Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor, former male fashion model and teen idol. He is perhaps best known for his role of Lucas Scott in the CW series One Tree Hill.

 

Biography

Early life

Chad Michael Murray was born in Buffalo, New York; he has three brothers and one sister. His mother left his family when he was 10 years old. His father, Rex (an air traffic controller), raised Chad and his siblings by himself. Also at 10 he began his first job, in a long list of jobs, as a newspaper boy. Murray attended Clarence High School in his hometown of Clarence, New York. Murray describes himself as a loner in high school. At the age of fifteen, he began playing football as a kicker and punter, however a high school football injury landed him in a hospital where a nurse encouraged him to pursue a modelling career.

Career

Murray's first job was working at a doughnut shop. In high school, Murray won a scholarship from a modeling agency in Buffalo to attend a modelling convention in Orlando. There, a manager named Jon Simmons from Los Angeles spotted him and persuaded the 17-year-old to pursue his dream of acting after graduation from high school.

In 1999, the aspiring actor headed for Hollywood where he supported himself modelling for such clients as Skechers, Hilfiger, and Gucci. He broke into acting with a guest-star appearance on Diagnosis Murder in the episode The Cradle Will Rock. He slowly emerged to the limelight by taking roles in Aftermath, Murphy's Dozen, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He also appeared in a small role in the feature-length thriller Megiddo: The Omega Code 2.

Murray's role began his association with the WB when he appeared in a recurring role as Rory's overconfident classmate, Tristan DuGrey, on Gilmore Girls. Later, he played Charlie Todd, the love interest to both Katie Holmes's Joey and Michelle Williams' Jen on Dawson's Creek. He starred as the title character in a pilot for a new Lone Ranger series for the WB, which did not get picked up. He also played in little known movie called: The Way.

He also appeared in the popular TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Tom Haviland in the episode The Accused is Entitled (2002). Other television credits include Aftermath, with Meredith Baxter Birney and Robert Urich.

In 2003, he appeared in the remake of Disney's Freaky Friday opposite Lindsay Lohan. He then portrayed Austin Ames as Prince Charming in Warner Bros' A Cinderella Story (2005), opposite Hilary Duff. Additionally, he starred as the lead in Joel Silver's remake of House Of Wax, opposite Elisha Cuthbert.

In 2003, he starred in the WB series One Tree Hill as Lucas Scott. It is one of the shows that carried over to the CW.

Personal life

Murray quoted that his role-models are fellow actors Edward Norton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, and Robert DeNiro. He keeps himself in shape by working out at the gym, inline skating, playing soccer, volleyball and basketball, in addition to football pick-up games.

He was married to Sophia Bush in April 16, 2005, whom he met on the set of One Tree Hill. Bush and Murray dated for over a year before they got married. But five months later, Bush filed court papers to have their marriage annulled in September 2005. The divorce was finalized in December 2006.

Murray is engaged to Kenzie Dalton, a former cheerleader extra on One Tree Hill. They began seeing each other in December 2005 when she was only 17, and a senior in high school. She was runner-up in the 2005 Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant.

Filmography