William James "Bill" Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American comedian and actor. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, following that with roles in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day.
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William James "Bill" Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American comedian and actor. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, following that with roles in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day.
Early years
Murray, the fifth of nine children, was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois (suburban Chicago), the son of Lucille (née Collins), a mail room clerk, and Edward J. Murray II, a lumber salesman. Murray, along with his siblings, grew up in an Irish Catholic family. Three of his siblings are actors: John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray. His sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican Sister in Michigan, traveling around the country portraying St. Catherine of Siena.
The family lived in poverty, and Lucille Murray pressured her children to work. As a youth, Murray read children's biographies of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett. He attended St. Joseph's grade school and Loyola Academy. During his teenage years, he worked as a caddy to fund his education in a Roman Catholic High School. The 1960s were tough on Murray and his family. His father had diabetes, one of his sisters had polio and his mother had several miscarriages. During his teen years he was the lead singer of a rock band called the Dutch Masters and took part in high school and community theater.
After graduating, he attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado, taking pre-med courses. However, when police arrested him for possession of marijuana at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, he abandoned his studies.
Career
With an invitation from his older brother, Brian, Murray got his start at Second City Chicago studying under Del Close. The improvisational comedy troupe was a perfect fit for Murray's clever, dry humor and ad libbing. In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, which aired on some 600 stations from 1973 to 1974.
Saturday Night Live
In 1975, an Off Broadway version of a Lampoon show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell that featured animal acts and little kids with loud voices. That same season, another variety show titled NBC's Saturday Night premiered. Cosell's show lasted just one season, canceled in early 1976.
After working in Los Angeles with the "guerrilla video" commune TVTV on a number of projects, Murray rose to prominence in 1976. He joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live for the show's second season, following the departure of Chevy Chase.
