Bill Murray

Bill Murray (born 21.9.1950)

Bill Murray is an American actor who rose to fame after his appearances on Saturday Night Live and went on to win Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.

Bill Murray: Childhood

Bill Murray was born to Lucille and Edward J. Murray, in Wilmette, Illinois. His mother was a mail room clerk and his father was a lumber salesman. One of nine children, Bill also has three brothers who also act John, Joel and Brian)

Murray worked as a caddy to pay for his Roman Catholic High School fees and in his teenage years he sang in a band called the Dutch Masters. He dropped out of Regis University in Denver, Colorado when he was caught in possession of marijuana.

Bill Murray: Early Career

Murray started out with Second City Chicago, an improvisational comedy troupe. In 1975, John Belushi recruited him for The National Lampoon Radio Hour. He then got the much-coveted role of cast member on Saturday Night Live with Howard Cossell.

Bill's first starring film role was in Meatballs, in 1979, followed by his portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson in Where the Buffalo Roam. He went on to star in a number of box office successes such as Caddyshack, Stripes and Tootsie.

Bill Murray: Mainstream Success

Murray starred in Ghostbusters as part of a deal with Columbia Pictures, to gain finance for a film that he had written, an adaptation of The Razor's Edge. Ghostbusters was the highest grossing film of 1984. The Razor's Edge failed to make an impact on the box office at all.

After a four-year hiatus, Murray starred in the Ghostbusters sequel, Ghostbusters II and Scrooged. These were followed by the equally successful What About Bob? and Groundhog Day.

There was a dip in critical acclaim in Murray's career, yet he saw a return to form in Wes Anderson's Rushmore, for which he won a number of awards. This sparked a newly revitalised career as a dramatic - rather than a comic - actor. He went on to perform a number of serious roles, in Wild Things, Hamlet and Cradle Will Rock.

He went on to perform alongside Ben Stiller in The Royal Tenenbaums and 2003's Lost In Translation (in which he starred alongside Scarlett Johansson) won him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Murray's third film with Wes Anderson came with 20004's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and continuing his stream of quirky independent-style films, his role in Broken Flowers, a Jim Jarmusch film, was another critical success.

Bill Murray: Personal Life

In 1981, Bill Murray married Margaret Kelly on Las Vegas' Super Bowl. They then had a second ceremony in church for their families. Before they divorced in 1994, they had two sons. Homer was born in 1982 and Luke was born in 1985.

Murray went on to marry Jennifer Butler in 1997. They have had four sons together: Jackson William (b.1993), Caleb James (b. 1995), Cooper Jones (b.1997) and Lincoln Darius (b. 2001). In May 2008, Butler filed for divorce, stating that the cause for divorce was alcohol addiction (on Murray's part) and spousal abuse. The divorce was finalised in June 2008.