Illinois Hall of Fame: Bill Murray

By Mark Rhoads

Bill Murray has been working on TV and in films for about 32 years as an actor, director, comedy writer, and producer.   He was born in Wilmette, Illinois on September 21, 1950 and grew up there.  He was the fifth of nine children and his father was a lumber salesman.  Three of his siblings have also worked as actors and they include Brian Doyle Murray, John Murray, and Joel Murray.  His sister Nancy is a Roman Catholic nun of the Dominican order in Illinois. 

Bill attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette for high school studies.  He spent a brief period in college but came back to Chicago to be in the Second City main company and work with Del Close.  After one year with a mediocre ABC-TV variety show with Howard Cossel in 1975, Loren Michaels gave Bill a chance to replace Chevy Chase and join the cast of Saturday Night Live at NBC in 1976.  Bill is a hard-working actor who nevertheless gives the appearance of a laid back style.  He has appeared in nearly fifty feature films including Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Scrooged, Charlie's Angels, The Royal Tennenbaums, Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers, The Lost City, and What About Bob?  All three of Bill's brothers appeared in Scrooged in 1988.

Bill has courageously tried non-comedic roles but with limited success since audiences were not at first willing to accept his persona in straight dramatic roles.  His game attempt to play a role once played by Tyrone Power in The Razer's Edge was not a success.  More recently in 2006, Murray played an American who befriends Cuban night club owner Andy Garcia in 1959 Havana in The Lost City.  It is a dramatic role but Murray still provides what comic relief there is in a film about Castro's revolution.  For a complete list of films and TV projects of Bill Murray see his page on the Internet Movie Data Base.

By Mark Rhoads

Bill Murray has been working on TV and in films for about 32 years as an actor, director, comedy writer, and producer.   He was born in Wilmette, Illinois on September 21, 1950 and grew up there.  He was the fifth of nine children and his father was a lumber salesman.  Three of his siblings have also worked as actors and they include Brian Doyle Murray, John Murray, and Joel Murray.  His sister Nancy is a Roman Catholic nun of the Dominican order in Illinois. 

Bill attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette for high school studies.  He spent a brief period in college but came back to Chicago to be in the Second City main company and work with Del Close.  After one year with a mediocre ABC-TV variety show with Howard Cossel in 1975, Loren Michaels gave Bill a chance to replace Chevy Chase and join the cast of Saturday Night Live at NBC in 1976.  Bill is a hard-working actor who nevertheless gives the appearance of a laid back style.  He has appeared in nearly fifty feature films including Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Scrooged, Charlie's Angels, The Royal Tennenbaums, Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers, The Lost City, and What About Bob?  All three of Bill's brothers appeared in Scrooged in 1988.

Bill has courageously tried non-comedic roles but with limited success since audiences were not at first willing to accept his persona in straight dramatic roles.  His game attempt to play a role once played by Tyrone Power in The Razer's Edge was not a success.  More recently in 2006, Murray played an American who befriends Cuban night club owner Andy Garcia in 1959 Havana in The Lost City.  It is a dramatic role but Murray still provides what comic relief there is in a film about Castro's revolution.  For a complete list of films and TV projects of Bill Murray see his page on the Internet Movie Data Base.