Frank Murphy

"I will put you through that fucking wall!"

- Frank's well-known threat.

Francis X. "Frank" Murphy is the main character on F Is for Family. He is the baggage department manager for Mohican Airways and one of the vending machine servicemen for Champagne Chariot Vending Services. He is the father of Kevin, Bill and Maureen Murphy, and husband to Sue Murphy.

He is voiced by comedian Bill Burr, one of the show's co-creators.

Biography

Born in 1931, Frank is a 43 year old baggage handler, father of three. Frank often mentions how much he hates his father. In elementary school, Frank was in the class play and was cruelly humiliated by his father for this. In middle school, Frank was popular, but apparently a bit of a bully as he and his friends would throw weaker kids into the local river. In high school, Frank apparently did well academically, in which he is seen Graduating from High School during the Intro, which is why he regularly chastised his future son Kevin for performing poorly in school.

Once graduating high school, Frank aspired to become a pilot. However, he was drafted into the Korean War in 1950 (he was nineteen) and was unable to attend college. After being discharged from the Army at the War's conclusion in 1953, Frank went to Officer Candidate School with the Air National Guard. He began dating Sue as seen in numerous flashbacks in Season 2 from 1958. It is shown that Frank was ecstatic to get into flight school and be a pilot, while Sue was planning to finish college to start her career. However, the couple was given the shocking news that she was pregnant with their future child, which lead them to both quit their desires. Frank asked his friend Bob Pogo to give him a job at Mohican Airways for the Rustbelt Memorial Airport, where he eventually became good friends with his co-workers.

Frank and Sue decided to get married due to the pregnancy, and named their first child Kevin. The two were very loving parents to their only son at this time, often taking him out, buying him a puppy and showering him with attention. During one of these outings, Kevin fell into a swimming pool and remained at the bottom for two whole minutes, an incident Sue blames on Frank. This Incident can be seen at the Beginning of "Are You Ready For Summer?" as the Murphy's were watching Films about Frank and Sue's early married life.

They had two more children, the second Bill, and the third Maureen. After Frank's boss dies on the job, he is promoted to manager but is fired within 3 months after resolving the conflict that would lead to a strike, simply because his superior didn't do anything to stop their boss from terminating him. This leads Frank to leave Pogo in his car by putting the keys at his feet (he could not reach it due to being overweight) and leaving him on Christmas Eve.

He spends some time unemployed, falling into a deep depression. His friend Rosie helps him get a job stocking vending machines, which Frank comes to enjoy as he feels appreciated by his new boss, Smokey. The job, however, causes strain on his marriage, as he isn't around as much and isn't supporting Sue in her new career. He also winds up stealing money from her secret stash because Bob Pogo eats a bunch of his inventory and Kevin stole money from Frank's own stash. His job also leads to him neglecting his children, which results in problems for them, especially his sons.

Because Frank's replacement, Scoop Dunbarton, was such a narcissist, his old co-workers got together with him to devise a plan to get Frank his old job back. They planned to send Scoop on a plane to a remote location, but the plan is interrupted by a hijacking. Frank and the others are held as hostages, and a suitcase bomb winds up killing both Scoop and Roger Dunbarton, and Frank was eventually re-hired.

Personality

By a lot of people (especially his Family and Friends), Frank is best described as: abusive, arrogant, neglectful, truculent, impulsive, judgmental, rude, insensitive, remorseful, vain, selfish, hypocritical, and neglectful. Thus, he is usually portrayed as the Antihero. Although deep down he tries to do the right thing and his personality can reflect his life. However when he was younger Frank was nowhere near as arrogant and selfish that he currently is and is likely that as he got older Frank got more and more bitter at his life and as a result his personality drastically changed to what it is currently.

Frank starts off as a well-intentioned, hard-working executive at Mohican Airways, but he often has trouble making ends meet. Furthermore, there is an underlying element of sadness and unhappiness in the Murphy home; Even though he tries his best to ensure and secure his family's stability, it's not uncommon for Frank to fight with his children and wife, and has emotionally and verbally abused them in various ways. He is also physically abusive, as he does occasionally hit Kevin or Bill. He is very dismissive and neglectful of his family, and even though he constantly professes that he loves his family and children, it is clearly evident that he favors Maureen over his own sons. In addition, his friends and neighbors have lifestyles that are infinitely more impressive to his own children than their own father.

