Abraham added "F." to his stage name in honor of his father Fahrid.[20] He has stated that "Murray Abraham just doesn't seem to say anything. It just is another name, so I thought I'd frame it".[2]
By the mid-1970s, he also had steady employment doing commercials and voice-overs. Most notably, he played "the leaf", one of four costumed characters, in television and print commercials forFruit of the Loom underwear.[22] In 1978, he gave up this work. Frustrated with the lack of substantial roles, he said: "No one was taking my acting seriously. I figured if I didn't do it, then I'd have no right to the dreams I've always had." His wife, Kate Hannan, went to work as an assistant and Abraham became a "house husband". As he described it: "I cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids. It was very rough on my macho idea of life. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me."[22]
Abraham gained greater prominence when he appeared as drug dealer Omar Suárez in the gangster filmScarface (1983). Then, in 1984, he played envious composer Antonio Salieri in theAcademy Award for Best Picture-winningAmadeus (1984), directed byMiloš Forman. Abraham won theAcademy Award for Best Actor for his role, an award for which his co-star in the filmTom Hulce, playingMozart, had also been nominated. He also won aGolden Globe Award, among other awards and his role in the film remains his most famous.
Abraham's relatively low-profile film career subsequent to hisAcademy Award win has been considered an example of the "Oscar jinx." According to film criticLeonard Maltin, professional failure following an early success is referred to in Hollywood circles as the "F. Murray Abraham syndrome."[23] Abraham rejected this notion and told Maltin, "The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I'll take two." In the same interview, Abraham said, "Even though I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway in New York, and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing."
Abraham also joinedThe Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company in 1984. He joined MRC the week after winning his Oscar for Best Actor for his work inAmadeus because he wanted to work with MRC Artist-in-ResidenceGeraldine Page (to whom he would eventually present her ownAcademy Award the following year) and would star opposite her in MRC'sThe Madwoman of Chaillot.[24]
After the release ofThe Name of the Rose, Abraham tired of appearing as villains and wanted to return to his background in comedy.[27] From May 10 through July 14, 1991, Abraham portrayed King Lear in American Repertory Theater's (A.R.T.) production ofKing Lear, directed by Adrian Hall, Cambridge, MA.[28] In 1994, Abraham portrayedRoy Cohn in the first Broadway production ofTony Kushner'sAngels in America at theWalter Kerr Theater, replacingRon Leibman in the role.
In the 1997/98Broadway season, he starred in the new chamber musicalTriumph of Love oppositeBetty Buckley, based onMarivaux's classic comedy. The production did not find a large audience, running 85 performances after its pre-opening preview period.[29] He has also taught theater atBrooklyn College.[30]
Abraham (last full figure on right) on stage at the end of a December 2014 production ofIt's Only a Play
In 2001, Abraham played Cyrus Kriticos in the supernatural horror film,Thirteen Ghosts.
A 2009 guest appearance onSaving Grace began a new phase of Abraham's career, wherein he has become gradually more prolific onscreen. Further guest appearances include roles onLaw & Order: Criminal Intent,Louie andCurb Your Enthusiasm as well as a recurring role onThe Good Wife between 2011 and 2014. Additionally, Abraham was the primary narrator for the PBS seriesNature between 2007 and 2010, narrating 32 episodes (plus one more in 2013). Abraham's most notable television role came about throughShowtime's drama seriesHomeland, in which he portrayed black ops specialistDar Adal. This role resulted in his firstEmmy Award nomination in 2015, followed by a second in 2018.
In 1993, while filming the movieSurviving the Game in rural Washington State, Abraham was involved in a car crash in which another driver was killed, while Abraham was injured.[40] In January 2010, Abraham scuffled with a thief in the dressing room area during a public rehearsal at theClassic Stage Company in New York City.[41]
Abraham has spoken about his faith: "I've attended many churches. I grew up as an Orthodox Christian and I was an altar boy. I love theSociety of Friends, the Quakers. I attended their meetings for almost fifteen years. I'm now [in 2008] attending theFirst Presbyterian Church of New York because they're such a generous, terrific church with outreach. They reach out to old people, to homeless, to A.A., to cross-dressers: it's truly a church of the teachings of Christ. Religion is essential to my life."[42]
In July 2004, at a ceremony inRome, he was awarded the "Premio per gli Italiani nel Mondo". This is a prize distributed by the Marzio Tremaglia Foundation and the Italian government to Italian emigrants and their descendants who have distinguished themselves abroad.[citation needed]
^Obituary ofAdele Hendricks Abraham (1923–2019), aunt of Murray Abraham, where it is stated she, three of her sisters and her brother Fred Abraham were born in Myklos, now in Syria. Obituary ofMarion Abraham Unsell (1914–1998), aunt of Murray Abraham, who died in El Paso in 1988 where it says she was born in Myklos in today's Syria
^"The Movie : F. Murray Abraham". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. RetrievedSeptember 28, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). amadeusimmortal.com
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