Initially a member of the Second City Touring Company, before joining 'Saturday Night Live' in its earliest incarnation, Bill Murray forged a career as one of the most well-known comic actors working of the past 40 years. While he has transitioned from broad comedy roles to more left-of-field dramatic roles, Murray is still as wildly unpredictable as ever, refusing point-blank to interact with the Hollywood system or even just for an interview. That story about him having a freephone number instead of an agent? That's actually true. Here's our pick of his five best scenes. 5. 'Caddyshack' - "He got all of that one..."
We're counting down our five favourite scenes from Bill Murray's incredible career.
Initially a member of the Second City Touring Company, before joining 'Saturday Night Live' in its earliest incarnation, Bill Murray forged a career as one of the most well-known comic actors working of the past 40 years.
While he has transitioned from broad comedy roles to more left-of-field dramatic roles, Murray is still as wildly unpredictable as ever, refusing point-blank to interact with the Hollywood system or even just for an interview. That story about him having a freephone number instead of an agent? That's actually true.
Here's our pick of his five best scenes.
5. 'Caddyshack' - "He got all of that one..."
So much of 'Caddyshack' and its humour comes from virtually leaving the camera running for five minutes and letting the cast simply spin out from it. Chevy Chase putting balls while muttering away his Buddhist mantra, Rodney Dangerfield dancing with some old lady at the dinner, or Bill Murray whacking flowers and narrating his victory at the US Masters to himself.
4. 'Scrooged' - "Honey, how many fingers does Mrs. Santy Claus have here?"
You have to hand it to Bill Murray and his bravery for completely committing to his role in 'Scrooged'. He is a complete and utter shit who just enjoys every moment of it. Some of the pop culture references, the humour, even the setting may have dated 'Scrooged', but by no means does any of this detract from Murray's performance. In a way, the slimy '80s power executive he's playing is made for that time. Not only that, you can tell that Murray so rarely - if ever - gets the opportunity to really just dig into the delectable humour of playing an asshole, and this scene just shows how good it can be.
3. 'Ghostbusters' - "Yes, it's true. This man has no dick."
So much of 'Ghostbusters' is made up of one-liners and quotes that just about everyone can attribute to a scene. "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!", when the Ghostbusters defeat Slimer. "That's a big Twinkie...", when Egon Spengler describes the build-up of psychokinetic energy to Winston Zeddemore. For our money, this is the best one-liner of 'Ghostbusters', and it's not just because it's got William Atherton, late of 'Die Hard', in there. No, it's Bill Murray's vaulted, improvised, "Well that's what I heard!" right after the scuffle breaks up.
2. 'Lost In Translation' - "Thanks, this is hard..."
When you look back over 'Lost In Translation', so much of the movie's heart and longing is made up of stolen glances between Murray's deeply unhappy actor, and Johansson's terminally lost twenty-something. While the relationship never fully materialises into something real, the sense of it just teetering on the edge and the hope and loss that comes with it all - that it would never actually work in real-life - is missing in this scene in a karaoke bar.
1. 'Groundhog Day' - "I'm a god, not the god. I don't think."
The high-concept premise of 'Groundhog Day' could, like so many movies, be lost in the hands of another director or another actor. What could become a mind-bending, ruminative piece about the ultimate futility of life that's utterly inaccessible is shaped into a heartwarming eventually, though deeply cynical initially comedy. All of that is down to two people - Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. That the two men fell out in the making of 'Groundhog Day' is a crying shame, but what was borne of it will last the ages. It's easily Bill Murray's finest work, and this scene sharply veers between profound and that smart alec humour that he deploys so well.