Best wishes to William James (aka Bill) Murray who turns 70 on 21 September.
"But that boy has come a long way" one could say with Celentano: born in Evanston, Illinois, fifth of nine children, orphaned at 17, an undisciplined student and expelled from the University of Denver for marijuana use, Bill Murray comes to be an actor almost out of desperation.
His luck changes when he crosses paths with John Belushi who drags him into the crazy adventure of the "National Lampoon Radio Hour" in New York City.
It is 1974 and three years later he follows Belushi to NBC where the "Saturday Night Live" show takes off.
In '79 Ivan Reitman offers him the great opportunity with "Polpette" in which he is the chief scout Tripper, creator of deadly jokes against the opposing teams.
Five years later they reunited for "Ghostbusters in which Bill Murray replaced John Belushi who died shortly before."
Characteristic and insecure as often happens to great comedians, Bill tried to detoxify himself from the cinema and found himself on the small stages of off Broadway but in 1993 it was another friend who shined his talent: with "Ricomincio da capo" by Harold Ramis the audience is he notices him and the film becomes a cult object.
As will happen ten years later with Sophia Coppola's "Lost in translation".
In the meantime, however, the actor has become the alter ego of the emerging talent of the 90s: in every Wes Anderson film.
Unfortunately, personal serenity does not correspond to the artistic consecration that leads him to be one of the most sought after actors of the new millennium.
Frances McDormand introduces him to the Cohen clan (and he gratefully will arrive by bus in Rome to celebrate his friend at the Rome Film Fest);
Wes Anderson calls him for the still unreleased "The French Dispatch", Sophia Coppola for "On the Rocks", Jason Reitman (Ivan's son) for the reunion of "Ghostbusters: Legacy" expected next year.
In short, if it were not for that cursed character, sometimes too sensitive and devoured by anxiety, Bill Murray's birthday would be a happy occasion.
Of course it is for his fans who know they can count on a talent still capable of a thousand surprises.