# Bill Murray
**Bill Murray** (William James Murray, born 1950) is an American actor, comedian, and writer who rose to fame as a cast member of NBC's *Saturday Night Live* and then built one of the most recognizable film careers in American comedy, from *Meatballs* (1979), *Caddyshack* (1980), and *Ghostbusters* (1984) to the seriocomic work of his later career in [Sofia Coppola](https://www.edgepedia.org/sofia-coppola)'s *Lost in Translation* (2003) and a long series of [Wes Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/wes-anderson) films[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for *Lost in Translation*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1950, Wilmette, Illinois; fifth of nine children in an Irish-American family[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/) |
| Television breakthrough | Joined the NBC *Saturday Night Live* cast in 1976, replacing Chevy Chase; won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for the show[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) |
| Signature film | *Ghostbusters* (1984), as Dr. Peter Venkman; earned almost $300 million worldwide, one of the decade's biggest hits[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) |
| Best Actor honors | Golden Globe and BAFTA for *Lost in Translation* (2003), plus his first Academy Award nomination[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/) |
| Golden Globe record | 7 nominations, 1 win (2004, *Lost in Translation*)[3](https://goldenglobes.com/person/bill-murray/) |
| Wes Anderson collaborations | *Rushmore* (1998) through *The Grand Budapest Hotel* (2014); supporting-actor awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics for *Rushmore*[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) |
| Filmography scale | 52 titles in the American Film Institute's feature-film catalog, with credits as actor, writer (*The Razor's Edge*), and director and producer (*Quick Change*)[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/194052) |
## Early life and Chicago comedy
Murray grew up in [Wilmette, Illinois](https://www.edgepedia.org/wilmette-illinois), in a family where he and most of his siblings worked as golf caddies, and that work paid his tuition to Loyola Academy, a Jesuit school[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/). He described himself as a troublemaker and was arrested at age 20 for attempting to smuggle close to nine pounds of marijuana through Chicago's O'Hare Airport[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). Spanish-language reporting on his career states that he had enrolled to study pre-medicine at [Regis University](https://www.edgepedia.org/regis-university) in Denver and left after the arrest, receiving five years' probation[5](https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2025/09/23/queria-ser-medico-pero-lo-detuvieron-con-marihuana-asi-empezo-la-carrera-de-una-estrella-de-la-comedia-cadena-ser/).
He found direction in comedy. Joining his older brother [Brian Doyle-Murray](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-doyle-murray) in Chicago's Second City improvisational troupe, he moved on to the radio *National Lampoon Hour* (1973–74) alongside [Dan Aykroyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-aykroyd), Gilda Radner, and [John Belushi](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-belushi)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray).
## Saturday Night Live
Murray reached television in stages. In 1975 he and his brother appeared in an off-Broadway spin-off of the Lampoon show, where sportscaster [Howard Cosell](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-cosell) spotted him and recruited him for the ABC variety program *Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell* (1975–76)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). Meanwhile, producer [Lorne Michaels](https://www.edgepedia.org/lorne-michaels) was building a separate *Saturday Night Live* on NBC, and Biography.com reports that Murray joined that cast in 1976, replacing [Chevy Chase](https://www.edgepedia.org/chevy-chase), who had left to pursue a film career[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray); the Golden Globes database dates his run as 1977–1980[3](https://goldenglobes.com/person/bill-murray/). On the show he developed the sleazy, insincere comic persona that became his calling card in films, and he won an Emmy award for Outstanding Writing[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray).
## Film stardom, 1979–1989
His first major film role came in the 1979 box-office hit *Meatballs*, directed by [Ivan Reitman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivan-reitman)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). Sheila Johnston's Independent profile records that the comedy cost $1.5 million to make and took $64 million[6](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/profile-coining-it-at-the-murray-mint-sheila-johnston-explores-the-dubious-but-undeniable-appeal-of-bill-murray-1458262.html). A run of hits followed: *Caddyshack* (1980), in which he played the groundskeeper Carl Spackler[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/194052); the army farce *Stripes* (1981); a supporting turn as [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman)'s roommate in *Tootsie* (1982); and *Ghostbusters* (1984), co-starring Aykroyd and [Harold Ramis](https://www.edgepedia.org/harold-ramis), which earned almost $300 million worldwide and spawned a sequel, a cartoon series, action figures, and a chart-topping theme song[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray).