It's clear from the start that Frank's suffering from a mid-life crisis and a major inferiority complex. He often feels: cheated, neglected, hopeless, screwed over, emasculated, worn thin, beaten down, unappreciated, and unnoticed. He is very resentful of some of the bad decisions he made as an adult, and all of it mirrors the dysfunctional and saddening situation of the Murphy household. Before his wedding to Sue, Frank felt like a success because he felt like he had something to live for and had the ambition to reach greater heights. Knowing that his pursuits were ended because of some unexpected twists, coupled with the knowledge that he has failed to properly and seriously establish himself into civilization after the Korean War, is the final slap in the face, the last humiliating insult life can dish out.

Whenever Frank experiences more than he can handle, it makes him angry. Then, out of frustration, he uses a punching bag in the garage. He has severe anger issues which seem to stem from his relationship with his father. Ironically, he seems to have passed the trait on to Kevin and Bill. As soon as he reaches his boiling point, he'll consider anything else that's bad a personal slight, like in "O Holy Moly Night" when the Mohican Airways staff goes on strike, Frank analyzes all the turmoil he and his family have gone through and explodes in fury, pointing out that staying positive and hoping for a miracle would be improbable. This is shown when he says Major would be lucky as soon as Maureen says he might be dead. Another instance is when a man whose windshield Kevin accidentally destroyed threatens to sue Frank, and he sardonically says that he should do it soon. The third breaking point involves Bill saying that he's about to be beaten by his bully and the final straw is when Pogo tells Frank that Dunbarton fired him and Frank immediately puts Pogo into a nea- death situation for not stopping it. When Sue told Frank she was pregnant for the fourth time Frank put his fist through the wall in fury.

Frank never has any tolerance towards failure, as demonstrated in "Saturday, Bloody Saturday", when he found out Kevin was failing his classes and "The Trough" when he learned that Kevin wasn't fulfilling his promise to do better. Even though he does try to be a well-intentioned parent and push Kevin to do better at school, it is evident that his exigent attitude comes from him feeling that he deserves something from other people. He demands respect and honour from the people around him, and he wishes to get even against the society that he feels that has unappreciated and disrespected him as another jaded washout that failed to properly establish himself.

Frank is also a very controlling individual that demands that his family do nothing other than following and serve his desires, no matter how silly or selfish they seem. This first happens in "The Bleedin' in Sweden" where he (out of his jealousy towards Vic) announced he has a Brand New TV set. He was able to have his Neighbors over to watch the Fight, but it ends up costing him and Sue to be in Debt with a large Electricity Bill. Another is in "F is for Halloween" when he lied to Vivian about Sue declining the Offer of a Job Position. This leads to a lot of Problems for the entire Murphy Family.

He has also shown to be sexist towards Sue and his daughter Maureen. As evidence, he did not like the idea of his wife having a part-time job, because it would mean he would have to be left alone with the kids. When the job becomes stressful for Sue, he tells her that that's just how it is being a part of the working world, given that he's been through it himself. He is also very dismissive of Maureen's interests in technology and computers, feeling that it is too masculine for her.

It is also evident that Frank is an active drunk and leads a sedentary lifestyle; He frequently drives drunk, smokes cigarettes, and can't even complete the most minuscule of tasks without consuming cigarettes or alcohol.

Frank is also a hypocrite to a degree and he rarely ever admits responsibility for problems that are clearly his own fault and doing. This is evident with his eldest son Kevin. Frank feels that Kevin has turned out the way he was due to his lack of sensibilities, but because of Frank's parental negligence and generally abusive attitude, Kevin has picked up the same exact habits of his father, which Frank himself is too blind or scared to see or let alone admit.

Frank is very straight-laced, conservative and traditional in many ways. He never gets his neighbor, Vic's, drug references and doesn't seem to catch on to his oldest son Kevin smoking pot on a regular basis, going so far as to cover his son's eyes when Vic does coke in front of them.

It is also hinted that Frank is secretly a racist, as he has on one occasion, displayed an aversion to the fact that he was going to be mugged by one of them.

Family and Relationships

Mr. Murphy

As stated several times in the series, Frank hates his father and his personality reflects that. Frank often tries to never live in his example, though their relationship ironically mirrors the one Frank has with Kevin. Frank once revealed that his father attended one of his extracurricular activities just to make fun of him. He deliberately humiliated Frank and called him Francine, which would eventually lead to a lifetime of resentment. Although they are similar in the terms of fatherhood, Frank doesn't anger his children on purpose like his father did. In the Season 3 finale, Frank is shocked and upset when he learns his father will be visiting his family.

