Editing Bill Murray (section)

===1980s: Work with Harold Ramis===
[[File:Paul Binder with Bill Murray 1989.jpg|thumb|Murray (right) with [[Paul Binder]] in 1989]]
Murray landed his first starring role with ''[[Meatballs (film)|Meatballs]]'' (1979). He followed this with a portrayal of [[Hunter S. Thompson]] in ''[[Where the Buffalo Roam]]'' (1980). 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 (film)|Stripes]]'' (1981) and had a role in ''[[Tootsie]]'' (1982). 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.<ref name=finalguest>{{cite news|first=James|last=Hibberd|url=https://time.com/3860153/david-letterman-bill-murray/|title=David Letterman's Final Guest Is Bill Murray|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 15, 2015|access-date=May 17, 2015|archive-date=May 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517124034/http://time.com/3860153/david-letterman-bill-murray/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Murray began work on [[The Razor's Edge (1984 film)|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''.<ref name=ready>{{cite web |first= Dan |last= Fierman |url= https://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201008/bill-murray-dan-fierman-gq-interview |title= Bill Murray Is Ready To See You Now |work= [[GQ]] |date= August 2010 |access-date= July 29, 2012 |archive-date= June 26, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120626172625/http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201008/bill-murray-dan-fierman-gq-interview |url-status= dead }}</ref> ''Ghostbusters'' became the highest-grossing film of 1984 and, at the time, the highest-grossing comedy ever.<ref>{{cite news|title='Ghostbusters' Tops Comedies|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 16, 1985|page=16}}</ref> ''The Razor's Edge'', which was filmed before ''Ghostbusters'' was released, was a box-office flop.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

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 Française|Cinémathèque]] in [[Paris]], and to spend time with his family in their [[Hudson River Valley]] home.<ref name="carr" /> During that time, his second son, Luke, was born.<ref name="white" /> With the exception of a cameo in ''[[Little Shop of Horrors (film)|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 ''[[Man Equals Man|A Man's a Man]]''.<ref name="white" /> Murray returned to film with ''[[Scrooged]]'' (1988) and ''[[Ghostbusters II]]'' (1989).<ref>{{cite web |first=Dave |last=Kehr |author-link=Dave Kehr |title='Ghostbusters' Tired Sequel Is Missing Original's Charm |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-17-8902100248-story.html |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=June 17, 1989 |access-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190830145415/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-17-8902100248-story.html |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>