About

Billy Murray is an American actor and comedian best known as an early cast member of the American comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live and a movie star who has appeared in dozens of films spanning over three decades. In recent years, Murray has focused on portraying more subdued characters in independent films, including several titles directed by Wes Anderson.

Acting Career

In 1975, Bill Murray became a cast member on the ABC variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. The following year, Murray joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, where he performed for three seasons until 1980. In 1979, Murray starred in the comedy film Meatballs as summer camp counselor Tripper Harrison. The following year, Murray played the role of assistant greenskeeper Carl Spackler (shown below, right).

In 1984, Murray starred as the parapsychologist Peter Venkman in the comedy film Ghostbusters (shown below, left). In 1989 Murray starred as Venkman in the sequel Ghostbusters II. In 1990, Murray played the lead role as meteorologist Phil Connors in the comedy film Groundhog Day (shown below, right).

In 1998, Murray depicted the character Herman Blume in the comedy film Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson. Murray subsequently appeared in several of Anderson's other films. In 2003, Murray starred as the aging action movie star Bob Harris in the comedy-drama film Lost in Translation. He won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture and he has been nominated for three other Golden Globes.

Online History

On November 6th, 2006, Urban Dictionary^[3] user Earl @F365 submitted an entry for "Bill Murray" defined as,

"The constant repetition of a said subject on an internet forum. Derived from the film Groundhog Day in which the day is repeated again, again and again."

His name in verb form has a different definition, as Urban Dictionary^[4] user Lorrie the Freak defined the term "Bill Murrayed" on November 9th, 2009 as,

"To be mistaken as an actual threat while in costume and being erroneously killed. As in the movie Zombieland."

On December 27th, 2008, a Facebook^[5] fan page for Murray was launched, which accumulated over 790,000 like in the next six years. Popular Tumblr blogs dedicated to the actor include fuckyeahbillmurray,^[6] billmurraydoeswhathewants,^[7] and billmurray.^[8]

Reddit AMA

On January 17th, 2014, Murray hosted an Ask Me Anything event on Reddit^[9] to promote his movie, Monument Men, scheduled to be released on February 9th. He covered many topics including his career, his travels, and his family. In addition to answering questions, he wished a Reddit user a happy birthday through (textual) song.

When asked about the legend that he picked a fry off someone's plate at a fast food place and whispered, "No one will believe you," he remained vague sayings,

"Well I have no idea what you're talking about.

Murray also tackled more serious topics. When asked about the deaf/mute assistant he had employed in the past he explained,

"We were both optimistic, but it was harder than either of us expected to make it work.

The AMA was examined and covered many many websites such as Vulture,^[13] Sidespliter,^[14] and The Huffington Post.^[15]

Reputation

Fan Interaction

On January 6th, 2011, humor site Funny or Die^[10] posted a gallery titled, "The 8 Best Instances of Bill Murray Being Awesome with his Fans," featuring a collection of photographs originally collected on TheChive.com^[11] featuring Murray crashing a karaoke party. Funny or Die followed up with a second gallery posted on October 16th, 2012 titled, "12 More Instances of Bill Murray Being Awesome with Fans", featuring multiple instances of Murray surprising fans.

On May 27th, 2014, the sports blog Deadspin^[20] published a video of Murray crashing a bachelor party in Charleston, South Carolina, in which he is recorded giving love and marriage advice to a group of young men.

Bill Murray Stories

"Bill Murray Stories" are unconfirmed anecdotes of extraordinary interactions between the actor and his fans, with several people claiming that they were casually approached by Murray, who would do something bizarre and announce that “no one will ever believe you” before walking away. On February 25th, 2009, Urban Dictionary user Dyyne submitted a entry for "Bill Murray Story," defining it as any outlandish story involving Bill Murray in which says "No one will ever believe you." On March 26th, 2010, Redditor Lurker32 posted a Bill Murray story about the actor stealing two of his french fries and yelling “No one will ever believe you” to the /r/funny^[19] subreddit (shown below).

On May 6th, the website billmurraystory.com^[16] was launched, which collects stories from fans about their strange and amazing interactions with Murray, many of which end with him saying the catchphrase. In August 2010, Murray was asked about the stories in an interview in GQ^[17] magazine and neither confirmed nor denied their authenticity:

Q: Last question. I have to know, because I love this story and want it to be true. There have been stories about you sneaking up behind people in New York City, covering their eyes with your hands, and saying: Guess who. And when they turn around, they see Bill Murray and hear the words "No one will ever believe you."

A: [long pause] I know. I know, I know, I know. I've heard about that from a lot of people. A lot of people. I don't know what to say. There's probably a really appropriate thing to say. Something exactly and just perfectly right. [long beat, and then he breaks into a huge grin] But by God, it sounds crazy, doesn't it? Just so crazy and unlikely and unusual?

Related Memes

So I Got That Goin' For Me, Which is Nice

So I Got That Goin' For Me, Which is Nice is an advice animal image macro series featuring a screen capture of the character Carl Spackler (played by Bill Murray) from the 1980 comedy film Caddyshack. The captions usually begin with a sentence revealing a personal problem or ordeal, followed by a notion of a silver lining and the original quote from Caddyshack in verbatim.

Personal Life

Murray was born on September 21st, 1950, in Wilmette, Illinois. He attended Regis College but never graduated. He's been married and divorced twice, and has six children.

External References