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Bill Murray

ACTOR · BORN 1950

Bill Murray

Born
21 September 1950, Wilmette, Illinois, USA
Known for
Charlie's Angels (2000), The Dead Don't Die (2019), Garfield: The Movie (2004), Aloha (2015)

53 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

Bill Murray (born 21 September 1950) is an actor best known for Charlie's Angels, The Dead Don't Die and Garfield: The Movie.

Bill Murray over the years

Bill Murray in 1989 (age 39)
1989 · age 39Mxbndr, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bill Murray in 2006 (age 56)
2006 · age 56Bill_Murray_(99082849).jpg: Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park…
Bill Murray in 2019 (age 69)
2019 · age 69Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0

53 Interesting Facts About Bill Murray

Interesting Facts (27)

  1. #001

    Bill Murray has no manager, no business manager and no regular hair and makeup person, and he travels alone.

    Bill Murray — portrait
    Bill Murray: portraitImage: Wikimedia Commons · Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0

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  2. #002

    The groundhog bit him twice while making Groundhog Day (1993), a film set in 1992.

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  3. #003

    Dan Aykroyd dubbed him "The Murricane" because of his notorious mood swings.

    Bill Murray — portrait
    Bill Murray: portraitImage: Wikimedia Commons · Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0

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  4. #004

    He accidentally broke Robert De Niro's nose while shooting Mad Dog and Glory (1993).

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  5. #005

    He turned down the Little Miss Sunshine (2006) role that went to Steve Carell, one of the few career decisions he came to regret.

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  6. #006

    He worked often with Harold Ramis through the 1980s, but their partnership ended on Groundhog Day (1993) over clashing ideas of what the film should be: Ramis says Murray wanted it more philosophical, while he wanted a comedy. Ramis also says Murray's personal troubles at the time, namely the breakup of his first marriage, hurt his work ethic and made him unusually difficult on set, which also helped end their collaboration.

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  7. #007

    He's a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. When he was in Italy during the Cubs' 2003 playoff run, he had it written into his contract that he'd get the playoffs by satellite.

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  8. #008

    Four of his films made the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: Tootsie (1982) at No. 2, Ghostbusters (1984) at No. 28, Groundhog Day (1993) at No. 34 and Caddyshack (1980) at No. 71.

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  9. #009

    With his brothers Brian Doyle-Murray, Joel Murray and John Murray, he co-owns the Murray Brothers Caddyshack Restaurant in the World Golf Village complex in St. Augustine, Florida.

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  10. #010

    He was considered and tested to voice Sulley in Monsters, Inc. (2001), but director Pete Docter said that when the filmmakers decided to offer him the part, they couldn't reach him and took that as a "no."

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  11. #011

    Bill Murray holds the title of Director of Fun for the Charleston RiverDogs minor league baseball team.

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  12. #012

    The character Boon in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) was partly written with Bill Murray in mind, but a scheduling conflict kept him from doing it.

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  13. #013

    Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg first wanted Bill Murray for Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), but couldn't get hold of him in time. Murray said that when he read about it in an interview, he screamed at the top of his lungs even though he was in a public place, because he'd definitely have taken the role.

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  14. #014

    Bill Murray was the very first guest on the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman (1982), and the last guest on 19 May 2015.

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  15. #015

    Inspired by Press Your Luck (1983) contestant Michael Larson, who memorized the patterns of the show's big board and won more than $110,000, Murray commissioned a screenplay for a Larson biopic. Several studios were interested, but he never followed through, and the Game Show Network's 2003 documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (2003), which told the story through interviews, reenactments and archive footage, may have dampened interest further.

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  16. #016

    Bill Murray is part of The Goldklang Group, along with Van Schley, baseball marketing guru Mike Veeck and Saturday Night Live (1975) comedian Jimmy Fallon. The group owns Northern League and minor league teams such as the St. Paul Saints, the Brockton Rox, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Fort Myers Miracle, the Hudson Valley Renegades and the Evansville Otters, and runs the Portland Beavers.

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  17. #017

    Murray turned down Jim Belushi's part in Curly Sue (1991), a character who happened to be named Bill, because he was committed to What About Bob? (1991).

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  18. #018

    The pitted marks on Murray's face come from acne he had as a teenager.

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  19. #019

    Murray voiced Johnny Storm/The Human Torch on one of the first Fantastic Four radio shows.

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  20. #020

    The first promotional film for The Real Ghostbusters (1986) used a different design for the cartoon version of Murray's Peter Venkman, one that looked more like Murray himself and gave Venkman a slimmer, more polished "pretty boy" look than the final design.

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  21. #021

    Bill Murray shares two characters with the late Lorenzo Music: Peter Venkman, whom Murray played in Ghostbusters (1984) and Music voiced in the animated series The Real Ghostbusters (1986), and Garfield, whom Music voiced in many cartoons and Murray voiced in Garfield: The Movie (2004).

