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This thread is moot.

Chevy Chase > these two

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Martin 's body of work s still better

It was a tie with me until I heard Martin spouting political a while back.

Murray by a wide margin now.

Repeat. Murray by a wide margin. And I'm ok with my life. Have a nice day!

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Murray, never enjoyed Martin that much.

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Same. Easy choice for me.

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It was a tie with me until I heard Martin spouting political a while back.

Murray by a wide margin now.

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God you life must suck since your entertainment consists soley of john voit movies scored by Toby keith

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Funny because it seems that Murray and Martin have similar political views from a quick internet search.

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My favorite Steve Martin role is the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors

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And Bill Murray was fantastic as his patient.

Bill Murray, mainly because Lost in Translation is in my Top five movies. Also liked him in Lost City. Hated King Tut when it came out, only liked Martin in The Jerk and Roxanne. That's all I got.

Couple of scenes for consideration:

Martin #1 (NSFW language)

Martin #2

Murray #1

Murray #2

Martin wins the "Comedy Album", "Musical Talent" and "Aging Well" categories. Murray takes all the rest.

His entire body of work gives it to Steve Martin, IMHO.

I think his length and quality of career is longer and his range of talent (stand up, acting, writing, music) is demonstratively greater, although the misses in his movie offerings have been pretty numerous.

His best movies ("The Jerk," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Grand Canyon," "Three Amigos," "Roxanne," "It's Complicated") are, for me, nuanced, layered and multi-dimensional.

Even his flick failures (and there have been many) are way out there, showing innovative cinematic creativity, which (this time) ended up as still interesting, but over reaching or unfulfilled missteps rather than completely realized film genius.

He's a "wild and crazy guy" who's always been on the edge with his many offerings.


Bill Murray is very talented guy and he's certainly not a one trick pony.

But, IMO, his movie portrayals have had an unmistakable sameness in the character he plays.

That's part of why his many, many fans like them all so much.

He's doesn't ever play against type.

He personifies his type,

Heck, given a chance, he could have played that big Leibowski dude without much effort, makeup, costume or probably even a script.

With a good story and/or other fine actors you can get "Lost in Translation," "Groundhog Day," "Tootsie," "Hyde Park on Hudson," "Where the Buffalo Roam," "Broken Flowers," "St, Vincent" or "Aloha."

I liked all of those.

I was pulling for Bill to win the Oscar for "Lost in Translation."

He may never have a better role..

When benefiting from Murray's creative collaboration with writer/director Wes Anderson, you'll get "Moonrise Kingdom," "The Darjeeing Limited," "The Royal Tenenbaums," "Rushmore," "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" or "The Grand Budapest Hotel".

I noticed movie making excellence in all five of those flicks ( although none of them were my personal cup of tea), but Bill didn't really have a leading role in any of them.

While enjoying "Ghostbusters I & II," "Caddyshack," " Stripes" and "Meatballs" multiple times, I've laughed at and even occasionally later quoted the delicious satire and comedic genius of Bill Murray.

His" Saturday Night Live" improvisational style was just right (and how) for those classic extended skit type of films.

So, given the question, I'll pick Steve Martin.

I hope they both keep doing what they do.

And I think Bill Murray's best work could still be to come.

JMO.

Maybe he'll pick up some of those Robert Duvall as a curmugeon type roles, if Gus McRae ever retires.

If he'd clean up, get a little style, comb his hair and wear a suit, I could even see him playing George Clooney's roles in "Up in the Air" or "The Descendants."

Those roles would be a real stretch against Murray's type, but I could see it if Bill wanted to put in the effort.

He probably doesn't want to give acting that much exertion.

Bill can do what he does now just by being himself.

Everytime I try to pick one, I feel bad about the other one.

Ultimately, I'll go with Murray because of Stripes. Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and how did nobody mention his role in Kingpin yet?

I like Bill in What About Bob.

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Steve was born in Waco and I saw him live at G.Rollie.

Martin by a long shot.

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That was 1978 wasn't it? GRW show.

Dirty rotten Scoundrels is a great movie

So, iirc, Martin was never on the cast of SNL only a host.

Net worth:

Bill Murray: 140 million
Steve Martin: 110 million.

The market has spoken.

The jerk is the best comedy of all time and my favorite comedy performance of all time.

But I'm also a Bill Murray fan boy.

