European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 7, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Glory Days for Box office smash Bill by David Friedman new Day hey came at him like bees. Swarming. Buzzing. Whining. The time was about 3 . On sunday last the place court Side at the Byrne Arena in East Rutherford nj., where the new Jersey nets were taking on the new York kicks. The target a tall Tubby somewhat jowly dad trying to watch a basketball game with his son. Well not just any tall Tubby somewhat jowly dad. Quot Gimme something Gimme something Gim Mee something Quot 10 teen age girls screamed simultaneously at Bill Murray. Quot like what Quot Murray asked. Quot like an autograph Quot the girls screamed Back. Quot sorry i Don t do autographs Quot Munday said. Quot gave pm up for Lent. 1 do impressions Quot one of the girls whined. Quot yeah impressions said Murray who grabbed the paper from her hand then Cit Down on it a hard. A Quot dental impressions Quot but this is for my Fiance the oldest of the Bunch said. Quot How Long a it Gonna last a Quot if you re Lucky a said Murray Quot As Long As your to can i get a rim shot Here. Actually the Quot How Long a it Gonna last Quot question is one that could be on Murray s mind. The Billmers Ter s on a major Roll these Days living larger than Patrick Ewing and Derrick Coleman combined. Groundhog Day in which Murray stars As a Bunkhead Weatherman locked in a Punxsutawney put time Warp is one of the top grossing movies in America right now. And on Friday Murray playing a Low life Hood with stand up comedy aspirations opened in stateside Heaters with Robert Diniro and Uma Thurman a no slouches there a in mad dog and glory which Means Murray of All people just might give Herr Schwarzenegger Competition for the title of 1993 Box office Champion. Its enough to make a goofball. Well even Goodier. Quot in be been burning a weird High octane fuel lately Quot Murray said monday morning Between gulps of Coffee and handfuls of strawberries in a hotel suite overlooking mid town Manhattan. He wore an excruciatingly ugly pair of baggy Green jeans topped by an uglier checked shirt,.somehow, for Murray it worked. Quot in be been As Loose As Ive Ever been a he said. Quot no not just Loose. Goofy. Like with those girls at the basketball game. And that to Golf tournament i played in before that. Man walked 18 holes in a hat shaped like the Hubert h. Humphrey met radome. Quot part of it i suppose is knowing that groundhog Day is a sue Cess. You know it s Nice knowing you re doing your Job Well. It makes you a Well it makes me anyway a not to mention Rich and 42, has made $5 million a picture a Price that s no doubt about to go up. He lives in a Large secluded House North of new York City with his wife of 12 years two sons and an occasional brother or two. He can afford anything he wants yet he s not what you d Call a big spender. Quot you have to be organized to be extravagant a a Murray said. Quot i m not organized he says he can to even remember the most expensive thing he has bought. What he does remember is the Good feeling he got helping his Mother before she died. Quot i got her an american express Gold card a Murray said. Quot first year she must have spent $300. Next Universal t _ 1l n Bill Murray plays a hoodlum in mad dog and glory and a television Weatherman in groundhog Day. Columbia year maybe twice that. Much. The third year 1 finally told her a i want you to use this so she says Well i could use some carpeting. Then she called me and said she needs a new Furnace. Couple years later she told me shed just arranged a trip to China a with two of her friends. Quot that s when i Felt like Elvis. What Cvar you want Mumma. You name it. I love you Mumma. But As Elvis found out the Rich part is easy its the Fame part that s hard. Quot am i worried about the Elvis syndrome Quot Murray mused aloud. Quot the drugs and weight thing Nash not really. Unlike Elvis i can go out of the House though sometimes you just say Why bother it s too much of a hassle i certainty Don t hang out at the shopping Arcade. Quot this Fame thing is definitely not Normal. The question is How Well can you handle it. Nobody gets any training. So i figure if i can keep amusing myself by doing dental impressions or whatever then everything a maybe the Best thing that happened to him Murray said was not being in the original cast of saturday night live. To watched my friends Danny John and Gilda a that Sas in Aykroyd Belushi and Radnor a Quot go Kinda crazy. I mean who going from com plate unknown status to overnight Success it s like you be been starving your whole life or getting thrown outta places and now everyone wants to invite you in and feed what people forget is that Murray almost did t become a Success on saturday night live at All. After replacing Chevy Chase in the show s second season Murray was something of a Flop. Finally he gave what Snow known As the Quot new Guy speech. Quot in a a funny Guy a Murray said on to that night Quot but i Haven to been funny on the show a then Murray went for the viewers soft White Underbelly. A a in a a Catholic. In a one of nine children. I was raised in Wilmette 111., a Small mining town North of Chicago. That reminds me of something funny. My father died when i was 17. That a not what was funny a he was funny. People always said to me a a you la never grow up to be As funny As your dad and now he s not around to see me not being As funny As him.�?�. And the rest As they say. Murray made meatballs in 1977, Cadd Shack in 80, stripes in 81, Tootsie in 82 and then in 1984, which ended up the biggest grossing comedy of the year. There were a few bombs namely where the Buffalo roam 1980 and the razors Edge 1984. But with groundhog Day there s no doubt Murray has become a superstar. Quot the most mature performance of his career a new Day critic Jack Mathews wrote. Terrence Rafferty writing in the new yorker was even More effusive Quot Murray s humor has remained defiantly adolescent. When he finds himself in the presence of. Someone who actually believes in the values of Middle class life his expression combines pain and genuine perplexity his face says arc you for real and his body says How fast can i get out of Here a this is a useful attitude to have toward the some people would Call this attitude a live got this great dictionary a Murray said a the big Oxford one with regular Type so i done to have to use a magnifying Glass. Geez i think its 24 volumes. Now 1 look up everything. Words i be used my whole life. Words in be Only read in words like Quot cynical a Quot i told my brother Brian i was worried groundhog Day was too sentimental. He told me i was too cynical. I Haven to looked it up yet. Maybe in a March 7,1993 sunday a Page 11
