Bill Murray

At 74 years old, Bill Murray has this physical status:

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.

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.

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).

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.

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 included the film in its list of greatest films of the twenty-first century.

Murray also made a brief comic turn in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) where he played, M. Ivan, Gustave's friend and one of several concierges affiliated with the Society of the Crossed Keys. The film competed at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival where it received rapturous reviews. The film later became Wes Anderson's most financially successful film making $172 million. The film received 9 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, ultimately receiving 4 for Costume Design, Production Design, Makeup/Hair and Original Score. Murray himself along with the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for his ensemble work in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

In 2014, Murray starred in George Clooney's World War II ensemble drama, The Monuments Men, also starring Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Jean Dujardin, and Bob Balaban. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a modest box office success. Later that year, Murray also starred in St. Vincent alongside Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. He also played a music manager in 2015's Rock the Kasbah.

In 2016, he was the voice of Baloo in the live-action adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau. The film earned a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Murray was nominated for Favorite Animated Movie Voice at the People's Choice Awards; he lost to Ellen DeGeneres.

There had been speculation that Murray might return to the Ghostbusters franchise for a rumored Ghostbusters 3. Murray once stated, "I'd do it only if my character was killed off in the first reel," and also, "You know, maybe I should just do it. Maybe it'd be fun to do." Eventually, he appeared in both the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot as Martin Heiss, a cynical ghost debunker, which was released on July 15, 2016, and 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

In 2018, Murray portrayed Steve Bannon on Saturday Night Live alongside Fred Armisen as Michael Wolff. That year he was also part of Wes Anderson's ensemble cast of the animated film Isle of Dogs, which premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2019, Murray was part of the ensemble cast of the zombie-comedy The Dead Don't Die directed by Jim Jarmusch.

On February 2, 2020, a commercial starring Murray aired during the Super Bowl referencing his role in the film Groundhog Day as Phil, with him stealing the groundhog and driving him to various places in the orange Jeep Gladiator.

Murray reunited with Sofia Coppola for the comedy-drama On the Rocks opposite Rashida Jones. The film premiered at the 58th New York Film Festival where it received positive reviews with many critics praising Murray's performance. Critic David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote of his performance that "Murray has seldom been better." It had a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2020, by A24, followed by a digital streaming release on October 23, 2020, on Apple TV+. He received some critical acclaim as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture.

Murray appeared in a small role in The French Dispatch reuniting him with Wes Anderson for the 9th time. It was set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2020, and get a wide release on July 24, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was cancelled and the film was pulled from the schedule on April 3, 2020. The film was rescheduled for release on October 16, 2020, before being pulled from the schedule again on July 23, 2020. It ultimately premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and was released on October 22, 2021.

Murray reprised his role as Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters: Afterlife directed by Jason Reitman.

In October 2021, Murray joined the cast of the upcoming superhero film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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