Ghostbusters Credits
Murray's 2016 appearance was a cameo as Dr. Martin Heiss, a skeptic of the paranormal. Where director Paul Feig had envisioned Heiss simply as someone who wears suits, Murray shaped the character's look around English writer and storyteller Quentin Crisp.
Career Background
Murray gained national exposure through sketch comedy in the 1970s. He won a scholarship to Chicago's Second City comedy workshop, then moved to New York and joined The National Lampoon Radio Show. In 1975 he performed with Harold Ramis, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and his brother Brian Doyle-Murray in the off-Broadway revue The National Lampoon Show. After a stint on Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell, Lorne Michaels chose him for NBC's Saturday Night Live, where he joined in 1976 taking Chevy Chase's slot.
Ghostbusters (1984) was Murray's third collaboration with director Ivan Reitman, following Meatballs (1979) and Stripes (1981). Notable films outside the franchise include Caddyshack (1980), Tootsie (1982), Groundhog Day (1993), Rushmore (1998), Lost in Translation (2003), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), and Broken Flowers (2005). Murray has also directed and produced, with Quick Change (1990) as a co-director credit. Known for his ability to ad-lib, he contributed improvised lines across multiple Ghostbusters productions.
Behind the Scenes
Ghostbusters (1984)
Murray started filming on October 27, 1983, flying by Concorde to New York and driving to 62nd Street and Madison Avenue for an 11 a.m. start. During the New York City Hall shoot, the city revoked the crew's permit on the day of filming over concerns about traffic. Murray and Dan Aykroyd disappeared for an hour and approached Mayor Ed Koch directly. Koch resolved the issue, allowing the Ecto-1 escort sequence to 550 Central Park West to proceed. One night during the Central Park West shoot, Murray and Aykroyd borrowed police motorcycles, rode around Central Park with lights and sirens running, and pulled over pedestrians.
Murray came up with the idea on set that Mayor Lenny and the Archbishop knew each other on a first-name basis, and coined the name "Lenny" for the mayor character in that moment.
On January 20, 1984, scenes were filmed at the Los Angeles firehouse. Murray arrived hours late. Half the scene had already been filmed with a stand-in. Murray began entertaining the crew and ad-libbing rather than picking up the scene where it had stopped, until Annie Potts directly told him to get on his mark and say his line. The crew reportedly applauded her, and filming resumed.
Murray also orchestrated several on-set pranks. He ripped the buttons off Reginald VelJohnson's police uniform as a joke (they were sewn back on). He arranged for puppeteer Harrison Ray to hide inside the Terror Dog puppet and roar when Robin Williams leaned in to examine it during a set visit with Chevy Chase: Williams stumbled backward and nearly fell, but Murray and others caught him; Williams laughed it off. Murray also spooked Terri Hardin while she was in the Terror Dog suit during her lunch break. He visited Boss Films during production and snuck up behind matte artist Michelle Moen as she painted, pretending to slip into her canvas while holding a large coffee.
Murray objected to the theme song attempts by Hughes and Thrall and expressed a preference for NRBQ.
Ghostbusters II (1989)
During a videotaped rehearsal for the sequel, Murray delivered a long tirade about what he described as an unspecified indignity Ivan Reitman had forced on him during Stripes. During filming of the courtroom scene, a physical altercation broke out between Murray and propmaster Bill MacSeems over the weight of the Proton Pack prop, resulting in a firing, a lawsuit, and first assistant director Peter Giuliano physically coming between them. Murray's line "Let's suck in the guts, guys" was ad-libbed during pre-scene outfitting and was later folded into the script. His photography session with the Vigo painting was Murray's riff on famous fashion photographer Richard Avedon. Murray recalled the Statue of Liberty crown gimbal as "quite a ride: nausea, sea legs, the whole thing."
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)
Murray voiced Peter Venkman in the 2009 video game, his first return to the role in audio form after declining to participate in proposed live-action sequel projects.