Sue Murphy

Sue is Frank's wife. They got married because he got her pregnant with Kevin. Frank and Sue have a loving but strained relationship. This is mostly due to financial stress, and later Frank's companies impending strike and Sue's new job. Frank genuinely loves Sue with all his heart but sometimes is oblivious that he treats Sue poorly at times. In season 2, we see their marriage go through a lot of difficulties and they begin to fight more and more often. Frank is secretly jealous of Sue's invention because he never got to live his dream of being a pilot, and so he is unable to support her. In Landing The Plane he realises how poorly he treated her the past two months and tells the hijacker he'd be better off if he shot him (though, he didn't expect to actually be shot) Sue in the audience hears Franks speech and is very touched by his speech later saying it was 'beautiful' after they happily embraced. With the incident later resolved, Sue and Frank's marriage was mended and they started to discuss their future plans together, that got sidetracked when 'accidentally' Sue got pregnant with their fourth child although this is likely Frank unknowingly used a broken condom that Smokey pierced with a pin.

Kevin Murphy

Kevin is Frank's oldest son. They were very close when he was young, but grew apart over the years. Frank can be hard on Kevin, but he obviously loves him and wants his son to respect him. He was clearly effected very much when Kevin said to him, "I fucking hate you." Since this incident, he has tried to repair his relationship with Kevin and to motivate Kevin to do better in school so he can have a career. He also seemed touched when he came home to find Kevin listening to the record he and Sue used to play for him as a child. Though, he does think Sue treating Kevin delicately is unnecessary. In "Bill Murphy's Day Off", it's discovered that Frank was indirectly responsible for Kevin's attitude as he had let him drown in a motel swimming pool when he was a toddler. He also has to sometimes bring Kevin down from panic attacks, because the accident gave his son PTSD.

In Season 2, it's strongly implied that Frank and Kevin's current father-son relationship stems from the fact that it's similar to the relationship Frank had with his father. This was later confirmed in Season 3. Frank's own perception of a normal father/son relationship was affected, as evident that he felt the need to tell Kevin at a very young age that he would always love him even if they didn't get along in the future. He incorrectly projects his feelings towards his own father on to Kevin. This explains why he's so antagonistic towards him. In season 2 he let his son know he understands if he hates him. Kevin seems surprised, and lets Frank know that even though they argue, he doesn't hate him.

Because of Frank's own failed ambitions, he was unable to support Kevin's dream of being a musician. He did eventually come around, though only if Kevin promised it wouldn't interfere with his school work. By this time though, his marriage with Sue was on the rocks and he rudely dismisses Kevin when he wanted to talk about the sexual abuse by Vic's girlfriend, assuming he just wanted to ask about his band again. Kevin is a child obviously in need of a lot of emotional support and affection, but Frank doesn't see this partly because of his sexist attitude, causing him to give this to Maureen instead, who is much more independent and emotionally stable.

Bill Murphy

Bill is Frank's middle child. He seems to have little patience for Bill and often threatens to "put [him] through that fucking wall." Bill is obviously a sensitive child and because of this Frank thinks of him as a "pussy" who can't handle much, even pointing out that Bill needs his back rubbed when he watches war movies. To his face though, he calls Bill a little man, either out of guilt or as a way to encourage him. Frank was very defensive of Bill when the Fitzsimmons' tried to incriminate him.

In Season 2, Frank begins to neglect Bill (an Example of this is when Frank didn't take him to Hockey Tryouts, regardless of the fact that he said he would), which led to Bill starting to become more rude and insensitive towards others. Nonetheless, he is still proud of Bill for taking on roles of responsibility and working for money.

Maureen Murphy

Maureen is Frank's only daughter. He considers her his little princess and rarely disciplines her. In F is For Halloween he discouraged her from wearing boys Halloween costumes, trying to get her to dress up as something female. In the end, he did relent and allowed her to dress as Mr. Coconut. Because of his favoritism, Frank will usually automatically blame Bill when something happens to Maureen, usually when they fight with each other. An example of this is in "Heavy Sledding", when Frank immediately grounds Bill for kicking Maureen in the eye, regardless of the fact that it was an accident and that Frank didn't give him a chance to explain what happened. Another instance is when he instantly ignores Kevin's hypothermia after falling through the ice, in favor of tending to Maureen's cut on her eye (which was the result of Bill accidentally kicking her).

As the series progresses, Frank becomes more accepting of Maureen's personality and desires, even allowing her to be who she wants to, as long as she doesn't turn out to be like Kevin.

