A Cinderella Story: The Top 10 Bill Murray Characters
By Kristen Lomasney
In celebration of the 2016 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, we’re looking back at some of the hilarious, moving, irreverent, and legendary characters portrayed by the one-and-only Bill Murray. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor airs Friday, October 28 at 9/8c on PBS (check local listings).
10. Saturday Night Live, Nick The Lounge Singer
Younger fans may not recall, but Bill Murray was once a Saturday Night Live cast member, replacing Chevy Chase in 1977. And one of Murray’s most memorable — and signature — recurring characters over his three-season stay was Nick the Lounge Singer, which he’d originally crafted on the Second City stage. The schmaltzy Nick — rumored to have been based on Chicago lounge act Jimmy Damon — made him a favorite of audiences, but it was Nick’s rendition of the Star Wars theme song (“Staaaaaaaaar Wars/Nothing but Staaaaaaaar Wars/Give me those Staaaaaar Wars/Don’t let them end!”) that catapulted him into the annals of pop culture.
9. Jeff Slater, Tootsie
By 1982, Bill Murray had a string of leading-man roles in huge hits, including Meatballs, Caddyshack and Stripes. So it may have come as a surprise to some to see Murray in the small role of the playwright Jeff Slater, roommate to the struggling actor played by Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. Well, and not only was Jeff a small role, it was an uncredited one, and largely improvised. But this turn as a character actor in a strong ensemble cast would become a parallel career track for Murray, who showed early on that he didn’t need to be the star in order to steal the scene.
8. Zombieland
This is the part of the list where we’re supposed to reference an independent film like 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Wes Anderson’s soulful but disappointing box office follow-up to The Royal Tenenbaums. And indeed, Bill Murray is brilliant playing the eccentric oceanographer who sets out to exact revenge on the “jaguar shark” that ate his partner Esteban. But let’s be honest: Bill Murray as Bill Murray in 2009’s Zombieland is SO Bill Murray. As the story goes, Zombieland’s filmmakers always had a celebrity cameo in mind, beginning with Patrick Swayze, who had to drop out due to illness. Finally, after several unsuccessful attempts to recast, Woody Harrelson suggested Bill Murray, and a draft script was sent to Murray via a FedEx Kinko’s in New York City. After suggesting his character be alive and wearing zombie makeup instead of simply being a zombie, Murray accepted the role, and the COOLEST CAMEO ON EARTH was born. It’s Bill Murray playing Bill Murray playing a zombie, then getting killed after being mistaken for being a real zombie when he’s really just Bill Murray playing a zombie. Truly, it’s the BEST BILL MURRAY ROLE EVER. But since it’s pretty small, we’ll keep it to number eight on our list.
7. Tripper Harrison, Meatballs
In a list of Bill Murray’s most important roles, you can’t ignore his turn as Tripper, the prank-pulling head counselor of a cut-rate summer camp in 1979’s Meatballs. Tripper was Murray’s first leading role in a film, and it marked the beginning of his longlasting and extremely successful partnership with writer/actor Harold Ramis and director Ivan Reitman. In fact, without Meatballs, there would be no Ghostbusters. But more than that, Murray’s portrayal of a wisecracking authority figure with a nurturing side — in this case, shown in scenes with a sensitive young camper played by Chris Makepeace — was just a hint of the complex comedic characters to come.
6. Herman Blume, Rushmore
His performance as impish but broken industrialist Herman Blume in Wes Anderson’s 1998 film Rushmore is considered by most to be a watershed in Bill Murray’s career. Why? Because it established Murray’s ability to shine in independent films as equally as he did in traditional comedies. It was a bold move, too, on Murray’s part: Not only did he accept a role that audiences may not accept him in, he did so for a mere $9,000. But it was a brilliant decision that not only bestowed Murray with indie cred (and a Golden Globe nomination), it helped launch the career of director Wes Anderson. In the years since, Murray has appeared in every Anderson movie in at least a cameo, and we’ve welcomed Bill Murray in any role he’s seen fit to accept.