**The Razor's Edge interlude.** In 1984 Murray starred in and co-wrote an adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel *The Razor's Edge*, a long-held ambition, and the shift from farce to literary drama failed with audiences[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). He spent the next several years largely away from Hollywood, appearing only in a cameo in *Little Shop of Horrors* (1986), before returning with *Scrooged* (1988), a darkly comic take on *A Christmas Carol*, and *Ghostbusters II* (1989)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). In 1990 he added directing credits to his record by co-directing and co-producing *Quick Change*, in which he also starred[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/194052).
## The 1990s turnaround
*What About Bob?* (1991) was a hit, and *Groundhog Day* (1993), in which Murray played the cynical weatherman Phil Connors, became the role most closely identified with his blend of sarcasm and emotional depth[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) • [7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/murray-bill-1950). The working relationship with Ramis frayed during *Groundhog Day*; the Guardian reports that Murray's behavior on set caused a falling-out with the director that lasted almost until Ramis's death, after which Murray issued a tribute to TIME crediting their shared work on the National Lampoon Show, *Meatballs*, *Stripes*, *Caddyshack*, *Ghostbusters*, and *Groundhog Day*[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/29/bill-murrays-20-best-performances-ranked) • [9](https://time.com/9564/bill-murray-remembers-harold-ramis-he-earned-his-keep-on-this-planet/).
The decisive shift came with Wes Anderson's *Rushmore* (1998), in which Murray played the tycoon Herman Blume competing with a 15-year-old student for a teacher's affections. He won best supporting actor from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, and Anderson added him to his regular ensemble[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). Critics have often called this the beginning of a "Murraynaissance" in which he moved toward melancholy, seriocomic material[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/29/bill-murrays-20-best-performances-ranked).
## Critical reevaluation and the Oscar nomination
Murray earned further praise in Anderson's *The Royal Tenenbaums* (2001)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray), then delivered the performance of his later career as the aging movie star Bob Harris in Sofia Coppola's *Lost in Translation* (2003), opposite [Scarlett Johansson](https://www.edgepedia.org/scarlett-johansson). The role produced some of the strongest reviews of his career, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/). He lost the Oscar to [Sean Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-penn) for *Mystic River*[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/29/bill-murrays-20-best-performances-ranked).
His Anderson films continued through *The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou* (2004), *Moonrise Kingdom* (2012), *The Grand Budapest Hotel* (2014), and *The French Dispatch* (2021)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) • [10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/bill-murray/). He also worked with Jim Jarmusch on *Broken Flowers* (2005), screened in competition at Cannes[10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/bill-murray/), and voiced Garfield (2004) and Baloo in *The Jungle Book* (2016)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) • [4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/194052).
## Later career and recent work
The 2010s mixed comedy, drama, and recognition. In 2014 he appeared in George Clooney's *The Monuments Men*, earned a lead-actor Golden Globe nomination for *St. Vincent*, and won his second Emmy Award for playing Jack Kennison in the HBO miniseries *Olive Kitteridge*[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). In 2016 he received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray).
His later filmography includes the zombie films *The Dead Don't Die* and *Zombieland: Double Tap* (both 2019), Sofia Coppola's *On the Rocks* (2020), Anderson's *The French Dispatch* (2021), *Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania* (2023), *The Phoenician Scheme* (2025), and the crime comedy *Riff Raff* (2024)[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray) • [10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/bill-murray/) • [11](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-murray/). The Cannes festival page also lists him as an actor in *Diamond*, scheduled out of competition for 2026[10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/bill-murray/).
