Among his siblings are actors Brian Doyle-Murray, Joel Murray, and John Murray. He and most of his siblings worked as caddies, which paid his tuition to Loyola Academy, a Jesuit school. He played sports and did some acting while in that school, but in his words, mostly "screwed off." He enrolled at Regis College in Denver to study pre-med but dropped out after being arrested for marijuana possession. He then joined the National Lampoon Radio Hour with fellow members Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi. However, while those three became the original members of Saturday Night Live (1975), he joined Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (1975), which premiered that same year. After that show failed, he later got the opportunity to join Saturday Night Live(1975).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: John Sacksteder <jsack@ka.net>
Spouse***********************************************
Mickey Kelley (25 January 1981 - 29 January 1994) (divorced) (2 children)
Trade Mark***********************************************
Deadpan expression
During the later years of his career, he frequently plays depressed characters (Lost in Translation (2003), Flores rotas (2005), Life Aquatic (2004), Academia Rushmore (1998) , Los Tenenbaums. Una familia de genios (2001)).
During the early years of his career, he frequently played loud, sarcastic, often rude and mean, anti-heroes (Los incorregibles albóndigas (1979), El pelotón chiflado (1981), El club de los chalados (1980), the two Ghostbusters movies, Atrapado en el tiempo(1993)).
***********************************************Soft mellow voice
Often works with directors Ivan Reitman and Wes Anderson.
Often plays bitter, misanthropic cynics who suffer humiliation and failure.
Often works with directors Ivan Reitman and Wes Anderson.
Often plays bitter, misanthropic cynics who suffer humiliation and failure.
Trivia***********************************************
Accidentally broke Robert De Niro's nose during the filming of La chica del gángster(1993).
Ranked #82 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
1997 Recipient of the Sons of the Desert Annual Comedy Performer Award on April 19th, 1997.
***********************************************Appeared in Los fantasmas atacan al jefe (1988) with three of his brothers.
Father, with Mickey Kelley, of sons Homer Murray (b. 1982) and Luke Murray (b. 1985).
Father, with Jennifer Butler, of sons: Caleb James Murray (born January 11, 1993), Jackson William Murray (born October 6, 1995), Cooper Jones Murray (born January 27, 1997) and Lincoln Darius Murray (born May 30, 2001).
***********************************************He owns a minor league baseball team in Charleston, SC, called the Riverdogs.
Related through marriage to guitar player, lyricist and singer Chris Luxem.
Set to become part-owner of his third minor league baseball team, the new Brockton Rox, in Mass., with friend Van Schley.
Has become the unofficial patron saint of the forums of the Football Manager website, home to one of the biggest selling PC games of all time.
Related through marriage to guitar player, lyricist and singer Chris Luxem.
Set to become part-owner of his third minor league baseball team, the new Brockton Rox, in Mass., with friend Van Schley.
Has become the unofficial patron saint of the forums of the Football Manager website, home to one of the biggest selling PC games of all time.
***********************************************He is part of The Goldklang Group that includes Van Schley, baseball marketing guru Mike Veeck, and Saturday Night Live (1975) comedian Jimmy Fallon. The group owns minor league baseball teams the St. Paul Saints and the Brockton Rox of the Northern League, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Fort Myers Miracle, the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Evansville Otters and they run the Portland Beavers.
Was bitten by the groundhog twice on the Atrapado en el tiempo (1993) set in 1992.
Was bitten by the groundhog twice on the Atrapado en el tiempo (1993) set in 1992.
***********************************************He is a diehard Chicago Cubs fan. During the Cubs playoff run in 2003, he was on location in Italy, but he had it written into his contract that he'd get a satellite feed of the playoffs.
His role in Los cazafantasmas (1984) was originally intended for fellow SNL star John Belushi.
His home is in upstate New York, although he is more frequently working elsewhere during the year.
Performed the vocals for the song "The Best Thing" in the John Waters film Polyester(1981).
Siblings include Brian Doyle-Murray, Nancy, Edward, Andy, John Murray, Joel Murray, Peggy, and Laura.
Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois.
Attended Regis College in Denver. He dropped out his sophomore year.
His mother died in 1988.
His sister Nancy is a Dominican nun.
In 2001, he starred with Sigourney Weaver in an Off-Off-Broadway play called "The Guys," in which he played a fire captain who lost eight of his men on 9/11. In the movie version, Murray's role was played by Anthony LaPaglia.
Is an avid golfer and has appeared at many pro-am golf tournaments.
***********************************************Co-owner, with brothers Brian, Joel and John, of the Murray Brothers Caddyshack restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida (actually, in St. Augustine, Florida, inside the World Golf Village complex).
He often works with the directors Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Wes Anderson, and Jim Jarmusch.
Sofia Coppola wrote the lead role of Bob Harris in Lost in Translation (2003), with Murray specifically in mind. She did not know the actor and even enlisted the help of her famous father, Francis Ford Coppola, to track down the sometimes quite elusive Murray. Once he finally read the script, though, he agreed to do it on the spot. Murray and Sofia Coppolaare now good friends.
