Bill Murray

Born: 21st September 1950
Where: Wilmette, Illinois, USA

The former Saturday Night Live stalwart is probably best known for the comedies Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters.

However, he has also attracted critical acclaim for the independent movies Rushmore and his Oscar-nominated turn in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.

He left college to embark on an entertainment career, joining Chicago's Second City improvisational troupe, where his brother Brian Doyle-Murray was already a member.

Murray then appeared with his sibling in The National Lampoon Radio Hour and gained national prominence during the third season of SNL, filling the void left by a departing Chevy Chase, and earned an Emmy for his writing contributions.

Murray began his feature career in earnest as the lead of Meatballs, inaugurating long-standing collaborations with director Ivan Reitman and screenwriter Harold Ramis.

He shone as the gopher-obsessed groundskeeper in Ramis' directorial debut Caddyshack, scripted by his brother, and was back with the Reitman-Ramis team for Stripes in 1981.

Murray then surprised the critics with a small, unbilled but indelible performance as Dustin Hoffman's roommate in Tootsie before returning to form for his starring role as Dr. Peter Venkman in Reitman's blockbuster comedy Ghostbusters.

Unfortunately, next up - the second film version of Somerset Maugham's philosophical novel The Razor's Edge - was anachronistic and plot-heavy.

In Scrooged he renounced the cynicism that had been the hallmark of his comedy and played the first of his heartless men who discover their heart.

Murray's reunion with Reitman, Ramis and Aykroyd on Ghostbusters II fell far below the level set by the original and his directorial (and producing) debut, Quick Change met with a mixed critical reception.

He rebounded with What About Bob, playing a neurotic who doesn't change throughout a predictable series of events, and then hit a career high with Ramis' Groundhog Day.

He created another full-bodied character, the mercurial, thumb-breaking loan shark you can't help but like in John McNaughton's oddly endearing Mad Dog and Glory but bombed with Larger Than Life and The Man Who Knew Too Little.

Of course he was just waiting for the right role, and it came in the form of self-made millionaire Herman Blume in the quirky comedy Rushmore.

The Cradle Will Rock was another step in developing his more seriocomic side, while his sidekick stint as a post-modern Bosley in the big screen version of Charlie's Angels paid the bills.

Less well-received was Osmosis Jones, an unorthdox hybrid of live action and animation, but Murray successfully reunited with Wes Anderson as part of the large comedic ensemble in The Royal Tenenbaums.

Murray's transition to full-fledged dramatic actor came to fruition in Lost in Translation, writer-director Sophia Coppola's romantic film about an emotionally adrift actor who meets newly-wed (Scarlet Johansson).

Coppola conceived the role and its blend of comedy and tragedy specifically for Murray, going as far as to say she wouldn't make the movie without him.

Murray then made a fleeting appearance in Jim Jarmusch's Coffee & Cigarrettes and voiced the lasagne loving feline, Garfield, in the movie adap of the comic strip series.

Forthcoming projects include the title role in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and another movie with arty director Jarmusch.