Ryan Murphy (producer)

Ryan Patrick Murphy (born November 9, 1965) is an American writer, director, and producer, working mainly in television. He has often been described as "the most powerful man" in modern television and signed the largest development deal in television history with Netflix.^[1][2] Murphy is noted for having created a shift in inclusive storytelling that "brought marginalized characters to the masses."^[3] His accolades include six Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, a Tony Award, four Producers Guild of America Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, including the honorary Carol Burnett Award.

He has created and produced a number of television series including Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), Glee (2009–2015), American Horror Story (2011–present), American Crime Story (2016–2021), Pose (2018–2021), 9-1-1 (2018–present), 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–2025), Ratched (2020), American Horror Stories (2021–present), Monster (2022–present), The Watcher (2022–present), Grotesquerie (2024), Doctor Odyssey (2024–2025), and 9-1-1: Nashville (2025–present). Murphy has also directed the 2006 film adaptation of Augusten Burroughs' memoir Running with Scissors, the 2010 film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love, the 2014 film adaptation of Larry Kramer's play The Normal Heart, and the 2020 film adaptation of the musical The Prom.

Early life

Murphy was born on November 9, 1965, in Indianapolis, Indiana,^[4] where he was raised in a Catholic family.^[5] His ancestry includes Irish and Danish.^[2][6][7] He attended Catholic school from first through eighth grade,^[5] and graduated from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis. He has described his mother J. Andy Murphy as a "beauty queen who left it all to stay at home and take care of her two Wild sons". She wrote five books and worked in communications for over 20 years before retiring. His father worked in the newspaper industry as a circulation director before he retired after 30 years.^[8]

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".^[5][8] During a 2012 interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Murphy claimed that he secretly dated "a lot of football players" in high school.^[9] He performed with a choir as a child, which would later inform his work on Glee.^[5]

Murphy attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he majored in journalism and was a member of the Singing Hoosiers vocal ensemble.^[4] He interned at The Washington Post in 1986. He was placed in the fashion and style section.^[10]

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?^[8]

Murphy started his career in television with the teen comedy series Popular, which he co-created with Gina Matthews. The series premiered on The WB on September 29, 1999,^[11] and ran for two seasons, ending in 2001. During the time, his production company Ryan Murphy Productions signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television.^[12] 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.^[8] Murphy took the show's signature line, "Tell me what you don't like about yourself," from a plastic surgeon he met when he was a journalist researching an undercover story on plastic surgery in Beverly Hills. The series ended after six seasons in 2010.

In 2006, Murphy wrote the screenplay for and directed the feature film Running with Scissors, based on the memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

2009–2017: Glee and American Horror Story

On May 19, 2009, Murphy's musical comedy-drama series, Glee, premiered on Fox. He co-created the series with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. In its early seasons, the show was critically praised.^[13] Murphy won his first Primetime Emmy Award for directing the pilot episode.^[14] The series concluded in 2015 following its sixth season.^[15] Murphy was one of four executive producers on the reality television series The Glee Project, which premiered on Oxygen on June 12, 2011.^[16] 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.^[17] Murphy was openly critical of several prominent bands for not releasing music for use in Glee, for which he subsequently apologized.^[18] 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.^[19]

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.^[20][21] 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.^[22] The series was ultimately cancelled after one season.^[23]

Murphy next directed the 2014 television film adaptation of Larry Kramer's Broadway play The Normal Heart.^[24] 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.^[25] 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.^[26] Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan next co-created the comedy-horror series Scream Queens, which premiered on Fox on September 22, 2015.^[27] The series was cancelled after two seasons.^[28][29] 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?^[30]

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^[31] 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.^[32] Joining Canals, Murphy and Falchuk in the writing room were Our Lady J and Janet Mock, who Murphy also encouraged to direct an episode,^[31] making her the first trans woman of colour to do so, as well as the first trans woman of colour in a TV series writing room.^[31] The series premiered on FX on June 3, 2018, attracting critical acclaim.^[33][34] 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.^[35] On July 12, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2019.^[36]

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,^[37] Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund,^[38] and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center^[39] 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."^[40]

In 2018, Netflix signed Murphy for a development deal with compensation of $300 million over a period of five years.^[41][42] 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".^[43][44] 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.^[45][46] The second season, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, was released in September 2024, and the third season, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, was released in October 2025.^[47] All three 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.^[48]

In May 2025, FX ordered The Shards, a horror-thriller series based on the semi-autobiographical 2023 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. The series, set in 1980s Los Angeles, follows a teenager who becomes obsessed with a serial killer terrorizing the city. Murphy executive produces via Ryan Murphy Productions, with Max Winkler attached to direct and executive produce. The cast includes Igby Rigney, Kaia Gerber, Homer Gere, Hayes Warner, Graham Campbell, and Wes Bentley. Filming began in November 2025 and wrapped in March 2026.^[49]

In the media

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.^[50]

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.^[51]

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.^[52] By April 2013, HBO had given a pilot order for Murphy's sexuality drama Open, which began filming in late 2013.^[53] By September 2014, HBO had opted not to proceed to series.^[54]

Murphy also had several films in development: Dirty Tricks, a political comedy based on the play by John Jeter,^[55] One Hit Wonders, a musical comedy,^[56] and a sequel to The Normal Heart.^[57] He was also courted by studios to direct film versions of the Broadway musicals The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wicked, and Annie.^[58]

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.^[59] In 2018, Murphy was developing a MeToo anthology series called Consent.^[2] In 2019, Murphy was developing a 10-part miniseries adaptation of A Chorus Line and a biopic on the actress Marlene Dietrich starring Jessica Lange for Netflix.^[1] There have been no development on these projects since their announcement.

In 2020, Rob Lowe revealed via Instagram that he was in discussions with Murphy to play Joe Exotic in a scripted adaptation of Tiger King.^[60]

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.^[5][61] He serves on the National Advisory Board of Young Storytellers. He once owned a house designed by renowned mid-century modern architect Carl Maston.^[62]

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.^[63]

Murphy has been married to photographer David Miller since July 2012.^[64] They have three sons born via surrogacy.^[65]

Filmography

Film

Television

Numbers in directing and writing credits refer to number of episodes.

Unsold TV pilots

Non-fiction TV series

Awards and nominations

Frequent collaborators

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