***********************************************He has rubbed some collaborators the wrong way because he has a tendency to re-write and improvise his way through scripts until many of his scenes barely resembles the original versions. Most collaborators ultimately find, though, it's to the improvement of the films.
Is a fan of the Illini men's basketball team.
Captivated by the story of Press Your Luck (1983) contestant Michael Larson who memorized the sequence of the game show's big board and racked up over $110,000 in winnings, Murray commissioned a screenplay for a biopic about Larson. Several studios expressed an interest but didn't follow through. The Game Show Network's 2003 TV documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (2003) told the same story with interviews, dramatic recreations and archival video, and may have diminished interest in the film even more.
***********************************************The part of Boon in National Lampoon's Desmadre a la americana (1978) was originally written with him in mind, but due to a scheduling conflict, he had to turn it down.
Announced that after his next three productions, he will be taking a break from acting to relax. He cites the productions of Life Aquatic (2004) and Flores rotas (2005) as having exhausted him.
Has said that "Oklahoma!" is his favorite musical.
He was considered for the role of Detective John Kimble in Poli de guardería (1990). The part eventually went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
With Life Aquatic (2004) and Flores rotas (2005), Murray did two films back-to-back in which he plays a long-childless man who discovers that someone who may be his grown son has been searching for him.
***********************************************His performance as Phil Connors in Atrapado en el tiempo (1993) is ranked #48 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1989 Batman (1989) film when it was set to be identical to the 1960s TV Series before Tim Burton came along.
Was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie y la fábrica de chocolate (2005).
***********************************************His performance as Carl Spackler in El club de los chalados (1980) is ranked #18 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Was considered for the role of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (Juguetes) (1995).
***********************************************Murray is one of only three American actors who were nominated for an Oscar for a movie that is set in the territory of Japan. The other two were Marlon Brando and Red Buttonsfor Sayonara (1957).
Turned down Steve Carell's role in Pequeña Miss Sunshine (2006), which became one of the few choices in his career that he regretted.
***********************************************Voiced Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in an early Fantastic Four radio show.
Murray is a huge fan of Chicago pro sports teams, especially the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears.
Was a guest on the very first episode of Late Night with David Letterman (1982).
***********************************************Was considered and tested for the voice role of Sulley in Monstruos, S.A. (2001), but the director, Pete Docter, said that when the filmmakers decided to offer it to Murray, they were unable to make contact with him and took that to mean "no".
Has appeared with both Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982) and Dustin's brother Todd Hoffman in Los incorregibles albóndigas (1979).
***********************************************An early promotional reel for Cazafantasmas: Los auténticos (1986) featured a different character design for the animated version of Murray's character Peter Venkman, a design that bore more of a resemblance to Murray himself as opposed to the final character design, which gave Venkman a slimmer, sleeker, more chiseled "pretty boy" look.
***********************************************Was considered for the role of Han Solo in La guerra de las galaxias (1977).
Murray and Dan Aykroyd reprised their Los cazafantasmas (1984) characters to visit a terminally ill child who was a fan of the film and wanted to meet them.
Was a frequent collaborator with Harold Ramis throughout the 1980s, but their working relationship ended during the filming of Atrapado en el tiempo (1993) due to differing views on what the film should be: Ramis claims that Murray wanted the film to be more philosophical, while Ramis himself simply meant for it to be a comedy. Ramis also cites that Murray's personal problems at the time (namely the ending of his first marriage) had a negative effect on his work ethic, causing him to be uncharacteristically harsh during filming, as another reason for the end of their working relationship.
***********************************************Is portrayed by Mather Zickel in Gilda Radner: It's Always Something (2002).
Married his first wife, Mickey Kelley in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday of 1981. They had a second ceremony at a church on March 25, 1981.
Dan Aykroyd nicknamed him "The Murricane" for his notorious mood swings.
His pockmarked face is due to acne problems he experienced as a teenager.
Was considered for the role of Eddie Valiant in ¿Quién engañó a Roger Rabbit? (1988). The part eventually went to Bob Hoskins.
Irish-American.
***********************************************Ex-wife Jennifer Butler filed for divorce on May 2008 on the grounds of drug addiction, physical abuse, adultery and abandonment.
Lives in Valley Center, Malibu, California, Palisades, New York and Sullivans Island, South Carolina.
He appears in four of the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: Tootsie (1982) at #2, Los cazafantasmas (1984) at #28, Atrapado en el tiempo (1993) at #34 and El club de los chalados (1980) at #71.
Appeared in Bienvenidos a Zombieland (2009) as a favor to Woody Harrelson, movie co-star and big "Bill Murray" fan.
***********************************************Has been a friend of Kerry Simon since they were both pizza chefs at Little Caesar's in Chicago.
