BEHIND THE CLOSED DOOR WITH BEN MURPHY!
16 Magazine, December 1971

THE BRIGHT ORANGE GLOBE of the sun has finally set out over the Pacific. There's a welcome breeze fluttering away the heat of the day and a quiet hush settles on the air. Ben Murphy has finished the last shooting of Alias Smith And Jones for the day. With a quick change into something loose and familiar and comfortable, he gets into his aquamarine Chevrolet convertible and heads for the quiet of home.

Ben lives in a small, two-room apartment in North Hollywood--a few minutes drive from Universal Studios, where he works. Ben's apartment is his sanctuary, the place where he unwinds from the hectic pace of running and moving all day. It's in his two rooms that the secret side of Ben--the side that isn't seen on TV--comes alive. And now he wants to share his secret life with you. He has opened the door to his home and to his real life--and he's invited you to come in!!

Ben's apartment reflects his personality. There's an informal disarray about it that makes visitors feel immediately comfortable. Books are an important part of Ben's real life and his apartment abounds in them--from volumes on vitamins and herbs to psychology texts. Notepaper and pencil are always close by, too, so that Ben can scribble down impressions and ideas he gets from people he meets and places he visits. Ben's is an apartment and a life that says "enter and feel at home"!

Ben is a curious and thoroughly delightful mixture of he-man and poet! Keeping in shape on his chinning bar reflects the "he-man" side of him and the lovely message on the poster reveals the poet. As a visitor to Ben's secret life, his private world, it's as if he hung the poster just for you -- "People / so seldom / say I love you / and then / it's either too late / or love goes / so when I tell you / I love you / it doesn't mean / I know you'll never go / only that / I wish you didn't / have to."