Does Bill Murray Have Kids?

The Short Answer

Yes — Bill Murray has six sons. Two sons, including Luke, with his first wife Margaret Kelly, and four sons with his second wife Jennifer Butler.

Bill Murray: Early Life and Background

William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received several accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. Murray was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2016.

Murray became a national presence on Saturday Night Live from 1977 to 1980, receiving a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. He established his stardom by acting in a string of successful comedy films, including Meatballs (1979), Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Scrooged (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and Groundhog Day (1993). He also had supporting roles in Tootsie (1982), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Ed Wood (1994), Kingpin (1996) and Osmosis Jones (2001). Murray also starred as Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters (1984), and Ghostbusters II (1989) and has reprised his role in various projects within the Ghostbusters franchise. He has done voice acting work in films, such as Garfield (2004), Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006), and The Jungle Book (2016).

He has frequently collaborated with director Wes Anderson, acting in ten of his films starting with Rushmore (1998), followed by roles in films such as The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Isle of Dogs (2018). He played an aging actor in Sofia Coppola's dramedy Lost in Translation (2003), earning Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also acted in films such as Broken Flowers (2005), Zombieland (2009), Get Low (2010), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), St. Vincent (2014), On the Rocks (2020), and The Friend (2024).

Early life

Career and Rise to Fame

Murray was born on September 21, 1950, in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His mother, Lucille Murray, was a mail room clerk, and his father, Edward Murray II, was a lumber salesman. He attended Loyola Academy, an all-boys Jesuit private school in Wilmette.

Murray and his eight siblings grew up in an Irish Catholic family. His paternal grandfather was from County Cork, while his maternal ancestors were from County Galway. Three of his siblings, John Murray, Joel Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray, are also actors. A sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican nun in Michigan; she has traveled the United States in two one-woman programs, portraying Catherine of Siena and Dorothy Stang. His brother Ed Murray died in 2020. Their father died in 1967 at the age of 46 from complications of diabetes when Murray was 17.

As a youth, Murray read children's biographies of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and Davy Crockett. He attended St. Joseph's grade school and Loyola Academy. During his teen years, he worked as a golf caddy to fund his education at the Jesuit high school, was the lead singer of a rock band (the Dutch Masters) and took part in high school and community theater. One of his sisters had polio and his mother suffered several miscarriages.

On September 21, 1970, his 20th birthday, the police arrested Murray at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for trying to smuggle 10 lb (4.5 kg) of cannabis, which he had allegedly intended to sell. It was discovered after Murray joked to the passenger next to him that he had packed a bomb in his luggage. Murray was convicted and sentenced to probation.

After graduating from Loyola Academy, Murray attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado, taking pre-medical courses, but quickly dropped out and returned to Illinois. In 2007, Regis awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Age and Birthday Details

Bill Murray was born on September 21, 1950.

As of 2026, Bill Murray is 76 years old.

Birthday milestones for public figures like Bill Murray routinely trend on social media, which is why "how old is" questions generate such consistent search demand.

Personal Life and Family

1974–1979: Early work and Saturday Night Live

With an invitation from his older brother Brian Doyle-Murray, Murray got his start at Chicago's The Second City, an improvisational comedy troupe, studying under Del Close. In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a featured player on The National Lampoon Radio Hour.

In 1975, the Off-Broadway The National Lampoon Show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. That same season, another variety show, NBC's Saturday Night, premiered. Cosell's show lasted just one season, canceled in early 1976. After working in Los Angeles with the "guerrilla video" commune TVTV on several projects, Murray rose to prominence in 1976. He officially joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live for the show's second season, following the departure of Chevy Chase. A Rutland Weekend Television sketch Monty Python's Eric Idle brought for his appearance on SNL developed into the mockumentary All You Need Is Cash (1978). Murray appeared as "Bill Murray the K", a send-up of New York radio host Murray the K, in a segment that parodies the Maysles Brothers's documentary The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit. During the first few seasons of SNL, Murray was in a romantic relationship with fellow cast member Gilda Radner. Murray landed his first starring role with Meatballs (1979).

1980–1993: Work with Harold Ramis

In the early 1980s, he collaborated with writer-director Harold Ramis and starred in a string of box-office hits, including Caddyshack (1980) and Stripes (1981) and had a role in Tootsie (1982). He portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in Where the Buffalo Roam (1980). Murray was the first guest on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman on February 1, 1982. He later appeared on the first episode of the Late Show with David Letterman on August 30, 1993, when the show moved to CBS. On January 31, 2012, 30 years after his first appearance with Letterman, Murray appeared again on his talk show. He appeared as Letterman's final guest when the host retired on May 20, 2015.

Recent Years

Murray began work on a film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel The Razor's Edge. The film, which Murray co-wrote, was his first starring role in a drama. He later agreed with Columbia Pictures to star in Ghostbusters—in a role originally written for John Belushi—to get financing for The Razor's Edge. Ghostbusters became the highest-grossing film of 1984 and, at the time, the highest-grossing comedy ever.

Disappointed over the failure of The Razor's Edge, Murray took a hiatus from acting for four years to study philosophy and history at Sorbonne University, frequent the Cinémathèque in Paris, and to spend time with his family in their Hudson River Valley home. During that time, his second son, Luke, was born. With the exception of a cameo in Little Shop of Horrors (1986), he made no film appearances, but participated in public readings in Manhattan organized by playwright-director Timothy Mayer and in a stage production of Bertolt Brecht's A Man's a Man. Murray returned to film with Scrooged (1988) and Ghostbusters II (1989).

Murray made his first and only attempt at directing when he co-directed Quick Change (1990) with producer Howard Franklin. He co-starred in Frank Oz's What About Bob? (1991) alongside Richard Dreyfuss. He starred in Harold Ramis's fantasy comedy Groundhog Day (1993). Hal Hinson of The Washington Post praised Murray's performance, writing: "Murray is a breed unto himself, a sort of gonzo minimalist. And he's never been funnier as a comedian or more in control as an actor than he is here. It's easily his best movie." That same year, he starred in the comedy Mad Dog and Glory alongside Robert De Niro and Uma Thurman. Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "The great satisfaction of Mad Dog and Glory is watching Mr. De Niro and Mr. Murray play against type with such invigorating ease."

1994–2009: Comedy stardom and mature roles

After the success of Groundhog Day, Murray appeared in a series of well-received supporting roles in films like Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994) and Peter Farrelly's Kingpin (1996). Also in 1996, he appeared as himself in the Looney Tunes live action comedy Space Jam with Michael Jordan. However, his starring roles in Larger than Life (1996) and The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) were not as successful with critics or audiences. He received much critical praise for his role in Wes Anderson's coming of age comedy Rushmore (1998), opposite Jason Schwartzman and Olivia Williams. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Murray turns in a thrillingly knowing, unforced performance — an award-worthy high point in a...

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