Bill Murray is a fudging legend.

Pic by Paul Sherwood from Welland & Toronto, Canada courtesy of www.wikipedia.com

No seriously. This man is way under rated. Some of you may know him from Ghostbusters. Many will recognise him from Zombieland (you know Mark Hamill was originally considered for this cameo? Bill Murray craps all over Hamill). If you grew up watching mouldy video tapes like I did, Groundhog Day will be your most vivid Murray memory. Apparently, he got bitten a few times by the groundhog during the filming.

So why is Bill Murray such a legend? I mean, he is responsible for the horrific Garfield movie. And not to offside indie kids everywhere, but I thought Rushmore was pretty average.

But Bill Murray is not a legend because of his films. Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters and many of his work are cultural gems and it’s not like the man can’t act. But he is a legend becaase despite his fame, he “Has no agent, no business manager, no lawyer, or favorite hair and make-up artist. He travels without an entourage” (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/).

He’s also known for completely adlibbing his scenes when he feels the writers word aren’t up to scratch (he seems to feel this all the time). He’s been spotted bar tending at an American music festival, reading poetry to construction workers and my favorite Bill Murray story is that he sneaks up to people on the street from behind, covers their eyes and says “Guess who?”. Then when he reveals himself and the person says Bill Murray, he laughs and says “No one will ever believe you”. (http://gawker.com/5103788/sad-bill-murray-accosting-people-in-union-square and http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/about-last-night/2010/07/on-the-record-bill-murray.html and many others). I’m basically going to walk the streets of Chicago one day in a Ghostbusters t-shirt till this happens. This story about him taking over a school tour group is nearly as great (http://filmmakermagazine.com/news/2010/07/bill-murray-and-me ).


ABOVE: Murray in Ghostbusters. So I don't get my pants sued off, I don't hold the copywright to this image and believe I am using it in conjunction with the fair use rational. It's from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_GB1.jpg. Also, I own jack all Columbia Pictures so unless you want my collection of Phantom comics, don't even bother with legal action.

The number one reason Bill Murray is a legend? He has an 800 number for people to contact him on. That’s it. You don’t call his manager, email him or post a letter. His people don’t talk to your people. You leave a message on this mysterious 800 number and if he feels like it, he might get back to you. I would kill for that number.

So, what does this mean in the zombie apocalypse? Well, these personality traits could mean amazing survival or instant death for Murray.
With little contact with the outside world, he won’t have an issue with holing up for survival. But because he can’t be easily contacted, he may not even find out the apocalypse is on. Then, when he next plays the Guess Who game, he might lose a hand. My theory is Murray will survive. He has the money to stay at home for a while then the celebrity for other survivors to assist him. I mean, I would let myself be slowed down for Bill Murray. That’s another question we’ll address in the future: If a loved one was slowing you down in the race for survival, would you off them? And what celebrity would you allow to join your survival team?