The petite, brunette Murphy garnered critical kudos and a handful of awards, including a 1994 Best Actress Tony, for her intense, dramatic portrayal of Fosca in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine stage musical "Passion". Portraying an ugly woman wracked by an unnamed illness who falls in love with a handsome soldier, she mesmerized audiences with the raw power of her performance. Murphy had honed her craft in the Broadway and off-Broadway arena moving from the chorus ("They're Playing Our Song") to playing leading roles ("Drood", "Song of Singapore"). She made her feature debut as a tough cop