Editing Bleeding Gums Murphy

{{Featured article}}
{{Character
|name = "Bleeding Gums" Murphy
|image = [[File:Bleeding Gums Murphy.png|200px]]
|caption = Artwork of Bleeding Gums Murphy from ''[[The Simpsons: Tapped Out]]''
|gender = {{Male}}
|hair = Brown
|age = 49 (at death)
|status = Deceased
|job = Musician
|relatives = '''Brothers:''' [[Julius Hibbert]] and [[Julius Hibbert's brother|One unnamed]]<br>'''Ex-Wife:''' [[Vela Murphy]]<br>'''Nephew:''' [[Bleeding Gums Murphy's nephew|Unnamed]]
|appearance = "[[Moaning Lisa]]"
|voiced by = [[Ron Taylor]]<br>[[Daryl L. Coley]]
}}

'''Oscar "Bleeding Gums" Murphy''' was a jazz musician, and an idol of [[Lisa Simpson]].

== Biography ==
Bleeding Gums learned his musical skills "at the feet of [[Blind Willie Witherspoon]]". Willie wanted to give Bleeding Gums his saxophone, only to be finally told that it wasn't a saxophone and actually an umbrella, meaning that Willie had actually been playing an umbrella for some thirty years. Bleeding Gums explained to Willie that no one informed him of the mistake because "we all thought it was funny".

At one point, Murphy was married to a woman named [[Vela Murphy|Vela]], who was also a singer. At some point, they got divorced, but Vela still used her ex-husband's last name in a professional capacity.<ref>''{{ap|Springfield Shopper|comic}}''</ref>

Murphy recorded only one album, titled ''[[Sax on the Beach]]'', which was extremely lucrative for him. However, he soon went broke after spending his money on his Fabergé egg addiction. He revealed that he had once made a guest appearance on ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' in 1986 as the Huxtable children's grandfather, as well as appearing on ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' when {{ch|Steve Allen}} was the host.
[[File:The Cosby Show.png‎|200px|right|thumb|nail|Bleeding Gums on ''[[The Cosby Show]]''.]]

Bleeding Gums was a mentor to [[Lisa Simpson]] until his early death. He played and sang a [[Moanin' Lisa Blues|blues song written by Lisa]]. It pleased Lisa to see the performance of her own song in the club "[[The Jazz Hole]]", but not everyone in the family was happy with the lyrics, as they were sharply critical of [[Homer]] and [[Bart]], and mildly critical of [[Marge]].<ref>"[[Moaning Lisa]]"</ref>

Bleeding Gums once sang a twenty-six minute version of the American national anthem "{{w|The Star-Spangled Banner}}" at a [[Springfield Isotopes]] game.<ref>"[[Dancin' Homer]]"</ref>

He served as one of the three judges for a talent show once, giving Bart a 10 for his impersonation of Principal Skinner.<ref>"[[Lisa's Pony]]"</ref> Murphy also joined with a group of local celebrities in singing the song "[[We're Sending Our Love Down the Well]]" as a benefit for [[Timmy O'Toole]].<ref>"[[Radio Bart]]"</ref>

When [[Springfield]] was hit by a freak snowstorm and [[Mayor Quimby]] declared a snow day for the whole town, Murphy and Lisa were seen playing their saxes in the crowd of townspeople enjoying the snow.<ref>"[[Bart Gets an "F"]]"</ref> 

[[Allison Taylor]] has a photo of Bleeding Gums on her wall. It may be possible that Bleeding Gums was also Allison's one idol.<ref>"[[Lisa's Rival]]"</ref> Lisa also has a picture of Bleeding Gums on her wall.

Sometime before he died, Murphy invited [[Dr. Hibbert]], [[Carl Carlson]], and [[Drederick Tatum]] to a party at his house. {{cn}}

It is hinted that Dr. Hibbert and Bleeding Gums are long-lost brothers.<ref name=RoundSpr>"[['Round Springfield]]"</ref>

He has been featured on ''[[Before They Were Famous]]''.<ref>"[[Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious]]"</ref>

At some point before his death, Bleeding Gums Murphy told [[Bleeding Gums Murphy's nephew|his nephew]] that Lisa was the most promising young musician he had ever met.<ref>"[[Lisa Gets the Blues]]"</ref>