Lives in a suburb of New York City, Rockland County. [July 2002]
Appeared in a reading of Arthur Miller's newest play (and first comedy), Resurrection Blues, in New York. [August 2004]
Personal Quotes***********************************************
If you walk up to some random person on the street, grab them by the shoulder, and say 'Did you just see what I saw?!'....you'll find that no one wants to talk to you.
The truth is, anybody that becomes famous is an ass for a year and a half. You've got to give them a year and a half, two years. They are getting so much smoke blown, and their whole world gets so turned upside down, their responses become distorted. I give everybody a year or two to pull it together because, when it first happens, I know how it is.
***********************************************There aren't many downsides to being rich, other than paying taxes and having relatives asking for money. But being famous, that's a 24 hour job right there.
I'm over the Oscar thing. I feel that if you really want an Oscar, you're in trouble. It's like wanting to be married - you'll take anybody. If you want the Oscar really badly, it becomes a naked desire and ambition. It becomes very unattractive. I've seen it. The nice thing is that I'm over here in Europe making a movie and so I don't need to worry about it.
I know how to be sour. I know that taste.
***********************************************[on Lost in Translation (2003)] Many people say, "Do you think this is offensive to the Japanese?" Well, I know the Japanese are laughing more at the Americanisms than we are laughing at the Japanese-isms... they love watching the stupidity of the foreigner in Tokyo. They're not offended at all. They know that the bowing is funny and that their language is impenetrable to the rest of the world.
***********************************************You know the theory of cell irritability?. If you take an amoeba cell and poke it a thousand times, it will change and then re-form into its original shape. And then, the thousandth time you poke this amoeba, the cell will completely collapse and become nothing. That's kind of what it's like being famous. People say hi, how are you doing, and after the thousandth time, you just get angry; you really pop.
***********************************************There's definitely a lot of trash that comes with the prize of being famous. It's a nice gift, but there's a lot of wrapping and paper and junk to cut through. Back then, when a movie came out and people saw you on the street, their reaction was so supercharged that it was scary. It would frighten other people. It used to really rattle me. I mean, everybody would love to have their clothes torn off by a mob of girls, but being screamed at is different.
Why would you get up there and bore people? I never have figured that out. These people are supposedly in the entertainment industry, and they finally get up there to that podium and they become the most boring people in the world. [on award acceptance speeches]
One of the things I like about acting is that, in a funny way, I come back to myself.
We used to joke about it: 'Give me an affliction and I'll give you an Oscar!' They're not giving an award for acting. It's, 'Thanks for making me feel something. Here's a prize.' Somehow people don't put comedy in their emotional bank the same way. It relieves a tension, it unties a knot, but it's not something where people want to give you a prize. They just want to say, 'Thanks for making me laugh,' which I genuinely treasure. That makes me feel good.
Movie acting suits me because I only need to be good for ninety seconds at a time.
I've had some success in movies, so I really don't think about success. You like to have it, but I'm not desperate for it.
The first 45 minutes of the original Los cazafantasmas (1984) is some of the funniest stuff ever made. The second one was disappointing because the special-effects guys took over. I had something like two scenes - and they're the only funny ones in the movie.
I have developed a kind of different style over the years. I hate trying to re-create a tone or a pitch. Saying, "I want to make it sound like I made it sound the last time"? That's insane, because the last time doesn't exist. It's only this time. And everything is going to be different this time. There's only now. And I don't think a director, as often as not, knows what is going to play funny anyway. As often as not, the right one is the one that they're surprised by, so I don't think that they have the right tone in their head. And I think that good actors always-or if you're being good, anyway-you're making it better than the script. That's your job.
The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself.
[on encountering fans] I'm of the habit that if people are waiting outside the hotel, you don't sign your autographs there. Because that means when you come back in the middle of the night, they're still there. It's usually a one-time thing. That's it; that's your one time. You try your hardest but you can't always be perfect.
The only thing we really, surely have is hope. You hope that you can be alive, that things will happen to you that you'll actually witness, that you'll participate in. Rather than life just rolling over you, and you wake up and it's Thursday, and what happened on Monday? Whatever the best part of my life has been, has been the result of that remembering.
[on developing a film character] I hate to give away my secrets but I do almost nothing. Being slightly lazy works for me.
[on his altercation with Lucy Liu on the set of Los ángeles de Charlie (2000)] Look, I will dismiss you completely if you are unprofessional and working with me...When our relationship is professional, and you're not getting that done, forget it.
***********************************************[on his altercation with Lucy Liu on the set of Los ángeles de Charlie (2000)] We began rehearsing this scene and I said, 'Lucy, how can you want to say these lines? These are so crazy.' She got furious with me because she thought it was a personal assault, but the reality is she hated these lines as much as I did. But for 15 or 20 minutes there, we went to our separate corners and threw hand-grenades and sky rockets at each other. We made peace and I got to know her better from that day, and I feel very warmly for her now.
If I hadn't been a comedian or an actor or whatever it is that I am now, I would have been a professional athlete, probably a baseball player.
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