James Read: from Murphy Michaels to George Hazard and beyond

James Read, at right, with Patrick Swayze in the 1985 miniseries "North and South".

Source: https://www.imdb.com/fr-ca/title/tt0088583/mediaviewer/rm3535062785/

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Can you imagine having a friendship so deep you went to war with him. Then, by the stroke of a pen and the sound of a gun shot, you are now enemies with a mission to destroy each other.

That was the premise of “The North and South”, a sprawling epic miniseries in 1985 about the American Civil War. The focus was the friendship of two men – Orry Main, a southern gentleman played by Patrick Swayze, and George Hazard, a northern businessman, played by James Read. They met at West Point and became best friends – then the country was thrust into civil war over the issue of slavery.

I recall being glued o the set for “North and South” and its continuation “North and South, Book II”. I wanted to see just what happens to Orry and George.

Swayze was already well known at the time for his movie work, but Read had also done some interesting things on television.

It was his birthday the other day, and that reminded me not only of “North and South”, but his personality clash with a mysterious private eye and much more.

Private detective
James Read’s first role on TV was in 1982 in a guest spot in an unknown comedy just starting out called “Cheers”.

Later that year, he landed his first major, recurring role in a TV series. Read played Murphy Michaels, a private detective working for Laura Holt in “Remington Steele”. Holt trained as a private detective but, when she opened her own agency under her own name, no one wanted to hire a woman. Remember this in 1982. So she created a fictional, internationally-renowned detective named “Remington Steele”. He carried the big reputation, but was always “away on business”. So, when clients hired his agency and got his expertise, they were served by Laura Holt and her team, which included Murphy Michaels.

The scheme worked perfectly until a mysterious man showed up and started being Remington Steele. That put Holt and company in a position where they had to go along with the charade within a charade.

As Laura and Steele became more familiar, Murphy became more jealous, because he was interested in Laura himself. The sexual tension was awesome. Compounding the problem was that Murphy really was a trained detective and Steele was not, so he kind of looked down on Steele.

One episode I remember, Laura wanted the two of them to get along. Steele asked Murphy what he does in his spare time. When Murphy said he likes to shoot hoops, Steele thought he was talking about hunting. It was hilarious.

James Read played Murphy Michaels for 22 episodes in the first season of “Remington Steele”. When the second season opened, Murphy was gone. He had married and moved away, never to be mentioned again.

Yet James Read was just getting started.

Guest roles
He had guest roles in the movie “Blue Thunder” starring Roy Scheider piloting a super helicopter; and the TV shows “Trapper John, M.D.”; “Fantasy Island”; and “Hotel”. He was in the slasher flick “The Initiation”; the shows “Jessie”, starring Lindsay Wagner; and “Matt Houston”. He played Teddy Kennedy in three episodes of the miniseries “Robert Kennedy and His Times”; and was in the TV movies “Lace II” and “Midas Valley”.

Civil War saga
In 1985, James Read first portrayed George Hazard in “North and South”. It would become the role he was most remembered for. George was a northern businessman who, when attending West Point, met Southern gentleman Orry Main, played by Patrick Swayze. They became best friends, and served together in the United States army, only to be torn apart when the Civil War broke out.

It was an amazing miniseries. I could not wait for the next episode each night. “North and South” was six episodes, but that only told half the story. In 1986, Read reprised the role of George Hazard for another six episodes in “North and South, Book II”.

One of the things I remember about “North and South” was using our new air popcorn popper, and sitting with a bowl I passed back and forth to my Mom while we watched each episode.

I did not know this until recently, but there was a third instalment in 1994, “Heaven and Hell: North and South, Book III”. Read again played George Hazard for three more episodes. I have yet to see this show, given I just heard about it.

Rest of the decade
Read was next in the TV series “Shell Game” for six episodes; the TV movie “Celebration Family”; and played Cary Grant in the miniseries “Poor Little Rich Girl: the Barbara Hutton Story”, all in 1987.

In 1988, he was in the motion picture “Eight Men Out”, about the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal where a group of baseball players conspired to fix the World Series. He ended the decade with the movie “Beaches” in 1989, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey.

The years after
Since the 1980s, Read has been in “Columbo: Uneasy Lies the Crown”; “Midnight Caller”; several TV movies; “Heaven Help Us”; “Murder, She Wrote”; played newspaper photographer Jimmy Olsen’s dad in “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”; “Home Improvement”; “7th Heaven”; “The Cape”; “Diagnosis Murder”; “Profiler”; “Touched by an Angel”; two episodes of “Star Trek: Voyager”; “Becker”; “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”; “Crossing Jordan”; 10 episodes of “American Dreams”; 13 episodes of “Charmed”; 41 episodes of “Wildfire”; “Cold Case”; “In Plain Sight”; six episodes of “Persons Unknown”; “Castle”; “CSI: NY”; “This is Us”; “NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service”; four episodes of “General Hospital”; “The Orville”; “Station 19”; two episodes of “Bosch: Legacy”; and 251 episodes of the daytime soap opera “Days Of Our Lives” right through this year (2024) and continuing.

He has also been in motion pictures such as “Legally Blonde”; “Not Another Teen Movie”; “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde”; “Fame” and more.

Parting thoughts
As much as I have seen James Read in movies, soap operas, and guest roles for the past five decades, I will always see him in two roles – private detective Murphy Michaels and Northern businessman and Union soldier George Hazard.

He has this stern persona in both, which is tempered with sensitivity and kindness when called upon.

In “Remington Steele” his conflict with the title character was interesting, as was the way he manifested his feelings for Laura Holt. It is unfortunate he was just written out of the show without any real resolution.

In “North and South” his chemistry with Patrick Swayze was compelling. The evolution of their relationship from buddies to friends to brothers was well done and believable. I was pulling for them to survive, but just as much for their friendship to survive the Civil War.

A lot of that is due to the talent of James Read.