5. John Winger, Stripes
Fresh from their wildly successful films Meatballs (1979) and Caddyshack (1980), Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman teamed up yet again for Stripes (1981). In the comedy classic, Bill Murray plays a disgruntled cab driver who’s kicked out of his girlfriend’s apartment and, in a why-the-hell-not moment, decides to enroll in the army, dragging his ESL-teaching best friend (played by Harold Ramis) with him. But despite this classic fish-out-of-water scenario, Stripes avoids becoming just another slapstick adventure. Instead, it’s an irreverent, subversive comedy that Roger Ebert described as a “triumph” at the time, praising Murray and Ramis for “wisely choosing to play their characters as understated, laid-back anarchists.” It probably helped that Murray took his funnyman role seriously, spending three days in an actual military boot camp before filming. In fact, Bill Murray made John Winger SUCH a believable and attractive character, U.S. army recruitment numbers increased by 10% after the movie’s release. But then again, who WOULDN’T want to hang out John Winger?
4. Bob Harris, Lost in Translation
Bill Murray’s much-lauded performance in 2003’s Lost in Translation earned him his only Academy Award nomination (for Best Actor, no less) to date, although Sean Penn would ultimately win for Mystic River. But the complex role as aging actor Bob Harris was one that Murray was made for. And it was a role made for him — literally, as writer/producer/director Sofia Coppola had her sights set on Murray and only Murray, stating she wouldn’t make the film without him. Lucky for her (and for us) Murray liked Coppola and her screenplay enough to show up in Tokyo for filming, and proceeded to make movie magic with Scarlett Johansson as the young woman Bob befriends there. That onscreen relationship would make Lost in Translation a critical and financial success and generate some of the best reviews of Murray’s career. We’ll always wonder what Bob whispered to Charlotte as they parted ways at the end of the film, but that’s just part of the lasting power of Bill Murray’s incredible performance.
3. Carl Spackler, Caddyshack
Ah, Caddyshack. It’s easy to forget, since his role as a golf-course assistant groundskeeper looms so large, that Bill Murray was not one of the main actors in the 1980 comedy. That credit goes to Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and Michael O’Keefe. Instead, because Murray was tied up filming Saturday Night Live, he initially spent only six days on set. But his attempts to kill the dancing, clever and impossible-to-eliminate gopher were SO funny (“In order to conquer an animal, I have to think like an animal, and whenever possible, look like one.”), first-time director Harold Ramis called Murray back to set to shoot additional material, and a cult classic was born. Thank you, Harold Ramis. Thank you.
2. Phil Connors, Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day, in which which Bill Murray plays a selfish weatherman who ultimately becomes a better human after being forced to relive Feb. 2 over and over, has become a cult classic since its 1993 release. And Bill Murray’s thoughtful and funny performance is also masterful as his character evolves from a total jerk into someone we’d actually want to hang out with. But Murray’s experience on set was anything but amusing: The groundhog bit the actor not once but twice (necessitating painful rabies shots), and tensions on set (in part credited to Murray’s state of mind during filming, which coincided with his first divorce) led to the final break between Murray and director Harold Ramis, with whom he’d never make a film again. But you’d never know it from watching Groundhog Day, which in 2006 was added to the National Film Registry of historically significant films. So it’s these facts, in addition to the complexities of Murray’s performance, that makes Phil Connors our number two Bill Murray character.
1. Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters
There are a lot of “Bill Murray’s Best Roles” lists in the world, and few make Peter Venkman from 1984’s Ghostbusters number one. We’re bucking that tradition, because Bill Murray’s dry wit and — yes, we’ll say it — smart-ass sex appeal is SO key to the mega-hit, it’s difficult to imagine the film without him. And yet, that ALMOST happened. Dan Aykroyd had written the character for his friend and comedy partner John Belushi, who died of a drug overdose before filming. Before Murray stepped up, both Michael Keaton and Chevy Chase were linked to the role. Can’t imagine those actors, however acclaimed, saying, “You’re right, no human being would stack books like this” in such a perfectly deadpan manner? Us either. And that’s what makes Peter Venkman our number-one Bill Murray character.
