Bill Murray’s portrayal of Herman Blume in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore brought him the New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Actor. He has acted inall of Mr. Anderson’s subsequent features, including The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, and Fantastic Mr. Fox (in voiceover).
Born in Chicago, he began his acting career there with the improvisational troupe Second City. He joined the cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live in the show’s second season, and shortly thereafter won an Emmy Award as one of the show’s writers. He later authored the book Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf.
After making his screen debut in Ivan Reitman’s Meatballs, Mr. Murray reteamed with the director on Stripes and the Ghostbusters movies. His film credits also include Harold Ramis’ Caddyshack and Groundhog Day; Art Linson’s Where the Buffalo Roam; Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie; John Byrum’s The Razor’s Edge (1984); Richard Donner’s Scrooged; Frank Oz’s What About Bob?; John McNaughton’s Mad Dog and Glory and Wild Things; Tim Burton’s Ed Wood; Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Kingpin; Jon Amiel’s The Man Who Knew Too Little; Tim Robbins’ Cradle Will Rock; Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet (2000); Gil Kenan’s City of Ember; Aaron Schneider’s Get Low, for which he received Spirit and Satellite Award nominations; Mitch Glazer’s Passion Play; and, upcoming, Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.
For his performance as Bob Harris in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (also a Focus Features release), Mr. Murray received the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Independent Spirit, and New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago film critics’ Awards, among others, for Best Actor. He also was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards.
He has starred for Jim Jarmusch in the Delirium segment of Coffee and Cigarettes; in Broken Flowers, also a Focus release, for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actor; and in The Limits of Control, also a Focus release.
He will next be seen in Hyde Park on Hudson. The historical tale, in which Mr. Murray portrays President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is directed by Roger Michell from Richard Nelson’s screenplay. Laura Linney stars opposite him in the movie, which will be released by Focus in December 2012.
This biography/filmography of Bill Murray is courtesy of Focus Features and the film, Moonrise Kingdom