Trivia

He would be 88 years old today in 2019.
As depicted in "Are You Ready For The Summer?, Frank is somewhat of a patriot and nationalist, as he strongly rebuked a child for attempting to desecrate an American flag, and thoroughly enjoyed taking part in a memorial parade and hosting an Independence Day party in his neighborhood.
- As a Korean War veteran, his patriotism is justified.
It is suggested that he is a supporter of the Republican Party (a political party with conservative political views) as he supported Richard Nixon's presidency.
It's been hinted at that Frank is suffering from PTSD from his combat service in Korea. His self-medication for it is to simply, "Shove it down" rather than seeking help from the VA. He also thought he was shoving his commanders guts back in his body even when he said "THOSE AREN'T MINE THOSE AREN'T MINE."
In "The Liar's Club", Frank repeatedly ranted about his hatred for M*A*S*H, as he did not appreciate the show's comedy portrayal of being in the war, thinking that it trivialized the serious pain that came with it.
According to the Intro, Frank had begun to experience a few Health Problems over time after his Marriage with Sue.
- Due to Frank's frequent smoking and drinking, he's suffered from hair loss over time.
- It is indicated that he experienced vision loss and became short sighted, as he also started to need and wear Glasses.
- Frank has gained some weight over time, due to the fact that he spends most of his time, sitting on his chair and watches TV.
Frank in many ways is similar to Red Foreman from That 70's Show
- They both fought in the Korean War
- They both are suffering from hair loss
- They both favour their daughters (Maureen and Laurie) over their son/s (Eric/Kevin and Bill)
- They both emotionally abuse their sons with Red threatening to 'put his foot up' Eric's ass and Frank threatening to put Kevin and Bill 'Through that Fucking Wall'
- Both are arrogant, grumpy and short tempered
- Both have soft spoken wives (Sue and Kitty)
- They both drink heavily with Frank regular drinking White House Beer and Red regularly drinking Budweiser
- Ironically Kurtwood Smith, who plays Red Foreman in That 70's Show voices Stan Chilsons, Sue's father in the show.

Quotes

"I'll put you through that fucking wall!"
"OH, SUE!"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!!!"
"Ah, shit!"
"Oh, fuck me!"
"OH FUCKIN JAPANESE PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!"
"Then Close your Eyes and Shut the Fuck Up!"
"You son of a bitch!!!!"
"I don't need some bible telling me about God. I almost bled out in Korea, Okay?! I HAVE MET GOD!"
"Ah you little Cocksucker!!!"
"Then Walk! I know you've got feet because they came out of your mother first!"
"You going to leave me alone with these animals!"
"You can't leave me alone with these kids! I won't survive!"
"I hate my life, but I keep on doing it!"
”I didn’t do anything!”
"Well, I started you. And I can end you."
"So help me God, if I started building walls today, and didn't stop for the next 10 years, there still wouldn't be enough of 'em FOR ME TO FUCKING PUT YOU THROUGH!"
"Be nice to your sister, some day you'll be sleeping on her couch after your 1st divorce."
"I Bought a Radio here when there was no TV and you sir was still in your Dad's balls"
"I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL PULL OUT YOUR TONGUE OUT THROUGH YOUR GODDAMN NECK!!!!!!"
"Ah! Son of a bitch! Fuckin' American cars! No wonder the Japs are beating us"
"I can't look at you right now I might kill you!"
"Watch each other!"
"Knock it off you Godamn Animals!"
"I told you to knock it off! NOW SHUT UP BEFORE YOU WAKE UP YOUR SISTER!!!"
"See what you pricks did!"
"I swear they're trying to kill me"
"I want to provide for this family, Sue. And I'm looking for a real job."
"Since I'm your father and I'll put you through that fucking wall!"
"Fucking up my life sir,"
When I get home tonight I want to see half of those assignments completed or god as my witness I WILL PUT YOU THROUGH THAT FUCKIN WALL!!!!!!
"Then I will build one and I will FUCKING PUT YOU THROUGH IT!!!!!"
"Go Play with Your Dad's Gun!"
"Oh yeah, I had hell of a workout before supper!"
"Hey Strike up the Band Dunt! Dunt! Dunt! Dunt! Dunt! THREE CHEERS FOR MY D MINUS SON!!!!!!!!"
"Oh a D Plus! Well Let's Have a Fucking Parade!!!!!!"
"Oh Princess I'm yelling at Kevin Right now"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
”Get out of Hera you little shit”