Bill Murray

Actor and comedian Bill Murray was a self-proclaimed troublemaker growing up. In an attempt to find direction in his life, he joined his older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, in the cast of Chicago's Second City improvisational comedy troupe.

He eventually relocated to New York City where he took his comedic talents on air in National Lampoon Hour. In 1975, both Murray brothers were in an off-Broadway spin-off of the radio show when Bill was spotted by sportscaster Howard Cosell, who recruited him for the cast of his ABC variety program, Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell. On NBC, a program also named Saturday Night Live was creating a much bigger sensation. A year later producer Lorne Michaels tapped Murray to replace Chevy Chase, who had moved on to pursue a film career. He starred in "Saturday Night Live" from 1977 to 1980, earning an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for his work on the show.

It was on the set of Saturday Night Live that Murray created the sleazy, insincere comedic character that became his calling card for many films to come. His first major film role was in the 1979 box office hit Meatballs. This was followed by the biography Where the Buffalo Roam. In 1980, he redeemed himself by going back to his comedic roots with the cult classic Caddyshack. The roll continued with the army farce Stripes in 1981, Tootsie in 1982 where he played a straight man, and Ghostbusters in 1984. The comedy was one of the decade's biggest hits, spawning a cartoon series, action figures and even a chart-topping theme song. He continued to explore his range with roles in Little Shop of Horrors and Scrooged, a darkly comedic version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol in 1988.

Murray's next move caught loyal fans off guard. He starred in and co-wrote an adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel The Razor's Edge in 1984, which had been a lifelong dream.

After a hiatus, Murray made his comeback with Scrooged and continued to make notable appearances in What About Bob? in 1991, followed by the equally acclaimed Groundhog Day in 1993 and Kingpin later in the decade. In 1998, Murray played what many believed to be one of his finest roles in Wes Anderson's Rushmore. As business tycoon Herman Blume, competing with an eccentric 15-year-old for the affections of a first grade teacher, Murray won Best Supporting Actor from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. The film's success and his role as a sleazy lawyer in Wild Things that year helped put him back in the forefront.

Murray garnered additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in Lost in Translation, which earned him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Ghostbusters, Rushmore, Hyde Park on Hudson, St. Vincent, and the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge, for which he later won his second Primetime Emmy Award. His comedy is known for its deadpan delivery. Murray received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2016.

Murray appeared as Martin Heiss in the reboot of Ghostbusters in July of 2016, continued working with Wes Anderson in Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and voiced a character in the 2018 film Isle of Dogs. He starred in the Jim Jarmusch film The Dead Don't Die which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, reprised his role in Zombieland: Double Tap, and worked with Sofia Coppola in On the Rocks. His significant interest in golf has led him to participate in charity events and open tournaments, and he authored "Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf." He portrayed Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," demonstrating his versatility in both comedic and dramatic roles, which he continues to explore in his active film career.