**The Being Mortal complaint.** In 2022, production on Aziz Ansari's film *Being Mortal* was suspended and then shut down after a complaint of inappropriate behavior against Murray[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-22/bill-murray-allegations-inappropriate-behavior-being-mortal). Reporting on the case described an allegation that Murray straddled and kissed a female production staffer; Murray said in 2025 that he had kissed the woman through a COVID-era mask as a joke and that a financial settlement of $100,000 was reached[13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/07/bill-murray-speaks-out-about-sexual-misconduct-allegations). He told the Guardian he felt he was "barbecued" by the episode and criticized Disney, Searchlight's owner, for canceling the film[13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/07/bill-murray-speaks-out-about-sexual-misconduct-allegations). Earlier on-set behavior has drawn documented complaints as well: producer Laura Ziskin told the Los Angeles Times that Murray threatened her and broke her sunglasses during *What About Bob?*, and actress Lucy Liu publicly described language from him on the *Charlie's Angels* set as inexcusable[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-22/bill-murray-allegations-inappropriate-behavior-being-mortal).
## Personal life and off-screen identity
Murray was married to Margaret "Mickey" Kelley from 1981 to 1994, with two sons, Homer and Luke; he married Jennifer Butler in 1997 and they divorced in 2008, with four sons, Jackson, Cal, Cooper, and Lincoln[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray). With his siblings he opened the Murray Bros. Caddyshack Restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida, in 2001, adding a second location in Rosemont, Illinois, in 2018[1](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray).
He is known for working without an agent[14](https://www.entertainmentfuse.com/independently-minded-bill-murray/), for a low media profile[6](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/profile-coining-it-at-the-murray-mint-sheila-johnston-explores-the-dubious-but-undeniable-appeal-of-bill-murray-1458262.html), and for unpredictable public appearances that have made him a figure of internet folklore, from crashing bachelor parties to stealing fries from strangers' plates with the parting line "No one will ever believe you"[15](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/bill-murray-lucy-liu-b1934224.html).
## References
1. [Bill Murray: Biography, Actor, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/actors/bill-murray)
2. [Bill Murray Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/bio/)
3. [Bill Murray, Golden Globes Awards Database](https://goldenglobes.com/person/bill-murray/)
4. [Bill Murray, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/194052)
5. [Quería ser médico, pero lo detuvieron con marihuana: así empezó la carrera de una estrella de la comedia, Cadena SER](https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2025/09/23/queria-ser-medico-pero-lo-detuvieron-con-marihuana-asi-empezo-la-carrera-de-una-estrella-de-la-comedia-cadena-ser/)
6. [Profile: Coining it at the Murray mint, The Independent (Sheila Johnston, 1993)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/profile-coining-it-at-the-murray-mint-sheila-johnston-explores-the-dubious-but-undeniable-appeal-of-bill-murray-1458262.html)
7. [Murray, Bill (1950—), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/murray-bill-1950)
8. [Bill Murray's 20 best performances – ranked!, The Guardian (2022)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/29/bill-murrays-20-best-performances-ranked)
9. [Bill Murray Remembers Harold Ramis, TIME (2014)](https://time.com/9564/bill-murray-remembers-harold-ramis-he-earned-his-keep-on-this-planet/)
10. [Bill MURRAY, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/bill-murray/)
11. [Bill Murray credits, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-murray/)
12. [Bill Murray has a history of bad-behavior allegations, Los Angeles Times (2022)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-22/bill-murray-allegations-inappropriate-behavior-being-mortal)
13. [Bill Murray speaks out about sexual misconduct allegation, The Guardian (2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/07/bill-murray-speaks-out-about-sexual-misconduct-allegations)
14. [The Independently Minded Bill Murray, Entertainment Fuse (2014)](https://www.entertainmentfuse.com/independently-minded-bill-murray/)
15. [Bill Murray's fight with Lucy Liu, The Independent (2021)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/bill-murray-lucy-liu-b1934224.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license