Bill Murray
I used to live near this guy. Nay, this man. Nay, this legend.
My Dad goes to the same gym he does (or did). I’ve met him several times. I’ve read two of his biographies. He is God? Maybe he is God? Is he God? Yeah, he’s probably God.
Bill Murray is exactly who you think he is. He’s a complete nutcase, but you know, in a good way, and he’s also probably immortal. Can someone check on whether he was pranking people in Ancient Egypt? He probably was and they just don’t want to admit it.
Usually, when I meet an actor, I think, “Oh, cool, they’re just a regular person”, but not Bill Murray. There is nothing regular about this guy. He’s the same guy you saw in Stripes, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack (also known as “the greatest film ever made” – Cannonball! Cannonball!) and Lost in Translation.
I still remember the first time I met him. It was at a ballgame. He [part] owned the Riverdogs, a small baseball farm team in Charleston, South Carolina – where I lived for 18 years. I was about 14 at the time.
“Mr. Murray, I went to the local video store and tried to rent Caddyshack and they told me they didn’t even carry it.”
“Well son, normally I wouldn’t advocate this, but you need to burn that place to the ground.”
When he was first passed over by SNL it was to hire his future co-star Dan Ackroyd, and the reason given was he had more range and was trained as an actor. Best I can tell, Bill did a few college plays, but otherwise was a cut-up. The lore at Second City Chicago is that he never showed up for classes or rehearsals, and they would just leave the backdoor open for him. He would show up for his cue and then slip out the back. According to co-stars of his, before he was famous, he was always so calm and relaxed that nobody ever worried when he stepped on stage. They may not know what they would get, but it would be Bill Murray, for better or better (because there is no worse here).
Bill Murray plays himself (in everything but Hyde Park on the Hudson) because why would you want anyone else?
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