Ghostbusters (2016)
Murray arrived in Boston to film his cameo during the week of August 8, 2015. He filmed with news anchor Pat Kiernan, who returned to Boston a month after his initial shoot to record 40 minutes of scripted and improvised material with Murray. During that shoot, Murray recognized one of the on-set technicians as someone he had previously worked with on Saturday Night Live.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Both Ivan Reitman and director Jason Reitman had working relationships with Murray and were able to reach him directly. Murray read the script, enjoyed it, and agreed to join the cast. On his first day on set, he was in his trailer trying to get the television working so he could watch a Chicago Cubs game. Murray had a tendency to remove props between takes: he left his Proton Pack on the floor after one scene, where it was accidentally kicked by a crew member. Prop armourer Ben Eadie had to glue pieces back together. Murray improvised the line "Count of three, go on two, one two blast" immediately before the cast fired on Gozer. He also contributed multiple variations on Peter's barrage of insults at Gozer: only some made the theatrical cut. Finn Wolfhard suggested Trevor should laugh to annoy Gozer, but Jason Reitman kept the performance low-key. Olivia Wilde eventually broke character and laughed during Murray's takes. After Jason Reitman called cut on one scene, Ernie Hudson accidentally struck Murray's head with his Particle Thrower prop, leaving a mark; Murray returned to the set within a few minutes. On the last day of shooting, Murray handed Ben Eadie a crumpled envelope; Eadie assumed it was his usual copy of the script and tried to return it. Murray told him it was a gift: a certificate for a free massage.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Director Gil Kenan asked Murray which spirit Peter Venkman would have hidden in the garage bay back in 1989. Murray answered "Apple Brandy." During filming of the Garraka-trapping sequence, Murray led the original cast in a rendition of "She's a Brick House."
In The Real Ghostbusters
Murray was aware that the animated version of Peter Venkman sounded nothing like him. Around the midpoint of the series' production, Murray raised the question with Ivan Reitman over lunch. The show's episode "Take Two" directly addresses the discrepancy: Winston Zeddemore reads Murray's name from the original film cast, and at the episode's end Peter remarks that Murray "doesn't look a thing like him." When footage from the first film is briefly shown in a theater at that moment, Maurice LaMarche voiced the live-action version of Peter.
IDW Comics References
Murray appears by name or allusion in several IDW Ghostbusters publications. Dan Aykroyd's introduction to the Ghostbusters: Mass Hysteria hardcover references Murray. In Ghostbusters 101 #4, Ray Stantz mentions visiting a dimension based on Caddyshack and alludes to Carl Spackler, Murray's character in that film, blowing up the golf course; Ray then jokes about Murray's golf skills. Peter's birthday on the employee file in Ghostbusters Year One #3 matches Murray's actual birth date, September 21, 1950. In Ghostbusters Year One #2, Peter's hairstyle is based on Tripper, Murray's character from Meatballs (1979). The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters crossover Volume 2 includes a Ghostbusturtle named Bill Murray, and a white golf bag visible across issues 3 through 5 references a bag Murray carried for Scott Simpson during the second round of the 1997 Motorola Western Open at Cog Hill Country Club in Lemont, Illinois.
Murray appeared in full Ghostbusters gear to accept the Best Cameo award for Zombieland at the 2010 Spike Scream Awards (filmed October 16, aired October 19, 2010), and accepted the Best Horror Movie award for the film at the same show. During his acceptance speech he quipped, "I'm sorry, I don't mean anything by this. It was just all that was left that was clean." A smudge of permanent marker from signing autographs just before his appearance was visible on his cheek. According to GBFans.com reporting at the time, the flight suit was produced by Sony for Ghostbusters: The Video Game promotion in 2008, and the Proton Pack Murray wore on stage was built by GBFans.com community member Sean Bishop. Also at the awards show was a Sigourney Weaver tribute by James Cameron that included Ghostbusters clips; Murray and Weaver were photographed together backstage.
Quotes
"You are always away from home, as a film actor. Look at me now. You can be stuck in a hotel, several thousand miles away in a whole different time zone, and it is never glamorous. You can't sleep, you put on the television in the middle of the night when you can't understand a word, and you make phone calls back home which don't really give you the comfort they should. I know what it's like to be that stranger's voice calling in. It happens in acting and it happens in business."
