Bill Murray

William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas.

Murray has frequently collaborated with directors Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch and the Farrelly brothers.

He has earned numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for an Academy Award.

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.

Their father died in 1967 at the age of 46 from complications of diabetes when Bill was 17.

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.

On September 21, 1970, his 20th birthday, the police arrested Murray at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for trying to smuggle 10 lbs 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.

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.

Murray 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.

In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on The National Lampoon Radio Hour.

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.

Saturday Night Live (1977–1980)

He then established his stardom acting in a string of successful comedy films such as Meatballs (1979), Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989), What About Bob? (1991), and Groundhog Day (1993).

He also took on supporting roles in Tootsie (1982), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Ed Wood (1994), Kingpin (1996), and Osmosis Jones (2001).

His only directorial credit is Quick Change (1990), which he co-directed with Howard Franklin.

He started his longterm collaboration with director Wes Anderson in 1998 with Rushmore earning an Independent Spirit Award.

He would continue to appear in many of his films including The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), and The French Dispatch (2021).

He also starred in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003) earning him Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

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), and Baloo in the live action adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book (2016).

Murray reprised his role as Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).

Other notable roles include in Broken Flowers (2005), Get Low (2009), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), St. Vincent (2014), and On the Rocks (2020).

Decades later, in 2007, Regis awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

For his television role in HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), he earned his second Primetime Emmy Award.

In 2016, Murray was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

His brother Ed Murray died in 2020.