandling. 7.
The revised list remains correct. Revised G when the cancellation decision flip-flopped, leaving MacMurray deeply angered and bitter e felt disrespected by the network that he had served so loyally, especially since he had been the only cast member to appear in all 380 episodes. In his later years, MacMurray suffered from throat cancer, a stroke, and leukemia, and he ultimately died from pneumonia on November ưu, 1991, at his home in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 83; he was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Anyone who watched reruns of the show might remember it fondly, but MacMurray’s own final years were marked by illness and resentment over what he saw as a betrayal by the very network that had made him a television icon.
