Lessons from Bill Murray

Yesterday was Bill Murray’s 63rd Birthday.  Bill has been a staple in my life.  As a child, I was fan of Ghostbusters; as a teen, I was a fan of Caddyshack; and now no Wes Anderson movie is complete without Mr. Murray playing a supporting role that steals the show.

But beyond his roles in Hollywood; what can we learn from Bill Murray?

Earlier in the week, the Huffington Post had an article titled: “The Life And Times Of Bill Murray In One Awesome Infographic”  While reviewing it a few items came to light:

Be True to Yourself

People say I’m difficult and sometimes that’s a badge of honour. – Bill Murray

As the infographic points out, in 1999, frustrated with “Hollywood” Bill dropped his talent agency and replaced it with an 888 phone number.  What some would consider career suicide actually benefited Bill; just take a look at the numbers:

In the 1980’s and 1990’s Bill was in a total of 26 movies.  In the 2000’s Bill was in 24 movies!  He almost did the same number of movies in half the time.

Though one may take a quick look at this and question if the quantity had any quality, then one may forget that Bill received his first (and currently only) Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in Lost in Translation.

Be Loyal to Your Friends

There are people who drove me crazy, but they got the job done. And when I see that person again, I nod my head. Respect. – Bill Murray

Though Bill may not be “friends” in the traditional sense with the following people, he has been very loyal to them throughout the years.

• David Letterman: Bill was David Letterman’s first guest on both his late night shows and has appeared 22 times on David’s shows.  With the most recent being this great clip.

• Wes Anderson: Since 1998, Bill Murray has starred in 6 Wes Anderson films.  Though that may not sound like much, that is every film Wes Anderson has done since 1998.

Regardless of who you are, once you make a connection with Bill, you’re in it for life.

Know How to Have Fun

I don’t want to be that guy mumbling into his drink at a bar. – Bill Murray

It seems comedy comes easy to Bill because he knows how to have fun.  Recently he has made news for crashing parties and randomly playing “guess who” to people on the streets.  If anyone else did this, they would be accused of being crazy or self-centered, but not Bill.  He truly does this to have fun with people and, in his own way, celebrate life.

So, take a few pages out of Bill’s book and enjoy the infographic, courtesy of Mike Seiders.  Oh and Happy Belated Birthday, Bill Murray!