It could be any day, any night, any city, and Bill Murray could be there. Maybe this sad clown folk hero is hitting karaoke night or doing a frat’s dishes or crashing a kickball game or bartending at some random joint or giving a speech at a bachelor party or popping in for a wedding photo shoot. Bill Murray is that “fun” uncle, the loose one with no clear direction yet always grounded in…well, whatever he wants. Maybe he’ll show up, maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll have a job this year, maybe he won’t bother. Maybe he’ll sock a male co-worker on the nose, maybe he’ll direct misconduct at a woman. Bill Murray is one unpredictable dude, his actions described as erupting “a trail of hysteria,” the man himself as “The Murricane.” Oh, and he’s made some of the greatest comedies, too.
Let’s find out: what happened to…Bill Murray?
But to truly understand what happened to Bill Murray, we go back to the beginning. And the beginning began when he was born on September 21st, 1950, in Evanston, Illinois, just north of his beloved Chicago. Digging theater in high school and college, Murray joined famed improv troupe The Second City in the early ‘70s, parlaying this into a gig on the National Lampoon Radio Hour (1973-1974), which let him explore the format and develop characters. This proved a gateway to Saturday Night Live (1977-1980), joining in season two as a Chevy Chase replacement. This, of course, was years before the two swapped fists backstage, just one early moment of their ongoing feud.
Chase is a notorious jerk, but Bill Murray isn’t always the most pleasant fella. Later in his career, he would clash with a lot of co-stars and directors, holding Seth Green over a trash can when he was a kid and having the worst connection with Richard Dreyfuss on What About Bob?, his co-star calling Murray an “Irish drunken bully.” And then there are the women. He butted heads with Sean Young on Stripes (1981), but who can blame him? Later, Geena Davis accused him of repeatedly trying to undo her straps while making his directorial debut Quick Change (1990). In the early 2000s, he would berate Lucy Liu for her acting (in)abilities on Charlie’s Angels (2000), while Anjelica Huston would label him “a sh*t” when making The Life Aquatic (2004). Even more recently, Murray’s alleged behavior found an entire film, Being Mortal, being shut down after he was accused of misconduct by a female crew member.
This usually prompts more stories, most of which can never be confirmed. But people like Wes Anderson have remained loyal. And that’s because Bill Murray is loyal…That doesn’t mean he’ll always show up on time, but the guy will stick by you if you’ve earned it.
Consider his frequent collaborators, which have resulted in some of his finest, career-defining work. When he wanted a big-screen career, he teamed with Ivan Reitman for Meatballs (1979), later returning for Stripes and the original Ghostbusters movies (1984, 1989). This is where Harold Ramis comes in. After so many collaborations, Ramis got behind the camera for Groundhog Day (1993), which helped redefine – at least for a moment – Murray as an actor with genuine depth. But the two hated each other, Murray even hiring a deaf assistant to serve as a middleman of communication. The feud lasted for years and years…but it finally squashed as Ramis neared his death, and Murray has spoken highly of his old friend ever since.
And then there’s Wes Anderson, who cast Murray in Rushmore (1998) and immediately found a kindred spirit: an oddball who will find their own way. From there came roles in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021), and a cameo in The Darjeeling Limited (2007). (Cameos would get more frequent and stranger as the years went on: 1998’s She’s Having a Baby, 2008’s Get Smart, both Zombielands (2010, 2019), a nearly impossible-to-spot one in Dumb and Dumber To (2014)…Everybody wanted a part of the cult of Bill Murray.
This was really launched by Jim Jarmusch, who cast Bill Murray as himself in 2003’s Coffee and Cigarettes, later casting him in Broken Flowers (2005), The Limits of Control (2009), and The Dead Don’t Die (2019).
Who didn’t want a piece of Bill Murray? The guy was a legend of his own making. Even early on, he was signing on for things like Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video and Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle (both 1979). Then he wanted to play Hunter S. Thompson in 1980’s Where the Buffalo Roam (this was a rare real-life performance; he’d later do 1994’s Ed Wood and FDR in 2012’s Hyde Park on the Hudson). When he had room in his SNL schedule, he did Caddyshack, giving his first iconic character on the big screen: the gopher-chasing greenskeeper. (Murray maintains, as with baseball, a passion for the sport.) Another supporting, scene-stealing turn in Tootsie (1982) led to 1984’s Ghostbusters, his only box office smash of 1984. The other movies that year were the unreleased sci-fi comedy Nothing Lasts Forever and Maugham adaptation The Razor’s Edge, which he only did so Ghostbusters could secure financing. That dreaded time was enough to put him off acting for a handful of years, not starring in a film until 1988’s Scrooged (not counting his quick bit in 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors), an almost too-perfect casting choice, twisting Scrooge as a sarcastic, miserable TV exec. Murray would get more sensitive around the holiday season much later with 2015’s A Very Murray Christmas.
The 1990s offered a shot at redemption for Murray, taking on directorial duties on Quick Change (1990), playing OCD in What About Bob? (1991), co-starring with De Niro in Mad Dog and Glory (1993), giving a brilliant, existential performance in Groundhog Day (1993), losing his hair in Kingpin (1996), going family-friendly for Larger Than Life and Space Jam (both 1996), hitting a skid with The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997), and leaning dramatic for Wild Things(1998) and Cradle Will Rock (1999).
Even before becoming the cult figure he is today, Murray’s filmography was skewing unpredictable, as seen in the next decade: 2000’s Charlie’s Angels and Hamlet, 2001’s Osmosis Jones and little-seen Speaking of Sex. 2003’s Lost in Translation offered yet another full transformation, a performance we knew was there but Murray hadn’t been given the true shot at giving; one that both satirized and expounded on fame and isolation. For it, he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination, something that had eluded him…and still does, as you can see the support and love he has when Sean Penn’s name is announced…
That push gave Murray even more clout, allowing him – as he always had – to do whatever the hell he wanted. And he did: 2005’s The Lost City, he accidentally signed up to do voice work for 2006’s Garfield when he mistakenly thought he would be working with the Coen Brothers, and 2016’s The Jungle Book, Monuments Men (2014), St. Vincent (2014), continued dramedies like On the Rocks (2020), some spots in the latest Ghostbusters movies (2016, 2021, 2024), and even a turn in the MCU for 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania… which was fun and disappointing at the same time. His next film is poised to be yet another pairing with Wes Anderson: The Phoenician Scheme (2025). Despite his controversies and canceled films due to his alleged misbehavior, the dude is both loyal and inspires loyalty in return. Often looked at as a wandering warrior poet who has mastered the art of not giving a fuck.
As for the future, it’s nearly impossible to get ahold of him if you want him in your film. He has no agent, no manager. You can call him and offer him a role, but be prepared to leave a message on an 800-number line if you can even find the number. And even if you did, it’s like his most infamous saying goes: “No one will ever believe you.”
