Friday, September 26, 2008

Feast of Saint Bill

Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,

This week saw the feast day of Saint Bill. Bill Murray turned 58. A native Chicagoan, he was born into a large Catholic family. Murray worked his way through Catholic school as a caddy and then went on to college, though not with a scholarship from Ted Knight. Ultimately, he dropped out after being busted at O'Hare for possession of marijuana on his way back to school, only to be extended an invitation to join the legendary Second City troupe in Chicago.

In 1974, he moved to New York where he joined the cast of the short lived National Lampoon Radio Hour at the invitation of John Belushi who also managed to attract Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Christopher Guest, Gilda Radner, and Richard Belzer. Following the demise of the show, he moved to Los Angeles, but two years later returned to join many of his old mates as a member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on NBC's Saturday Night. Murray's work on SNL is nothing short of genius and it launched his film career which includes some of the all-time funniest films ever made -- Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day.

How can one even begin to pick a favorite Bill Murray moment? Nick Winters, the Lounge Singer would have to be mine. Others?

Happy birthday, Bill Murray.

Live, love, and laugh,

Irreverend Steve