Bill Murray Biography
Summary
"William James 'Bill' Murray" (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-winning American comedian and actor. He is perhaps most famous for his work in
"Saturday Night Live", as well as for his comedic roles in films such as "Stripes", "Groundhog Day", "Caddyshack", "Ghostbusters" and "Rushmore", among many others.
He has gained further acclaim for recent dramatic roles, such as in the acclaimed films "Lost in Translation", "Broken Flowers" and "The Royal Tenenbaums".
Biography
Early life
Murray, the fifth of nine children, was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois (metro Chicago), the son of Lucille (née Collins), a mail room clerk, and Edward J. Murray II, a lumber salesman. His parents were Irish American and Catholic. Three of Murray's siblings are also actors: John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray. A sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican Sister in Michigan who travels around the country portraying St. Catherine of Siena.
Growing up, Murray's family had little money and his mother pressured her children to get jobs. As a child, Murray read biographies for children of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett. He attended Loyola Academy. As a teenager, he worked alongside his brothers as a caddy to pay for his tuition in a Roman Catholic High School. The 1960s were tough on Murray and his family. His father had diabetes, one of his sisters had polio and his mother had several miscarriages. During his teen years he was the lead singer of a rock band called the Dutch Masters and took part in high school and community theater.
After graduation, he attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado where he took pre-med courses. He later dropped out after being arrested for possession of marijuana at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. He worked numerous jobs including a stint at a Little Caesar's alongside future chef Kerry Simon.
Early career
With an invitation from his older brother, Brian, Murray, got his start at Second City Chicago studying under Del Close. The improvisational comedy troupe was a perfect fit for Murray's clever, dry humor and ad libbing. In 1975, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on "The National Lampoon Radio Hour", aired on some 600 stations from 1973 to 1974.
"Saturday Night Live"
In 1975, an Off Broadway version of "Lampoon" show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell" that featured animal acts and little kids with loud voices. That same season, another variety show titled "NBC's Saturday Night" premiered. Cosell's show lasted just one season.
After working in Los Angeles with the 'guerrilla video' commune TVTV on a number of projects, Murray rose to prominence when he joined the cast of NBC's newly-titled "Saturday Night Live" the following season, replacing Chevy Chase. This was initially a turbulent experience for Murray. He often flubbed his lines and seemed awkward on camera. Chase had been the most popular cast member and some fans sent Murray hate mail stating he was a poor replacement. When Chase appeared as a guest host that season, they got into a fist fight backstage. But by the end of Murray's first season, he had begun to display his witty, laid-back persona. His characters, such as Nick the Lounge Singer and nerd Todd DiLamuca, became very popular with viewers. With the departure of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in 1979, Murray became the most popular member of the ensemble cast. In 1980, the entire cast left the show. Another scandal surrounding Murray was that he had had a relationship with co-star Gilda Radner, which ended badly.
Murray later revisited the troupe he started with in the TV special "Bill Murray Live From the Second City" in 1980.
Film career
Murray landed his first starring role with the film "Meatballs" in 1979. He followed this up with his portrayal of famed writer Hunter S. Thompson in 1980's "Where the Buffalo Roam". In the early 1980s, he starred in a string of box-office hits including "Caddyshack", "Stripes" and "Tootsie".
Murray began work on a film adaptation of the novel "The Razor's Edge". The film, which Murray also co-wrote, was his first starring role in a dramatic film. He later agreed to star in "Ghostbusters" in a role originally written for John Belushi. This was a deal Murray made with Columbia Pictures in order to gain financing for his film. "Ghostbusters" became the highest-grossing film of 1984. But "The Razor's Edge", which was filmed before "Ghostbusters" but not released until after, was a box-office flop. Upset over the failure of "Razor's Edge", Murray took four years off from acting to study Philosophy and history at the Sorbonne, frequent the Cinematheque in Paris, and 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 memorable cameo in the 1986 movie "Little Shop of Horrors", he did not make any appearances in films and instead appeared in several public readings in Manhattan organized by playwright/director Timothy Mayer and in a production of Bertolt Brecht's "A Man's Man".
Murray returned to films in 1988 with "Scrooged" and followed up with the long-awaited sequel "Ghostbusters II" in 1989. In 1990, Murray made his first and only attempt at directing when he co-helmed "Quick Change" with producer Howard Franklin. His subsequent films "What About Bob?" (1991) and "Groundhog Day" (1993) were box-office hits and critically acclaimed, and in recent years have come to be seen as minor classics.
After a string of films that did not do well with audiences, he received much critical acclaim for Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" for which he won several awards. Murray then experienced a resurgence in his career as a dramatic actor. After dramatic roles in "Wild Things", "Cradle Will Rock", "Hamlet" (as Polonius), and "The Royal Tenenbaums", he garnered considerable acclaim for the 2003 film "Lost in Translation". He received a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA award. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, in what was considered to be a two-horse race between him and Sean Penn, who eventually prevailed. In an interview included on the "Lost in Translation" DVD, Murray states that this is his favorite movie in which he has appeared.
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 marked his third collaboration with Wes Anderson in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". Murray also garnered acclaim for his dramatic role in Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers".
