Bill Murray's been appearing on our screens, whether big or small, since we started to appreciate entertainment beyond Pat the Bunny.
OK, maybe not quite that long, but he came to national attention when he replaced Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live in 1976.
While this is not a This Is Your Life episode, I thought a little Bill Murray & You might be appropriate for birthday appreciation. Because who hasn't experienced a Groundhog Day, felt Lost in Translation, or battled the Stay-puft Marshmallow Man (although some days I feel like the Stay-puft Marshmallow Man).
First, some fun facts, via the UK's Guardian, like #14 — his favorite musical is Oklahoma! And #17 & 18:
17 Bill Murray's constant mood swings led Dan Aykroyd to give him the nickname "The Murricane".
18 The Murricane is also a cocktail, named in Bill Murray's honour, containing bourbon, basil, elderflower, watermelon and pepper.
(Salvatore Calabrese, maestro bartender at London's Lanesborough Hotel will create a signature cocktail named after you. A 60th birthday present?)
Gizmodo calls him a geek hero and backs that up with a collection of clips and videos worth watching. The last one has offers his take on shaving in the shower.
We all have what if's in our lives over the years. What if I'd moved, what if I'd married this person over that one — or married at all; taken this job over that one. Escape from your own life decisions for a moment to see how Bill's life might have changed (not to mention your viewing pleasures) if he'd taken some of these roles. (Bill Murray in Star Wars? Really?)
Pictures of him with work buds and colleagues — do yours look similar?
He's a sports lover (here he is on David Letterman trying to cadge Super Bowl seats).
Fashion-wise, he does seem to be partial to the leather vest of late.
Hairstyle:though it changes with roles, in heris personal life he seems to accept the thinning and graying with a perhaps-anticipated disheveled disregard (pictured) but his 'do in Kingpin was voted an all-time worst.
He's fond of hats (and golf).
A youngster on Snarkmarket (I say that because he notes that his own parents aren't yet 60) has this to say:
Murray — maybe especially has he's gotten older — is the relief pitcher who finishes every game/scene. He makes everybody look better; you're always talking about him, but somebody else usually gets the win. The starters set the table, and he just kills you a half-dozen different ways.
And he's still not afraid to take the plunge.
Murray can look like he knows absolutely nothing and in a split second look like he knows everything, the secrets of life; wry, funny, but always complex and tinged with something deeper. Here's a surprising stint you may not know about — he gets a little high-brow with construction workers on YouTube.
So the big Birthday question is: Is Bill Murray the embodiment of this generation? Well, it's not that big a question, but what do you think?
In the meantime, toast him with a Murricane.
