William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. From growing up in the
Chicago satellite community of Wilmette, Illinois, he gained national exposure on
Saturday Night Live after Chevy Chase left in the middle of season two and
Lorne Michaels hired Murray as Chase's replacement. Though he is now considered one of the best cast members
SNL has ever had, Murray was originally dismissed by fans as a weak replacement for Chevy Chase. When Chevy Chase came back to host on the show's third season, he and Murray got into a vicious fight backstage. When Chase came back to host during the show's fifth season, the two did a monologue together showing that all was forgiven. Among his most popular characters on the show was singing
Lounge Lizard Nick Winters with his most famous sketch the one where he sings the
Star Wars theme with added lyrics:
Star Wars … nothing but Star Wars …Murray went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films including
Stripes,
Tootsie,
Caddyshack, both
Ghostbusters, and
Groundhog Day.
He gained additional critical acclaim later in his career, starring in
Lost in Translation, for which he was nominated for an
Academy Award, and a series of films directed by
Wes Anderson, including
Rushmore,
The Royal Tenenbaums,
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,
Fantastic Mr Fox and
Moonrise Kingdom. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented and unique comedic actors of his generation. His brother,
Brian Doyle-Murray, was also a
Saturday Night Live cast member and was in a few movies with his brother.
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