OVER the years Ryan Murphy has brought fans several smash hit shows, which have seen the awards pour in.
In September 2024, the Emmy winner was praised for his Netflix series Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
He has won six Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and received two Grammy Award nominations.
But how did Ryan get his start?
Bringing the world Glee
Ryan Patrick Murphy was born on November 9, 1965, in Indianapolis.
At school, he was part of the choir which he used for inspiration later in his career.
Ryan also interned at The Washington Post, where he worked in the Style section.
He got his big break with the 2003 show Nip/Tuck, which followed characters at a plastic surgery clinic.
The show catapulted him to success and won him several awards.
However, he really became a household name in 2009 with the release of his TV show Glee.
Netflix releases the first trailer for Ryan Murphy’s new series, Hollywood
The musical show took the world by storm with its mash-ups and quirky storylines and helped launch the careers of several actors, including Darren Criss who starred in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story.
Sadly behind-the-scenes the series was rocked by tragedy, which saw three of the key cast members pass away.
The show ran for six seasons before ending in 2017.
Time for an American Horror Story
After Glee, Ryan switched his attention to a new project.
In 2011, he co-created the anthology series American Horror Story alongside Brad Falchuk.
Speaking about his favourite episode, he told Entertainment Weekly: “The first, and always number one in my heart, for several reasons.
“One, Brad and I spent so long on it…years on the pitch, years on the script, until [FX CEO] John Landgraf and [co-head of 20th Century Fox TV] Dana Walden and Brad and I got it to where we wanted.
“From rough idea to day one, filming took four years. It was a huge risk at the time, creatively and financially.
“Dana Walden has said to me several times it was one of the most out of the box ideas in the history of modern television, and I think she’s right.”
The pair had to convince the TV bigwigs it was a good idea to start with fresh sets every season, and then the rest was history.
The show features some of the biggest actors working today, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Jessica Lange.
Rocky patch
Not all of Ryan’s projects lived up to the high standard he had set for himself.
His show Scream Queens, despite developing a cult following, was cancelled after two series and his period drama Hollywood was met with mixed reviews.
Another Ryan Murphy series Ratched failed to make a splash and wasn’t continued after its first series.
Strike a Pose
Ryan created another series entitled Pose, which followed the lives of trans people of colour in 1980s New York.
The show was met with universal praise for its nuanced and diverse take on queerness and helped raise awareness about HIV.
The show ran for three series and starred Billy Porter, Michaela Jae Rodriguez and Dominique Jackson.
Monsters
Monsters is an anthology series that caused waves after the first series landed on Netflix.
The first series of the show dramatised the life of Jeffrey Dahmer and showed his sadistic crimes in graphic detail.
The second series followed the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons Erik and Lyle.
Both series were extremely popular despite a lot of controversy related to the explicit violence they showed.
Pride
Ryan is an openly gay man who married photographer David Miller in 2012.
The couple have three children together, born via surrogacy.
The AHS creator shared that he grew up Catholic but no longer regularly practises.
However, he did say that he sometimes will attend church.
