Bill Murray

Today's B post is all about the A-list comedian/actor that is Bill Murray. One of my all time favorite actors and a true comedic genius.

The first time I came to know Bill Murray was like many others out there...the true heyday of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Every skit that he was in was a raging success and along with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, made the show a cult hit. For three seasons he was my impetus for watching.  And when he left, I was quite bummed.

However it did not take long for him to earn a new place in my viewing.

To begin his run of movies for me was his portrayal  of Hunter S. Thompson in what is my favorite movie, Where The Buffalo Roam.  This movie was not critically accepted and to that I simply say (in true Thompson fashion), "Balls". There is no doubt after watching the Gonzo documentary of HST's life, that Murray was and always will be the quintessential Thompson character. The mannerisms, voice, speech inflection, and the eerie physical similarities are truly remarkable. I advise anyone who has never seen this movie to give a view...or several. As well as the documentary.

Obviously Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Stripes, What About Bob, and Groundhog Day are all classic Murray comedy performances.

Rushmore, Lost In Translation and Broken Flowers were all critically acclaimed films and LIT garnered numerous award nominations including a Best Actor Academy Award bid (he lost that year to Sean Penn for Mystic River).

His only attempt at directing was the movie Quick Change which I actually liked a lot. Starring Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman and Tony Shaloub...not too shabby a cast, and a hilarious story. Didn't make a lot of money but again, I liked it.

His latest film, Hyde Park On Hudson, where he portrays FDR during a critical time of WWII, is on my list of next to watch.

Then I am going back to the beginning and watch each one of his films that I have never seen. Movie Mission for 2013.

One quirky fact, Murray has never had an agent or a manager and only fields offers for scripts and roles using a voicemail set up on a personal phone number. He doesn't check it very frequently and even after auditioning for several roles, he missed many opportunities because he never checked the VM. Two of those roles being Willie Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (this prize role went to Johnny Depp, ironically*) as well as Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Bob Hoskins got the role after Harrison Ford wanted too much money).

*ironically = Johnny Depp played Hunter S. Thompson in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and reprised the role in the HST Rum Diary film (both books were infinitely better than the movies to me). So I guess there is one degree of separation between Murray and Depp, for what it matters.

Outside of show business, Murray is a fixture at many sports events and dabbles in ownership of some minor league teams. He is probably known most famously for his appearances in some outrageous get-ups at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf event every year. And two years ago he and his pro partner D. A. Points actually won the pro-am.  This year after a bad shot near a sand trap he flopped into the bunker on his back and proceeded to make a "sand angel" much to the delight of the gallery.

Bill Murray, really one of my favorite guys and one I would choose to hang out with and have a few beers.

Because it still hasn't gotten weird enough for me...