Bill is the fifth of nine children born to Edward and Lucille Murray. He and most of his siblings worked as caddies, which paid his tuition to Loyola Academy, a Jesuit school. He played sports and did some acting while in that school, but in his words, mostly "screwed off". He enrolled at Regis College in Denver to study pre-med, but dropped out after being arrested for marijuana possession. He then joined the National Lampoon Radio Hour with fellow members Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi. However, while those three became the original members of Saturday Night Live, he joined Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, which premiered that same year. After that show failed, he later got the opportunity to join SNL.
Groundhog Day (1993): $9,000,000
Accidently broke Robert De Niro's nose during the filming of Mad Dog and Glory. Ranked #82 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] 1997 Recipient of the Sons of the Desert Annual Comedy Performer Award on April 19th, 1997. Brother of John Murray, Joel Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray. Appeared in Scrooged with all three of his brothers. Father, with Mickey Kelly, of sons Homer Murray (b. 1982) and Luke (b. 1985). Father, with Jennifer Butler, of sons Jackson (b. 1993), Cal (b. 1995) and Cooper (b. 1996) and Lincoln (b. 2001). He owns a minor league baseball team in Charleston, SC, called the Riverdogs. Related through marriage to guitar player, lyricist and singer Chris Luxem. Set to become part-owner of his third minor league baseball team, the new Brockton Rox, in Mass., with friend Van Schley. Has become the unofficial patron saint of the forums of the Football Manager website, home to one of the biggest selling PC games of all time. He is part of The Goldklang Group that includes Van Schley, baseball marketing guru Mike Veeck, and Saturday Night Live comedian Jimmy Fallon. The group owns minor league baseball teams the St. Paul Saints and the Brockton Rox of the Northern League, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Fort Myers Miracle, the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Evansville Otters and they run the Portland Beavers. Was bitten by the groundhog twice on the Groundhog Day set in 1992. He is a diehard Chicago Cubs fan. During the Cubs playoff run in 2003, he was on location in Italy, but he had it written into his contract that he'd get a satellite feed of the playoffs. His role in Ghost Busters was originally intended for fellow SNL star John Belushi. Shares two characters with the late Lorenzo Music. He played Peter Venkman in the film Ghost Busters, while Lorenzo played Venkman in the animated series, The Real Ghost Busters. Lorenzo was also the voice of Garfield in numerous cartoons, while Bill provides Garfield's voice in Garfield. He was rated number 1 in Comedy Central's newest show 'Mouthing Off: 51 Greatest Smartasses.' His home is in upstate New York, although he is more frequently working elsewhere during the year. Performed the vocals for the song "The Best Thing" in the John Waters film Polyester. His father Edward was a lumber salesman. He died in 1967. Siblings include Brian Doyle-Murray, Nancy, Edward, Andy, John Murray, Joel Murray, Peggy, and Laura. Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. Attended Regis College in Denver. He dropped out his sophomore year. His mother died in 1988. Doesn't have a publicist. His sister Nancy is a Dominican nun. In 2001, he starred with Sigourney Weaver in an Off-Off-Broadway play called "The Guys," in which he played a fire captain who lost eight of his men on 9/11. In the movie version, Murray's role was played by Anthony LaPaglia. Is an avid golfer and has appeared at many pro-am golf tournaments. Co-owner, with brothers Brian, Joel and John, of the Murray Brothers Caddyshack restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida (actually, in St. Augustine, Florida, inside the 'World Golf Village' complex). He often works with the directors Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Wes Anderson, and Jim Jarmusch. Sofia Coppola wrote the lead role of Bob Harris in Lost in Translation, with Murray specifically in mind. She did not know the actor and even enlisted the help of her famous father, Francis Ford Coppola, to track down the sometimes quite elusive Murray. Once he finally read the script, though, he agreed to do it on the spot. Murray and Sofia Coppola are now good friends. He has rubbed some collaborators the wrong way because he has a tendency to re-write and improvise his way through scripts until many of his scenes barely resembles the original versions. Most collaborators ultimately find, though, it's to the improvement of the films. Is a fan of the Illini men's basketball team. Captivated by the story of Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson who memorized the sequence of the game show's big board and racked up over $110,000 in winnings, Murray commissioned a screenplay for a biopic about Larson. Several studios expressed an interest but didn't follow through. The Game Show Network's 2003 TV documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal told the same story with interviews, dramatic recreations and archival video, and may have diminished interest in the film even more. The part of Boon in National Lampoon's Animal House was originally written with him in mind, but due to a scheduling conflict, he had to turn it down. Announced that after his next three productions, he will be taking a break from acting to relax. He cites the productions of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Broken Flowers as having exhausted him. [2005] Has said that "Oklahoma!" is his favorite musical. Has no agent, no business manager, no lawyer, or favorite hair and make-up artist. He travels without an entourage. He was considered for the role of Detective John Kimble in Kindergarten Cop. The part eventually went to Arnold Schwarzenegger. With The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Broken Flowers, Murray did two films back-to-back in which he plays a long-childless man who discovers that someone who may be his grown son has been searching for him. His performance as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day is ranked #48 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1989 Batman film when it was set to be identical to the 1960s TV Series before Tim Burton came along. Was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His performance as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack is ranked #18 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Was considered for the role of Buzz Lightyear in _Toy Story_(1995). Murray is one of only three American actors that were nominated for an Oscar for a movie that is set on the territory of Japan. The other two are Marlon Brando and Red Buttons for "Sayonara". Turned down Steve Carell's role in Little Miss Sunshine, which became one of the few choices in his career that he regretted. Voiced Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in an early Fantastic Four radio show. Murray is a huge fan of Chicago pro sports teams, especially the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. Was a guest on the very first episode of "Late Night with David Letterman". Was considered and tested for the voice role of Sulley in Monsters, Inc., but the director, Pete Docter, said that when the filmmakers decided to offer it to Murray, they were unable to make contact with him and took that to mean "no".