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): $10,000,000
What About Bob? (1991): $8,000,000

Accidentally broke Robert De Niro's nose during the filming of Mad Dog and Glory (1993). 1997 Recipient of the Sons of the Desert Annual Comedy Performer Award on April 19th, 1997. Father, with Mickey Kelley, of sons Homer Murray (b. 1982) and Luke Murray (b. 1985). He owns a minor league baseball team in Charleston, SC, called the Riverdogs. Set to become part-owner of his third minor league baseball team, the new Brockton Rox, in Mass., with friend Van Schley. He is part of The Goldklang Group that includes Van Schley, baseball marketing guru Mike Veeck, and "Saturday Night Live" (1975) 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. 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. Shares two characters with the late Lorenzo Music. He played Peter Venkman in the film Ghost Busters (1984), while Lorenzo played Venkman in the animated series, "The Real Ghost Busters" (1986). Lorenzo was also the voice of Garfield in numerous cartoons, while Bill provides Garfield's voice in Garfield (2004). His home is in upstate New York, although he is more frequently working elsewhere during the year. His father Edward was a lumber salesman. He died in 1967. Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. His mother died in 1988. His sister Nancy is a Dominican nun. Is an avid golfer and has appeared at many pro-am golf tournaments. He often works with the directors Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Wes Anderson, and Jim Jarmusch. 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. Captivated by the story of "Press Your Luck" (1983) 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 (2003) (TV) told the same story with interviews, dramatic recreations and archival video, and may have diminished interest in the film even more. 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 (2004) and Broken Flowers (2005) as having exhausted him. [2005] Has no agent, no business manager, no lawyer, or favorite hair and make-up artist. He travels without an entourage. With The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and Broken Flowers (2005), 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. Was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1989 Batman (1989) film when it was set to be identical to the 1960s TV Series before Tim Burton came along. His performance as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack (1980) is ranked #18 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. 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 (1957). Voiced Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in an early Fantastic Four radio show. Was a guest on the very first episode of "Late Night with David Letterman" (1982). Has appeared with both Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982) and Dustin's brother Todd Hoffman in Meatballs (1979). Was considered for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977). Was a frequent collaborator with Harold Ramis throughout the 1980s, but their working relationship ended during the filming of Groundhog Day (1993) due to differing views on what the film should be: Ramis claims that Murray wanted the film to be more philosophical, while Ramis himself simply meant for it to be a comedy. Ramis also cites that Murray's personal problems at the time (namely the ending of his first marriage) had a negative effect on his work ethic, causing him to be uncharacteristically harsh during filming, as another reason for the end of their working relationship. Married his first wife, Mickey Kelley in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday of 1981. They had a second ceremony at a church on March 25, 1981. His pockmarked face is due to acne problems he experienced as a teenager. Irish-American. Lives in Valley Center, Malibu, California, Palisades, New York and Sullivans Island, South Carolina.