Push. Impossible question to answer. Kind of like finding the theory of everything. It cant be done.

Bill Murray is a legend. Steve Martin is on the same level as Martin Short.

I've got to give Bill Murray an edge here. True, Steve Martin has made some wonderful movies: L A STORY, PARENTHOOD, ROXANNE. He's also made movies that were steaming turds: FATHER OF THE BRIDE and THE PINK PANTHER come immediately to mind, and BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE almost comes under that umbrella. Watch these and you'll see a highly competent worker on an assembly line putting in an honest day's work and shutting his work station down at the end of the day.

Of course, Bill Murray did GARFIELD. Hey, anyone can make a mistake.

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My favorite Steve Martin role is the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors

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And he shared one of the scenes with Bill Murray.

Murray was also solid in Where the Buffalo Roam.

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Murray loses points for hipsters thinking Murray's best roles were in Wes Anderson films.

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So true

Renaissance man v. Common man

Both are legendary for sure

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This thread is moot.

Chevy Chase > these two

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You may have a point... In terms of what have you done for me lately, Community is a better tv show than most movies either Murray or Martin have been in recently.

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ImHe's also made movies that were steaming turds: FATHER OF THE BRIDE and THE PINK PANTHER come immediately to minD

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I paid money to see Sgt. Bilko.

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I've got to give Bill Murray an edge here. True, Steve Martin has made some wonderful movies: L A STORY, PARENTHOOD, ROXANNE. He's also made movies that were steaming turds: FATHER OF THE BRIDE and THE PINK PANTHER come immediately to mind, and BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE almost comes under that umbrella. Watch these and you'll see a highly competent worker on an assembly line putting in an honest day's work and shutting his work station down at the end of the day.

Of course, Bill Murray did GARFIELD. Hey, anyone can make a mistake.

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Father of the Bride wasn't so bad. Bowfinger on the other hand....

But come on. If you think Bill Murray hasn't made an equal number of bad movies you are kidding yourself.

Larger than Life? Charlie's Angels? Osmosis Jones? The Man Who Knew Too Little?

I would put Robin Williams over both, to be honest. May sound crazy at first but, think about it. He's had a better standup career than Murray, and a better film career than both.

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Steve Martin is on the same level as Martin Short.

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No way!



Don't forget the movie Leap of Faith. I thought Martin was incredible in that.

I liked the man who knew too little

Edit: I give Martin the edge on entire body of work, but I enjoy watching Murray much more. This guy has a direct line to my funny bone.

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I would put Robin Williams over both, to be honest. May sound crazy at first but, think about it. He's had a better standup career than Murray, and a better film career than both.

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Murray was never a stand-up. He came up through Second City and then National Lampoon Radio Hour (and that Howard Cossell mess of a show) prior to SNL.

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I would put Robin Williams over both, to be honest. May sound crazy at first but, think about it. He's had a better standup career than Murray, and a better film career than both.

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Murray was never a stand-up. He came up through Second City and then National Lampoon Radio Hour (and that Howard Cossell mess of a show) prior to SNL.

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True, and this is why I gave the edge to Martin.

I have a ton of respect for stand up comedians. I think it is one of, if not the toughest, thing in all of entertainment to do and do well.

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Listening to Steve Martin's old albums is really something. He was STRANGE. In a great way. His jokes were completely unconventional:

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Um, if I, uh, do look a little depressed tonight, I - I guess I get a little sentimental every time the bicentennial year rolls around and, um... I got another month and a half on that joke, I'm gonna use it every chance I get, so... [sadly] Actually, I'm kind of - I don't know, I'm kind of thinkin' about my old girlfriend, I guess. Sorry. It's just that I used to travel around and I'd be performing and I could kind of hear her laugh in the back - it'd mean something to me, you know and, uh ... I'm sorry. You know how it is. We were together about three years and, uh, she's not living any more so I kind of, uh-- [audience laughs, Martin gives them a disgusted look] You laugh? And I guess I kind of blame myself for her death. Uh, we were at a party one night and we weren't getting along and we were fighting and she began to drink and ... I didn't realize how much she'd been drinking. She ran out to the car, she asked me to drive her home and I didn't want to and I refused. She asked me one more time, would you please drive me home? I didn't want to ... So I shot her.

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Agreed. Things like this and the whole Let's Get Small album were pretty incredible back in the day. My personal favorite:

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