Biography
A droll, iconoclastic comedic actor who enjoyed existing outside of Hollywood while thriving in it, Bill Murray carved a unique career that moved successfully from slapstick comedy to subtly complex seriocomic roles that earned him several awards and untold critical praise. After a stint in Chicago's famed comedy troupe, The Second City, Murray took over the space left behind by Chevy Chase on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ), where he made …
Bill Murray SlideShow
1 - 4 of 44
Career Milestones
| Appeared on "National Lampoon Radio Hour" and in the off-Broadway production of "National Lampoon Show" | ||
| Left college to join the improv troupe Second City in Chicago, IL | ||
1975 | Feature acting debut, "Jungle Burger" | |
1977 | Joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" (NBC) for the show's second season; replaced a departing Chevy Chase | |
1979 | First leading role in a feature film, "Meatballs"; directed by Ivan Reitman and scripted by Harold Ramis | |
1980 | Played the gopher-obsessed groundskeeper in Harold Ramis' "Caddyshack" | |
1980 | Portrayed famed writer Hunter S. Thompson in "Where the Buffalo Roam" | |
1981 | Re-teamed with Ramis to co-star in the comedy film "Stripes"; also re-teamed with Reitman, who co-wrote and directed | |
1982 | Cast as Dustin Hoffman's actor roommate in Sydney Pollack's "Tootsie" | |
1984 | Became firmly established as comic star in Reitman's "Ghostbusters"; Ramis and Dan Aykroyd both co-starred and co-wrote | |
1984 | First lead in a dramatic role, "The Razor's Edge"; also co-scripted with director John Byrum | |
1986 | Played small comic role as the masochistic dental patient (first made famous by Jack Nicholson in the original Roger Corman film) in the Frank OZ directed musical "Little Shop of Horrors" | |
1988 | First starring role in more than four years, "Scrooged" | |
1989 | Re-teamed with Reitman, Ramis, Aykroyd and others for the sequel "Ghostbusters II" | |
1990 | First credit as producer, "Quick Change"; also starred in and co-directed with Howard Franklin | |
1991 | Re-teamed with Frank Oz as a patient who drove his therapist (Richard Dreyfuss) crazy by following him on vacation in "What About Bob?" | |
1993 | Portrayed Chicago hood to Robert De Niro's nerdy cop in John McNaughton's oddly endearing "Mad Dog and Glory" | |
1993 | Scored big hit with "Groundhog Day," written and directed by Ramis | |
1994 | Executive produced "Confessions of a Hit Man" | |
1994 | Turned in small gem as aspiring transsexual Bunny Breckinridge in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" | |
1996 | Appeared opposite an elephant in "Larger Than Life" | |
1996 | Teamed with Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in the live-action film "Space Jam" | |
1998 | Delivered another tiny gem as a low-life lawyer in "Wild Things" | |
1998 | Received critical acclaim as a wealthy tycoon in Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" | |
1999 | Portrayed a ventriloquist in Tim Robbins' "Cradle Will Rock" | |
2000 | Played Polonius in Michael Almereyda's film version of "Hamlet" | |
2001 | Starred in the live-action sequences of "Osmosis Jones" | |
2002 | Appeared on stage opposite Sigourney Weaver in the off-off-Broadway play "The Guys" | |
2003 | Played an aging movie star opposite Scarlett Johansson in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation"; earned Academy Award and SAG nominations for Best Actor | |
2004 | Cast in Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes," a collection of stories that all have coffee and cigarettes in common | |
2004 | Starred as an oceanographer in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" | |
2004 | Voiced Garfield in the live action film "Garfield" based on the comic strip | |
2005 | Co-starred with an ensemble of actresses in Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers" | |
2006 | Returned to voice Garfield in the sequel "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" | |
2008 | Starred in the screen adaptaion of "City of Ember" | |
2009 | Starred opposite Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek in the indie dramedy "Get Low" | |
2009 | Voiced Mr. Fox's (George Clooney) lawyer and advisor in Wes Anderson's animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book "Fantastic Mr. Fox" | |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male | |
2011 | Nominated for the 2011 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male ("Get Low") | |
2012 | Portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in "Hyde Park on Hudson" | |
2012 | Re-teamed with writer and director Wes Anderson to play the father of preteen runaway in "Moonrise Kingdom" | |
Awards
1977 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing In a Comedy-Variety or Music Series in Saturday Night Live |
1979 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Program in Saturday Night Live |
1984 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Ghostbusters |
1992 | MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance in What About Bob? |
1993 | MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance in Groundhog Day |
1998 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Rushmore |
1998 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor in Rushmore |
1998 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor in Rushmore |
1998 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in Rushmore |
1999 | Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male in Rushmore |
2003 | Academy Award for Actor In a Leading Role in Lost In Translation |
2003 | BAFTA Award for Actor In a Leading Role in Lost In Translation |
2003 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Lost In Translation |
2003 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2003 | Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor in Lost In Translation |
2004 | Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead in Lost In Translation |
2004 | MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance in Lost In Translation |
2004 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special in The 76th Annual Academy Awards |
2004 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in Lost In Translation |
2010 | MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment in Zombieland |
2011 | Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male in Get Low |
2012 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Hyde Park On Hudson |