Born Feb. 14, 1922, in New York City, show business flowed through Murray Kaufman’s veins. His mother, Jean, was a vaudeville pianist who also wrote songs, while his aunt appeared onstage and in film as a character actress. Getting his start as a child extra on the 1930s film scene, Kaufman built an impressive career in radio. Eventually becoming known as “Murray the K,” he worked with everyone from Bobby Darin to the Beatles. Today we’re taking a look at the life and career of “Murray the K,” who died 44 years ago today (Feb. 21, 1982) just one week after his 60th birthday.
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He Always Lived to Entertain
Attending Peekskill Military Academy as a child, Kaufman joined the U.S. Army in adulthood. There, he began organizing shows for his fellow troops. It was a prelude to a lifelong career, and after he concluded his military service, Kaufman got a job putting together shows for the resort hotels in New York’s Catskill Mountain Borscht Belt.
Back home in Manhattan, Kaufman worked as a song plugger for songwriter Bob Merrill, helping promote Merrill’s 1952 novelty song “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?” He later became a radio producer and co-host at WMCA while also doing promotion work for professional baseball players like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays.
Eventually, Murray the K’s efforts earned him his own late-night talk show. In 1958, he moved to another New York radio station, WINS, to host an all-night show he called The Swingin’ Soiree. That’s where his career truly took off.
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Why Did Murray the K Call Himself the Fifth Beatle?
Many in the Beatles’ orbit could lay claim to the title of “the fifth Beatle.” While Murray the K’s name is possibly the most obscure among them, he is largely responsible for the Fab Four’s surge in popularity in the U.S.
Hearing about Murray through his work with bands like the Ronettes, the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, invited the DJ to their suite in the Plaza hotel. Murray talked his employer into allowing him to broadcast live from the Liverpool quartet’s temporary home. Somehow from there, he ended up tagging along on the Beatles’ American tour. Murray found himself witnessing history, attending their first American show, hanging out backstage during their Ed Sullivan debut, and broadcasting his radio shows live from the Miami hotel room he shared with George Harrison.
Murray “the K” Kaufman died of cancer on Feb. 21, 1982. He had celebrated his 60th birthday a week earlier.
Featured image by PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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