What Happened to Murphy on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS
Murphy on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS hasn’t been seen in a while so it’s understandable if newer viewers of the soap aren’t familiar with him or if longtime fans might just need a refresher. The character was played by Michael Fairman, who made his debut back in October 2008 and continued to appear until 2013, although he did make brief returns in 2014 and 2017.
Patrick Murphy was first introduced as a friend of Marge Cotroke, a waitress at a diner he frequented. When he found Marge at the edge of a lake following a car accident, he nursed her back to health not realizing that she was actually her look-alike, Katherine Chancellor. She had no memories but it was clear she wasn’t quite comfortable in Marge’s life. And when Kay fell on the ice she started to remember who she really was. Although upset it meant his friend, Marge, was dead instead, Murphy agreed to take Katherine back to Genoa City.
Unfortunately, Katherine struggled to convince everyone that she wasn’t Marge, and ended up being kidnapped along with Esther Valentine. Thankfully, they were rescued before the bomb went off and the explosion restored the rest of Katherine’s memories so she was able to reclaim her life. During this entire ordeal, Murphy and Kay had fallen in love, and when he popped the question, she happily accepted. The couple were married on May 1, 2009, with her son, Brock, officiating.
The couple was happy until 2010 when Murphy recognized Meggie McClain and flew into a panic, having a heart attack. She took away his medication and left him to die, but he was rushed to the hospital so Meggie sneaked into his hospital room to inject his IV with something that gave him a stroke. Eventually, Murphy was able to tap out a message to Ronan Malloy in morse code to warn him about Meggie and her scheme to do away with Victor and steal his fortune was thwarted. It was then revealed that Murphy’s son, Francis, had been in a serious accident and his wife, Meggie, had taken him off life support, taken the insurance money and skipped town.
Next, Katherine had a stroke and Murphy was the one to take care of her. Luckily, she also recovered. He also supported her once she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had it removed. The pair then went on a trip around the world to check off everything on Kay’s bucket list, after which Murphy shared the sad news that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. He shared letters from Katherine to each of her loved ones and learned what she had left him in her will. Murphy returned in 2014 with further instructions for everyone to celebrate the first anniversary of her death with a party. In 2017, Murphy briefly resurfaced again when Jill Abbott questioned him about a mysterious music box left to her by Katherine.
While it’s unlikely that Murphy will show up again on Y&R, you never know, so stay tuned!