In [[Bart]]'s coma dream, Bleeding Gums Murphy was one of the ghosts who came to Bart to get help to move on to the afterlife.<ref>"[[Flanders' Ladder]]"</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:Round Springfield.png|200px|thumb|Bleeding Gums (left) appearing to Lisa Simpson in a cloud, after his death.]]
[[File:Bleeding Gums tombstone.png|thumb|left|200px|Bleeding Gums' tombstone]]
When [[Bart]] went to the hospital after eating a jagged metal [[Krusty-O]], Lisa found Bleeding Gums in a hospital bed in a nearby ward. They played {{w|Carole King}}'s "{{w|Jazzman}}" together, entertaining everyone in the hospital. Bleeding Gums told Lisa about his life, family and career, including his only album, ''[[Sax on the Beach]]''. He also gave her advice for her upcoming school recital and lent her his saxophone. At the recital, only a few of the school band members were present and their performance of "{{w|The Stars and Stripes Forever}}" was about to fall flat, but Lisa saved the day with an inspired impromptu jam on Murphy's sax. Lisa returned from the recital to share her triumph with Bleeding Gums, only to find that he had died. (The cause was never revealed, nor was the reason Murphy was in the hospital in the first place.)

No one, except for Lisa, Marge and Homer, attended Murphy's funeral. [[Reverend Lovejoy]] officiated and got Murphy's name wrong, calling him "Blood and Guts Murphy" and "Bloody Gums Murphy", as well as saying that he was "quite the sousaphone player". Lovejoy's blundering outraged Lisa and moved her to find Murphy's album and have it played on the radio so people would know who he was. However, even the [[KJAZZ|local jazz station]] didn't have the album, and when she found it in [[Comic Book Guy]]'s [[The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop|shop]], it was priced at $500, which she couldn't afford. However, Bart had sued [[KrustyCo Inc.]] over the jagged metal Krusty-O incident and received $500 in a settlement. When he saw how disappointed Lisa was at not being able to buy Murphy's album, Bart bought the album and gave it to her. Lisa then took it to KJAZZ and the DJ played it on the radio. The station's signal was very weak, but a freak lightning strike hit the antenna and boosted the signal so that all of [[Springfield]] heard ''Sax on the Beach'' playing.

Murphy's face appeared from the clouds, thanking Lisa and telling him that he had made her happy. They were interrupted by other famous characters appearing: [[Mufasa]] from ''[[The Lion King]]'', [[Darth Vader]] from ''[[Star Wars]]'' and {{ch|James Earl Jones}} reciting his "This is {{w|CNN}}" narration. Murphy asked them to leave, and he and Lisa jammed out to "Jazzman" one last time. Lisa wanted to do it again ("One more time!"), but Murphy protested that he had a date with {{Ch|Billie Holiday}}.<ref name = RoundSpr>"[['Round Springfield]]"</ref>

A hologram image of him was used by She-Done-Left-Me Records to advertise various products. This caused Lisa to protest against them for using dead celebrities to advertise various commercial products.<ref>[[Whiskey Business]]</ref>

== Non-canon ==
{{Noncanon}}
Bleeding Gums Murphy has a biography called ''[[Floss, I Hardly Knew Ye]]''.<ref>''[[Lisa Simpson's Book Club]]''</ref>
=== The Simpsons: Tapped Out ===
{{TranscludeSection|The Simpsons: Tapped Out characters/C-List Celebrities|Murphy}}

== Behind the Laughter ==
The appearance of Bleeding Gums Murphy is loosely based on LeRoi Moore, the late saxophone player for the Dave Matthews Band. It may also be an homage to Sonny Rollins, a great saxophone player who famously retired from public performance and was not seen for three years, until a journalist discovered him playing the saxophone alone on the Williamsburg Bridge. Murphy's introductory appearance, where Lisa sees him playing his sax on a bridge in the middle of the night, is a direct reference to Rollins.

Bleeding Gums gave the origin of his nickname in "Moaning Lisa" as 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."

The voice of Bleeding Gums Murphy was provided by [[Ron Taylor]], while his saxophone playing is provided by [[Dan Higgins]]. In the episode "[[Dancin' Homer]]" he was voiced by [[Daryl L. Coley]].

Mufasa, Darth Vader, and (of course) the James Earl Jones CNN narration were voice roles originally portrayed by [[James Earl Jones]], but were performed by [[Harry Shearer]] for their scene in "[['Round Springfield]]".

Murphy has been a fixture of ''The Simpsons''' opening sequence from Season Two on, even after his death. He even appeared in the live-action format,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49IDp76kjPw Real Life Simpsons Intro] (He appears after 35 seconds) ''YouTube''. URL accessed on December 14, 2006</ref> in The Simpsons Sky One commercial, that was also used for the episode "[[Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife]]". In 2009, the opening sequence had to be updated since the series was now broadcast in hi-def widescreen format. The new, updated sequence removed Murphy completely apart from a picture of him that can be seen in the Music Room when Lisa plays her Sax.

