Ryan Murphy (writer)

Ryan Murphy (b. 1966) is an American writer and producer for film and television, best known for creating the hit FX series "Nip/Tuck", about two upscale plastic surgeons with complex and sometimes twisted personal lives, played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon.

Murphy started out as a journalist working for The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News and Entertainment Weekly, amongst others. He began scriptwriting in the late 1990's, and his scripts "The Furies" and "Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn?" were both purchased by major studios.

In 1999, Murphy teamed up with producer Gina Matthews to create the teen comedy series "Popular", which was picked up by The WB and aired for two seasons. He also filmed the WB sitcom pilot "St. Sass" starring Delta Burke and Heather Matarazzo, which wasn't picked up.

2003 saw the premiere of his series "Nip/Tuck", which is both a commercial and critical hit, and is currently filming its sixth season. In 2006, he wrote the screenplay for and directed the feature film "Running with Scissors". Based on the harrowing but oddly uplifting best-selling memoir by Augusten Burroughs, the movie version stars Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Brian Cox, Jill Clayburgh, Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Evan Rachel Wood, and, as the young Burroughs, newcomer Joseph Cross. In 2008, Murphy wrote and directed the FX pilot Pretty Handsome, which wasn't picked up for series.

Murphy has several films in development. The political comedy "Dirty Tricks" (his "passion project") starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent and Sharon Stone, the drama "Eat/Pray/Love" starring Julia Roberts, plastic surgery thriller "Face" starring Demi Moore, erotic thriller "Need" starring Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts, and "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho" starring Anthony Hopkins.

He frequently casts the same actors for his different projects, and many of his "Popular" cast members have made appearances on "Nip/Tuck", including Leslie Bibb, Leslie Grossman, Bryce Johnson, Robert Gant and Lisa Darr.

Murphy is a graduate of Warren Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana. He also attended Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. While at Indiana University, he was a staff member of the school newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student.

Personal life

Murphy is on the National Advisory Board of the Young Storytellers Foundation. He is openly gay. [citation |title=Queer Eye for Straight TV |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1034725,00.html |first=James |last=Poniewozik |accessdate=2008-08-20 |periodical=Time Magazine |date=2005-03-07]

References

External links

*imdb name|name=Ryan Murphy|id=0614682
* [http://myspace.com/niptuckryanmurphy MySpace page]