Bill Murray Net Worth

Biography of Bill Murray

Bill Murray is a popular American film actor, a legend of modern cinema. His roles in the films “Ghostbusters” and “Groundhog Day” entered the history of world culture, and the filmography includes more than seven dozen works. Bill Murray was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, was awarded the BAFTA and other prestigious film awards.

Childhood and youth

William James Murray is the fifth of nine children of Irish Catholics whose ancestors emigrated to America at the beginning of the last century. Three of his brothers (Joel, John and Brian) also devoted their lives to cinema.

The childhood and youth of our hero passed in the suburbs of Chicago, in the small village of Wilmette. Bill’s father, Edward Murray, sold timber, and his mother, Lucille Doyle, ran the household and raised the children.

The family lived not richly, but amicably and cheerfully. The father enjoyed unquestioned authority, and the children went out of their way to achieve his location. Bill was best able to make the head of the family laugh, who had a very peculiar sense of humor, often confusing the rest of the household.

Despite the fact that religious traditions were strictly observed in the family and all the children attended a Jesuit school, Bill grew up as the most outspoken slob. He skipped classes, studied poorly and loved to mock teachers. He was only really interested in playing golf and in the school drama club, which was full of pretty girls.

After graduating from school in half, the young man, at the insistence of his parents, entered medical courses at the University of Denver. Away from home, he completely “moved out of the coils” and instead of studying, he had fun in the company of new friends. Bill liked to be in the center of attention and shock those around him with his jokes and jokes. But one day he “went too far” and at the airport said that there was a bomb in his bag. During a search, instead of explosives, Murray found a bag of marijuana, which he simply forgot about, and the guy was immediately expelled from college.

Actor career

Returning home, Bill wandered around for a while and worked odd jobs. Seeing this, his older brother Brian suggested that he enroll in acting classes at the Second City theater in Chicago. The young man easily passed all the qualifying rounds and soon began to study.

Soon, television producers drew attention to his eccentricity and propensity for outrageousness and offered Murray to become a co-host of the comedy show Saturday Night Live. The program very soon gained wild popularity and opened the door to the big cinema for the young comedian.

In 1976, Bill received tempting offers from several Hollywood directors at once and, without thinking twice, moved to Los Angeles. At first, these were minor roles and small episodes, but soon real luck smiled at him. In 1982, the picture of Sydney Pollack “Tootsie” appeared on the screens, in which Murray got, if not the main, but a vivid and memorable role. The comedy was recognized as one of the best in the history of world cinema, received many prestigious awards, and all the actors involved in it instantly became the favorites of the audience.

But the real finest hour for the novice actor was the participation in the fantastic comedy Ghostbusters (1984), in which he was entrusted with the main role – the leader of the brigade of fighters with paranormal phenomena.

The picture immediately became a hit and the leader of the box office and brought Bill worldwide fame and recognition. Murray was nominated for a Golden Globe and firmly established himself in the ranks of Hollywood stars of the first echelon.

But, despite such a stunning success, there were no further interesting directorial proposals, and Bill took a temporary time out. He devoted a four-year pause to traveling and studying French at the Sorbonne, and in 1988 he again loudly reminded himself of himself in the continuation of the already iconic Ghostbusters. The year before, the actor appeared in the comedy A New Christmas Tale, where he was accompanied by three siblings.

In 1990, the crime comedy Quick Change was released, in which Murray directed, produced and starred. The author’s debut was a success, and in the future the actor continued to engage in producing activities.

A few years later, the touching philosophical comedy Groundhog Day (1993) took pride of place in Murray’s filmography, in which Bill’s on-screen character experiences the same events day after day. His bright duet with Andie MacDowell did not leave indifferent neither the audience nor the critics, many of whom called this work the best in Murray’s career. The actor himself highly appreciates this film and considers it one of the masterpieces of world cinema.

Another highlight in the actor’s creative life was his participation in the lyrical drama Lost in Translation (2003). It is worth noting that the director of the picture, Sofia Coppola, wrote the main role specifically for Murray. She even turned to her famous father to help persuade the actor to play in a role that was not quite familiar to him. After reading the script, Bill immediately agreed and still considers the role of Bob Harris to be the most outstanding in his own way. Representatives of the American Academy, who nominated the actor for an Oscar for Best Actor, are in solidarity with him.

Sophia managed to reveal new facets of his talent in the actor, and from that moment deep dramatic roles increasingly began to appear in the filmography. The actor even managed to portray President Roosevelt in Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012), for which he was once again nominated for a Golden Globe.

Murray is one of director Wes Anderson’s favorite actors. “I consider this person an absolute genius,” the director believes, “he thinks VERY strangely, so you never know what he will say or do in the next minute.” Bill has appeared in virtually every Anderson film since 1998’s Rushmore, where his character is a millionaire with a midlife crisis who a 15-year-old student tries to befriend. And initially, Wes did not even expect that Murray would at least read the script of his film. But it turned out that Bill at one time highly appreciated Anderson’s first work, the comedy Bottle Rocket, and not only agreed to shoot at Rushmore Academy, but also became a regular actor in Wes’ projects.

In 2001, the actor appeared in Anderson’s next film, The Tennenbaums, playing one of the side characters, the neurologist Reilly, whose wife Margo is cheating on him. Three years later, the adventure comedy Water World was released, where Murray’s character, the aging underwater explorer Steve Ziss, was assigned a key role. He also played in other films directed by the director: “Train to Darjeeling”, “Kingdom of the Full Moon”, “Grand Budapest Hotel”, voiced the characters of Anderson’s animated experiments (“Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Isle of Dogs”). It is known that in 2024 Murray will appear in Anderson’s new film The French Dispatcher.

Murray is also well known as a master of dubbing – he has a dozen animated films in which popular cartoon characters speak in his voice. And in 1999, the autobiographical story “A Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf” saw the light of day, in which the actor, in his usual joking manner, describes his difficult path to fame.

Murray’s main hobby is golf, to which he devotes all his free time. He even gave a few lessons to Barack Obama during his visit to the White House, and in 2016 he launched his own sportswear line, William Murray Golf.

Bill Murray’s personal life

The actor’s first wife was his school friend Margaret Kelly, who bore him two heirs – Homer (1982) and Luke (1985). Their family history lasted 13 years (from 1980 to 1994) and ended in a high-profile divorce with long courts and impressive compensation. The reason for the breakup was Murray’s love affair with costume designer Jennifer Butler, whom he met during filming.

In 1997, the lovers officially formalized the relationship, and by this time they had three sons growing up – Cal (1993), Jackson (1995) and Cooper (1997). In 2001, Murray’s sixth heir, Lincoln, was born, and seven years later, Jennifer filed for divorce. The woman was tired of her husband’s constant infidelity, as well as his drunkenness and drug addiction. The actor voluntarily paid his second wife $ 7 million in compensation and has since stopped trying to arrange his personal life.

Bill Murray now

Recently, the actor rarely appears on the screen and leads a rather secluded life. The producers of the Ghostbusters franchise had to work hard to persuade him to star in the third part of the cult film. But on the new proposal of Sofia Coppola, Bill responded very willingly. The director conceived the idea of ​​embodying on the screen the dramatic story of an unlucky father and a daughter abandoned by him, who, after many years, are trying to restore their relationship. The picture is working titled On the Rocks, and Murray’s partner will be Rashida Jones.

Also in 2019, the audience expects two more premieres with the participation of the actor: the mystical comedy The Dead Don’t Die and the horror sequel Welcome to Zombieland.

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