Tom Murray, documentarian, dies at 65

Tom Murray,  documentarian, dies at 65

The Sarasota community lost a leader and its premier LGBT filmmaker when Tom Murray passed away on Thursday, July 29. He was 65.

Murray, who spent more than three decades with his surviving partner, Vince Kieler, began making films in 2004. Those close to him say he was almost done editing his seventh film before he died.

“He had a passion for it,” said Jim Jablonski, a longtime friend. “He was happiest when he was behind the camera.”

Murray’s films focused on varying aspects of LGBT life. His first film, Farm Family, was voted Best Feature Length Documentary at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 2004. His award-winning documentary Fish Can’t Fly took on the ex-gay movement while his more recent film TELL shined a light on the struggle LGBT military personnel face while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Last year he debuted Amancio: Two Faces on a Tombstone, which told the story about an Arizona female impersonator who was murdered in 2005.

“I’ve touched on parts of LGBT life that are on the fringe in all of my films, but which are very important to a lot of people,” Murray told Watermark in a 2008 interview about his film, A Portable Tribe. “This was a lot of fun. It was a vanity project and a chance for me to do something I’ve wanted to do for awhile.”

According to Kieler in a story published in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Murray died after suffering a massive heart attack at his home.

“It was quick,” Kieler told the Herald-Tribune. “The paramedics tried everything, but they couldn’t bring him back.”

Murray was a native of Woodstock, Ill., and had traveled throughout the country filming his documentaries. Many played at the Sarasota Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. He also traveled to New York and L.A. on occasion to showcase his work.

Murray’s ashes will be placed at his parents’ graves in Woodstock. A memorial service has been scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Church of the Trinity Metropolitan Community Church in Sarasota at 7225 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd. Donations in Murray’s memory may be made to The Church of the Trinity MCC.

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