In 2005, he announced that he would take a break from acting, as he had not had the time since his new breakthrough in the late-1990s. His last film role to date is Garfield's voice in the sequel "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties". Dan Aykroyd has recently confirmed in an interview with CISN Country that Murray will be reprising his role as the voice of Dr. Peter Venkman in "Ghostbusters III", which will be done with computer animation partially because Murray refused to act in a live action sequel. Murray is said to have a policy of not doing a third version of anything, which is one of the reasons "Ghostbusters III" has been reported to be in development hell.
Personal life
During the filming of "Stripes", Murray wed Margaret 'Mickey' Kelly on Super Bowl Sunday in Las Vegas on January 24, 1981. They married again in Chicago in a church for their families. They had two sons, Homer (born 1982) and Luke (born 1985), before divorcing in 1994. In 1997, he married Jennifer Butler. They have four children together: Cal (born 1993), Jackson (born 1995), Cooper (born 1996), and Lincoln (born 2001).
He is a partner with his brothers in Murray Bros. Caddy Shack, a restaurant chain with locations near Jacksonville and in Myrtle Beach and St. Augustine. Murray is an avid golfer who often plays in celebrity tournaments. His 1999 book "Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf", part autobiography and part essay, expounds on his love of golf. In 2002, he and his brothers starred in the Comedy Central series, "The Sweet Spot", which chronicled their adventures playing golf.
He is a part-owner of the St. Paul Saints independent minor-league baseball team and occasionally travels to Saint Paul, Minnesota to watch the team's games. He also owns part of the Charleston RiverDogs, Hudson Valley Renegades, and the Brockton Rox. He invested in a number of other minor league teams in the past, including the Utica Blue Sox, Miami Miracle, and Salt Lake Trappers. He was also a part-owner of the Auburn Astros (now the Auburn Doubledays) in Auburn, NY.
Very detached from the Hollywood scene, Murray does not have an agent or manager and reportedly only fields offers for scripts and roles using a personal telephone number with a voice mailbox that he checks infrequently. This practice has the downside of sometimes preventing him from taking parts that he had auditioned for and was interested in, such as that of Sulley in "Monsters, Inc" and Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Murray has homes in Los Angeles, Martha's Vineyard, MA, Charleston, SC, and New York.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Murray stumped for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.
Murray is a huge fan of Chicago pro sports teams, especially the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. He also is a big Michael Jordan fan and has made cameo appearances in "Space Jam" and Jordan documentaries. He also cheered courtside for the Illinois Fighting Illini's game versus the University of North Carolina in the NCAA Basketball Tournament's championship game in 2005. He is a fixture at home games of those teams when in his native Chicago. After traveling to Florida during the Cub playoff run to help 'inspire' the team (Murray told Cub slugger Aramis Ramirez he was very ill and needed two home runs to give him the hope to live), he was invited to the champagne party in the Cubs' clubhouse when the team clinched the NL Central in late September of 2007, along with fellow actors John Cusack, Bernie Mac, James Belushi, and former Cub legend Ron Santo. Murray also appeared in Santo's documentary, "This Old Cub".
In August 2007, Murray was cited for driving a golf cart while under the influence of alcohol in down-town Stockholm, Sweden.
Murray lives in Rockland County, New York, just outside of New York City.
Filmography
"Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle" (1975) (voice in 1979 English dub)
"Next Stop, Greenwich Village" (1976)
"All You Need is Cash" (1978) (aka, 'The Rutles' cameo)
"Meatballs" (1979)
"Mr. Mike's Mondo Video" (1979)
"Where the Buffalo Roam" (1980)
"The Missing Link" (1980) (voice in English dub)
"Caddyshack" (1980)
"Loose Shoes" (1980)
"Stripes" (1981)
"Tootsie" (1982)
"Ghostbusters" (1984)
"Nothing Lasts Forever" (1984)
"The Razor's Edge" (1984)
"Little Shop of Horrors" (1986)
"She's Having a Baby" (1988) (Cameo)
"Scrooged" (1988)
"Ghostbusters II" (1989)
"Quick Change" (1990)
"What About Bob?" (1991)
"Groundhog Day" (1993)
"Mad Dog and Glory" (1993)
"Ed Wood" (1994)
"Kingpin" (1996)
"Larger than Life" (1996)
"Space Jam" (1996) (Small role)
"The Man Who Knew Too Little" (1997)
"Wild Things" (1998)
"Rushmore" (1998)
"Cradle Will Rock" (1999)
"Scout's Honor" (1999) (short subject)
"Hamlet" (2000)
"Michael Jordan to the Max" (2000) (documentary)
"Charlie's Angels" (2000)
"Speaking of Sex" (2001)
"Osmosis Jones" (2001)
"The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001)
"Lost in Translation" (2003)
"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003)
"This Old Cub" (2004) (documentary)
"Garfield" (2004) (voice)
"The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004)
"Broken Flowers" (2005)
"The Lost City" (2005)
"Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" (2006) (voice)
"Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film" (2006) (documentary)
"FCU with Bill Murray" (2007) (Youtube Feature) (... more)
"The Darjeeling Limited" (2007)
External links
(Bill Murray on Funny or Die!)
(Track Bill Murray at the NNDB - Tracking the world)
(Murray Bros. Caddyshack Restaurant)
(Interview with Wes Anderson (director))
(Streaming audio interview from 1988) (18 minutes)
(USA Today Article detailing Murray's house party crashing)
(Maxim Rated Top SNL performer)
(FCU with Bill Murray (Youtube))
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Bill Murray.
