Bill Murray

William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1977 to 1980, where he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. He starred in comedy films including '' Meatballs'' (1979), ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Stripes'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Scrooged'' (1988), ''What About Bob?'' (1991), '' Groundhog Day'' (1993), '' Kingpin'' (1996), ''The Man Who Knew Too Little'' (1997), '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000), and ''Osmosis Jones'' (2001). His only directorial credit is '' Quick Change'' (1990), which he co-directed with Howard Franklin.

Murray's performance in Sofia Coppola's '' Lost in Translation'' (2003) earned him a Golden Globe and a British Academy Film Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He has frequently collaborated with directors Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, John McNaughton and the Farrelly brothers. He received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in ''Ghostbusters'', '' Rushmore'' (1998), '' Hyde Park on Hudson'' (2012), '' St. Vincent'' (2014) and the HBO miniseries ''Olive Kitteridge'' (2014), for which he later won his second Primetime Emmy Award.

Murray received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2016. He is also known for voicing Garfield in the family comedy film '' Garfield: The Movie'' (2004) and its sequel '' Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'' (2006), Clive Badger in ''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' (2009), Baloo in the live action adaptation of Disney's ''The Jungle Book'' (2016), and Boss in ''Isle of Dogs'' (2018). Murray reprised his role as Peter Venkman in '' Ghostbusters: Afterlife'' (2021) and is set to appear as an undisclosed villain in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'' (2023).

He is a student of the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff.

Early life

Murray was born on September 21, 1950, in Evanston, Illinois, to Lucille Murray ( née Collins; 1921–1988), a mail-room clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II (1921–1967), a lumber salesman. He was raised in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago.

Murray and his eight siblings grew up in an Irish Catholic family. His paternal grandfather was from County Cork, while his maternal ancestors were from County Galway. Three of his siblings, John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray, are also actors. A sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican nun in Michigan; she has traveled the United States in two one-woman programs, portraying Catherine of Siena and Dorothy Stang. His brother Ed Murray died in 2020. Their father died in 1967 at the age of 46 from complications of diabetes when Bill was 17.Bill Murray profile
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As a youth, Murray read children's biographies of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Davy Crockett. He attended St. Joseph's grade school and Loyola Academy. During his teen years, he worked as a golf caddy to fund his education at the Jesuit high school, and was the lead singer of a rock band called the Dutch Masters and took part in high school and community theater. One of his sisters had polio and his mother suffered several miscarriages.

After graduating from Loyola Academy, Murray attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado, taking pre-medical courses, but quickly dropped out and returned to Illinois. Decades later, in 2007, Regis awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. On September 21, 1970, his 20th birthday, the police arrested Murray at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for trying to smuggle of cannabis, which he had allegedly intended to sell. It was discovered after Murray joked to the passenger next to him that he had packed a bomb in his luggage. Murray was convicted and sentenced to probation.

Career

1970s: Early work

Second City, National Lampoon

With an invitation from his older brother, Brian, Murray got his start at The Second City in Chicago, an improvisational comedy troupe, studying under Del Close. In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour''.

''Saturday Night Live'' (1977-1980)

In 1975, an Off-Broadway version of a ''Lampoon'' show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show ''Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell''. That same season, another variety show titled '' NBC's Saturday Night'' premiered. Cosell's show lasted just one season, canceled in early 1976. After working in Los Angeles with the "guerrilla video" commune TVTV on several projects, Murray rose to prominence in 1976. He officially joined the cast of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' for the show's second season, following the departure of Chevy Chase. Murray was with ''SNL'' for three seasons from 1977 to 1980. A ''Rutland Weekend Television'' sketch Monty Python's Eric Idle brought for his appearance on ''SNL'' developed into the 1978 mockumentary ''All You Need Is Cash'' with Murray (alongside other ''SNL'' cast members) appearing as "Bill Murray the K", a send-up of New York radio host Murray the K, in a segment of the film that is a parody of the Maysles Brothers's documentary '' The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit''. During the first few seasons of ''SNL'', Murray was in a romantic relationship with fellow cast member Gilda Radner.

1980s: Work with Harold Ramis

Murray (right) with Paul Binder in 1989
Murray landed his first starring role with the film '' Meatballs'' in 1979. He followed this with a portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson in 1980's ''Where the Buffalo Roam''. In the early 1980s, he collaborated with writer-director Harold Ramis and starred in a string of box-office hits, including ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Stripes'' (1981), and ''Tootsie'' (1982). Murray was the first guest on NBC's '' Late Night with David Letterman'' on February 1, 1982. (He later appeared on the first episode of the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' on August 30, 1993, when the show moved to CBS. On January 31, 2012 – 30 years after his first appearance with Letterman – Murray appeared again on his talk show. He appeared as Letterman's final guest when the host retired on May 20, 2015.)

Murray began work on a film adaptation of the novel '' The Razor's Edge''. The film, which Murray co-wrote, was his first starring role in a drama film. He later agreed with Columbia Pictures to star in ''Ghostbusters''—in a role originally written for John Belushi—to get financing for ''The Razor's Edge''. ''Ghostbusters'' became the highest-grossing film of 1984 and, at the time, the highest-grossing comedy ever. ''The Razor's Edge'', which was filmed before ''Ghostbusters'' was released, was a box-office flop.