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  22. #022

    Bill Murray says his biggest professional regret is passing up the chance to work with Clint Eastwood. After the success of Stripes (1981), he called Eastwood to say he wanted to work with him, and Eastwood later offered him a part in another military film, but with Stripes just behind him Murray didn't want to be typecast and said no. As of 2025 he still deeply regrets it, and has apologized to Eastwood several times when they've crossed paths for missing that chance.

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  23. #023

    Bill Murray sang "The Best Thing" in John Waters's film Polyester (1981).

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  24. #024

    Bill Murray was considered for the Master in Doctor Who: The Movie (1996).

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  25. #025

    Four of Bill Murray's films are on AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list: Caddyshack (1980) (#71), Groundhog Day (1993) (#34), Ghostbusters (1984) (#28) and Tootsie (1982) (#2).

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  26. #026

    Bill Murray became the unofficial patron saint of the forums on the website of Football Manager, one of the best-selling PC games ever.

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  27. #027

    Spanish pop group Izal wrote and recorded a song called "Bill Murray," inspired by him, for their album Autoterapia (2018).

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Behind the Scenes (12)

  1. #028

    Sofia Coppola wrote the lead role of Bob Harris in Lost in Translation (2003) specifically with Murray in mind. She did not know the actor and even enlisted the help of her famous father, Francis Ford Coppola, to track down Murray, who was sometimes quite hard to find. In the end, however, he agreed to do it immediately after reading the script. Murray and Sofia Coppola are now good friends.

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  2. #029

    He said he based his character in Lost in Translation (2003) on Charles Bronson.

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  3. #030

    He made two films back to back with The Life Aquatic (2004), featuring Steve Zissou, and Broken Flowers (2005), in which he played a man who has long been childless and discovers that someone who could be his adult son is looking for him.

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  4. #031

    Between 1985 and 1992, he was a co-owner of the Salt Lake Trappers rookie (Pioneer) league baseball team. In 1987, they won 29 consecutive games, breaking a professional baseball record that still stands. Arte Moreno, the current owner of the Los Angeles Angels, was also part of the Trappers' ownership group.

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  5. #032

    On 19.04.97 he received the Sons of the Desert Annual Comedy Artist Award.

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  6. #033

    Zaila Avant-garde won the 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the winning word "murraya", which contains Bill's surname. She recalled that she liked the music of Lost in Translation (2003).

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  7. #034

    He was thought to be starring opposite Chevy Chase in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989).

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  8. #035

    He inspired the song "Bill Murray" of the same name, written and performed by the Spanish pop group Izal and included on their album "Autoterapia" (2018).

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  9. #036

    He was considered for the role of Carey Mahoney in Police Academy (1984).

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  10. #037

    He was considered for the lead role in Cocktail (1988).

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  11. #038

    He was considered for the lead role in Arthur (1981).

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  12. #039

    He was considered for the role of Jack Horner in Boogie Nights (1997), which went to Burt Reynolds.

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Characters & Cast (7)

  1. #040

    He did Zombieland (2009) as a favor to its star, Woody Harrelson, a big "Bill Murray" fan.

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  2. #041

    Bill Murray turned down the lead in Big (1988) to make Scrooged (1988).

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  3. #042

    Bill Murray was considered for Harry Sultenfuss in My Girl (1991) but was busy making What About Bob? (1991), so the part went to his Ghostbusters (1984) co-star Dan Aykroyd.

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  4. #043

    Stephen King's first choice for Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone (1983) was Bill Murray.

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  5. #044

    Rolling Stone ranked Bill Murray sixth among Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members.

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  6. #045

    Bill Murray was considered for Pat Healy in There's Something About Mary (1998) but was judged too old, and Matt Dillon got the part.

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  7. #046

    Bill Murray was an early candidate for Dr. Wren in Alien: Resurrection (1997), an idea meant to reunite him with his Ghostbusters co-star Sigourney Weaver.

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Career & Awards (3)

  1. #047

    Bill Murray is listed as Team Psychologist for the St. Paul Saints baseball team, and has been with the club since 1993.

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  2. #048

    In 2001, Murray starred with Sigourney Weaver in the Off-Off-Broadway play "The Guys" as a fire captain who lost eight of his men on September 11; in the film version, Anthony LaPaglia took his part.

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  3. #049

    The only Wes Anderson film without Bill Murray is Anderson's first, Bottle Rocket (1996); he was considered for Mr. Henry, which went to James Caan.

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Life & Family (4)

  1. #050

    He frustrated some collaborators by rewriting and improvising so much that many of his scenes barely resembled the originals, though most ultimately agree it made the films better.

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  2. #051

    Murray's father, Edward Murray, sold lumber and died in 1967.

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  3. #052

    Bill Murray went to Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL, graduating in 1968.

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  4. #053

    Bill Murray lost his mother in 1988.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

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