[[File:Sax.jpg|thumb|right|Bleeding Gums Murphy with his Sax.]]


In addition to his onscreen appearances, Murphy also appeared on ''[[The Simpsons Sing the Blues]]'', an album of rock, and jazz music with vocals performed by characters from the show. On the track "God Bless the Child" (a cover of the Billie Holiday song), performed by Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), Murphy speaks up after the final chorus to praise Lisa for her vocals, after which he and Lisa perform a saxophone duet for the remainder of the song. Murphy was again voiced by Ron Taylor for the song, and his alto saxophone part was performed by Kim Richmond.
Everytime Lisa's room is seen after "[[Moaning Lisa]]" a picture of Bleeding Gums Murphy is seen.

=== Foreign Dubs ===
{{Dub voices
|deVoice=[[german:Fred Klaus|Fred Klaus]] (until [[2005]])
}}

== Appearances ==
{{scroll|
*{{ep|Moaning Lisa}}
*{{ep|The Crepes of Wrath}}
*{{ep|Bart Gets an "F"|(on the family quilt)}}
*{{ep|Dancin' Homer}}
*{{ep|Bart the Daredevil}}
*{{ep|Bart's Dog Gets an "F"}}
*{{ep|Old Money}}
*{{ep|When Flanders Failed}}
*{{ep|Lisa's Pony}}
*{{ep|Radio Bart}}
*{{ep|Colonel Homer|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Lisa the Beauty Queen}}
*{{ep|Marge vs. the Monorail}}
*{{ep|Homer's Barbershop Quartet|(picture on record)}}
*{{ep|Marge on the Lam|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Lisa's Rival|(picture)}}
*{{ep|'Round Springfield|(death)}}
*{{ep|The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular|(clips)}}
*{{ep|Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Lisa's Sax|(Archive clips)}}
*{{ep|Alone Again, Natura-Diddily|(tombstone)}}
*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XII|(face on [[Wailing Wall]])}}
*{{ep|Little Orphan Millie|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Take My Life, Please|(picture and name on [[Springfield Wall of Fame]])}}
*{{ep|The Great Wife Hope|(mentioned)}}
*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XXII|(tombstone}}
*{{ep|The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Lisa Goes Gaga|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Whiskey Business|(hologram)}}
*{{ep|Pay Pal|(photo)}} 
*{{ep|Peeping Mom|(photo)}} 
*{{ep|Super Franchise Me|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Bart's New Friend|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Walking Big & Tall|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Brick Like Me|(photo)}} 
*{{ep|Every Man's Dream|(couch gag)}}
*{{ep|Gal of Constant Sorrow|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Pork and Burns|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Looking for Mr. Goodbart|(grave seen)}}
*{{ep|Haw-Haw Land|(as an angel)}}
*{{ep|Lisa Gets the Blues|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Flanders' Ladder|(ghost)}}
*{{ep|Werking Mom|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Daddicus Finch|(picture)}}
*{{ep|E My Sports|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy|(picture)}}
*{{ep|The Winter of Our Monetized Content|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Gorillas on the Mast|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Livin La Pura Vida|(picture)}}
*{{ep|Hail to the Teeth|(picture)}}
*{{TSG|(picture)}}
*{{bon|Lisa's Dream House|(mentioned)}}
*{{bon|Be-bop-a-Lisa}}
*{{bon|Krusty, Agent of K.L.O.W.N.|(picture)}}
*{{bon|Lisa Simpson's Book Club}}
*{{bon|Saxophony!|(picture)}}
*{{bon|Maggie's Crib 27|(picture)}}
*{{bon|Son of Homer's Odyssey}}
*{{bon|Ghøst Bashers}}
*{{bk|The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album}}
*{{bk|The Lisa Book}}
*{{bk|Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20}}
*{{game|The Simpsons Arcade Game}}
*{{game|The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield|(tombstone)}}
*{{game|The Simpsons Skateboarding|(skateboard design)}}
*{{game|The Simpsons Game}}
*{{game|The Simpsons: Tapped Out}}
*{{alb|The Simpsons Sing the Blues|("[[God Bless the Child]]")}}
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Images}}
{{Simpsons World factfiles|1=yes}}
{{Deceased characters|other=yes}}
{{Tapped Out characters|c-celebs=yes}}
{{Simpsons characters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Bleeding Gums}}

[[Category:Adults]]
[[Category:Deceased characters]]
[[Category:Recurring characters]]
[[Category:Hibbert family]]
[[Category:Characters voiced by guest stars]]
[[Category:Characters voiced by other cast members]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Saxophonists]]
[[Category:Characters introduced in season 1]]