Guide Note

Choreographer Mary Murphy serves as a judge on the reality show So You Think You Can Dance. In addition to her television work, Murphy runs a dance studio in San Diego and appears in the 2008 film Killer Movie.

Fast Facts

1. Birthday: March 9
2. Birthplace: Lancaster, Ohio
3. College: Ohio University
4. Irish descent
5. Judge on So You Think You Can Dance

Murphy began her career as a competitive ballroom dancer. In 1995, she appeared as a dancing double for Julia Roberts in the film Something to Talk About. Murphy won the 1996 U.S. Open American Nine Dance competition and was a finalist in the U.S. National Ballroom and U.S. National Standard competitions. In 1998, she appeared in Dance With Me with Vanessa Williams. She joined So You Think You Can Dance in 2005, where she has served as a judge and choreographer.

• 1995: Something to Talk About
• 1998: Dance with Me
• 2005-08: So You Think You Can Dance
• 2008: Killer Movie

On the 2008 fund raising show Idol Gives Back, Murphy threatened to scream until people donated money to the charities the show was supporting.

"I love being here at the studio every day - the studio is my life, it's so much a part of me - the building of this and making the studio grow. I can't imagine doing anything else."—Mary Murphy¹

"People love dancing, so when they're sitting there at home watching it, a lot of them are just living through the people that can dance. They always wished they could be a dancer. Some had dreams when they were a kid of being a dancer...and it's so inspiring for a lot of people to be able to see something like that."—Mary Murphy²