A prolific and popular Irish actor, playwright, and eventually barrister, Murphy also translated classical history and modern poetry and plays, contributed to and/or edited a number of journals, and authored biographies on Henry Fielding, Samuel Johnson, and David Garrick. A few of his more notable plays include The Englishman from Paris (1756), The Orphan of China (1759), and The Way to Keep Him (1760). Murphy also contributed drama criticism and political essays to a number of journals, including the Covent Garden Journal, the Gentleman's Magazine, the World, the London Chronicle, his own Gray's Inn Journal, which he edited and authored under the pseudonym Charles Ranger, Esq., and publications. He also published political journalism throughout his writing career. In 1762 he published The Works of Henry Fielding, Esq; with the Life of the Author.