Bleeding Gums Murphy
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"Bleeding Gums" Murphy was a fictional character on the cartoon television series The Simpsons. Alto saxophone player and probable long-lost brother of Dr. Julius Hibbert, Bleeding Gums was a mentor for Lisa Simpson until his early death. He recorded one album called Sax on the Beach, which was extremely lucrative, but he soon went broke after spending too much of his money on several Fabergé eggs a day. This jazzman always wore dark glasses on the show. In one episode the character reveals that he had once made a guest appearance on The Cosby Show in 1986 as the Huxtable children's grandfather.
He gives the origin of his nickname thus: "Well let me put it this way... you ever been to the dentist? Not me. I suppose I should go to one, but I got enough pain in my life as it is."
In the episode "Moaning Lisa", he played and vocalized a song written by Lisa. It pleased Lisa to see the performance of her own blues song in the bar "The Jazz Hole", but not everyone in the family room was happy with lyrics that criticized her family members.
Murphy makes his first appearance playing his saxophone on a bridge in the middle of the night. This is a reference to Sonny Rollins, the great saxophonist, who famously retired from public and was not seen for three years, until a journalist discovered him playing the saxophone alone on the Williamsburg Bridge. Bleeding Gums Murphy is, however, supposed to be named after Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Murphy makes his final appearance in Round Springfield. After Bart ends up in the hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O, Lisa finds Bleeding Gums in a hospital bed, and he gives her advice for her upcoming performance. She later finds out that he died from circumstances that are never revealed. The episode in which Bleeding Gums Murphy dies is strongly based on the movie 'Round Midnight', in which the fictional character of Dale Turner (based on Lester Young and Bud Powell) likewise dies without explanation. No one attends Murphy's funeral, prompting Lisa to buy his album and play it on the radio for all of Springfield to hear. A strike of lightning boosts the signal, and, as a parody to The Lion King, Murphy's face appeared from the clouds, thanking Lisa and performing one last time with her at the episode finale (to further the parody, other famous characters voiced by James Earl Jones appear also, Mufasa from The Lion King, and Darth Vader from Star Wars as well as Jones' own CNN narration).
The voice of Bleeding Gums Murphy was provided by Ron Taylor, while his saxophone playing is provided by Dan Higgins.
Murphy has been a fixture of The Simpsons' opening sequence from Season Two on, even after his death. [link] He even appeared in live-action format, on the live-action Simpsons Sky One commercial.
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