Frustrated over the failure of ''The Razor's Edge'', Murray stepped away from acting for four years to study philosophy and history at Sorbonne University, frequent the Cinémathèque in Paris, and to spend time with his family in their Hudson River Valley home. During that time, his second son, Luke, was born. With the exception of a cameo in the 1986 film '' Little Shop of Horrors'', he made no film appearances, but participated in public readings in Manhattan organized by playwright-director Timothy Mayer and in a stage production of Bertolt Brecht's '' A Man's a Man''. Murray returned to films with ''Scrooged'' in 1988 and '' Ghostbusters II'' in 1989.

1990s

In 1990, Murray made his first and only attempt at directing when he co-directed '' Quick Change'' with producer Howard Franklin. In 1991 he starred in the Frank Oz comedy film ''What About Bob?'' (1991) alongside Richard Dreyfus. The film was a box office hit. In 1993 he starred in the Harold Ramis fantasy comedy '' Groundhog Day''. The film was an immense critical success. Hal Hinson, film critic for ''The Washington Post'' praised Murray's performance, writing in his film review that, "Murray is a breed unto himself, a sort of gonzo minimalist. And he's never been funnier as a comedian or more in control as an actor than he is here. It's easily his best movie." That same year he starred in the comedy film, ''Mad Dog and Glory'' alongside Robert De Niro and Uma Thurman. Critic Vincent Canby of ''The New Yorker'' wrote in his review, "The great satisfaction of ''Mad Dog and Glory'' is watching Mr. De Niro and Mr. Murray play against type with such invigorating ease."

After the success of '' Groundhog Day'', Murray appeared in a series of well-received supporting roles in films like Tim Burton's ''Ed Wood'' (1994), and Peter Farrelly's broad comedy film '' Kingpin'' (1996). Also in 1996 he appeared as himself in the Looney Tunes live action comedy ''Space Jam'' with Michael Jordan. However, his starring roles in '' Larger than Life'' and ''The Man Who Knew Too Little'' were not as successful with critics or audiences. In 1998, he received much critical acclaim for Wes Anderson's coming of age comedy film '' Rushmore'' opposite Jason Schwartzman and Olivia Williams.
He received praise among critics with Lisa Schwarzbaum from ''Entertainment Weekly'' writing, "Murray turns in a thrillingly knowing, unforced performance — an award-worthy high point in a career that continues". For Murray's performance he received the Best Supporting Actor awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (tying with Billy Bob Thornton).

2000s

Murray decided to take a turn towards more dramatic roles and experienced a resurgence in his career, taking on roles in '' Wild Things'', ''Cradle Will Rock'', ''Hamlet'' (as Polonius), and ''The Royal Tenenbaums''. In 2003, he appeared in Sofia Coppola's '' Lost in Translation'' and went on to earn a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and an Independent Spirit Award, as well as Best Actor awards from several film critic organizations. He was considered a favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but Sean Penn ultimately won the award for his performance in ''Mystic River''. In an interview included on the ''Lost in Translation'' DVD, Murray states that it is his favorite film in which he has appeared. Also in 2003, he appeared in a short cameo for Jim Jarmusch's '' Coffee and Cigarettes'', in which he played himself "hiding out" in a local coffee shop.

During this time Murray still appeared in comedic roles such as '' Charlie's Angels'' and ''Osmosis Jones''. In 2004, he provided the voice of Garfield in '' Garfield: The Movie'', and again in 2006 for '' Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties''. Murray later said that he only took the role because he was under the mistaken impression that the screenplay, co-written by Joel Cohen, was the work of Joel Coen. In 2004, he made his third collaboration with Wes Anderson in ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' and in 2005 his second collaboration with Jim Jarmusch in '' Broken Flowers''. That same year, Murray announced that he was taking a hiatus from acting as he had not had the time to relax since his new breakthrough in the late 1990s. He did return to the big screen for brief cameos in Wes Anderson's '' The Darjeeling Limited'' and in ''Get Smart'' as Agent 13, the agent in the tree. In 2008, he played an important role in the post-apocalyptic film ''City of Ember''.

In 2009, Murray starred in the independent film '' Get Low'' alongside Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek. The film is loosely based on a true story about a Tennessee hermit in the 1930s who throws his own funeral party while still alive. Murray and Duvall received critical praise and the film received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Also in 2009, Murray had a memorable cameo role as himself in the zombie comedy ''Zombieland'' starring Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg. Murray provided the voice for the character Mr. Badger in another Wes Anderson movie the 2009 animated film ''Fantastic Mr. Fox''. The film went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.

2010s

In 2012, Murray starred in Roger Michell's historical comedy '' Hyde Park on Hudson'', where he played Franklin D. Roosevelt opposite Laura Linney who played Roosevelt's cousin Margaret Suckley and Olivia Williams who portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt. The film focuses on the 1939 visit at the Roosevelts' home Hyde Park of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth portrayed by Samuel West and Olivia Colman respectively. Murray received praise from critics with Roger Ebert writing, "Murray, who has a wider range than we sometimes realize, finds the human core of this FDR and presents it tenderly." Murray also received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination for his performance.

Since 2010, Murray has continued to appear in multiple films with Wes Anderson including the coming of age comedy ''Moonrise Kingdom'' (2012) which also starred Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton. The film premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or. The film was a box office and critical success. In 2016, the BBC
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