Best Chicago Comedians
Bill Murray
Bill Murray was born in Wilmette, IL, the fifth of nine children in his family. One of his brothers, he got his start at Second City in Chicago, where he honed his improvisational comedy skills. He moved to New York in 1974, and was encouraged by John Belushi to join The National Lampoon Radio Hour. An off Broadway production of the radio show helped Murray to land his first television gig on Saturday Night Live with Howard Cossell on ABC, which was cancelled after a year. In 1976, Murray joined the cast of Saturday Night Live on NBC. Acting on the show allowed him to gain visibility as an actor and comedian, and led to him starring in several major motion pictures, the first of which being Meatballs in 1979. Murray has been an influential actor since then, and has starred in classic comedies such as Caddyshack, Stripes, and Ghostbusters. Some more recent films he has appeared in include The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tennenbaums, and Lost in Translation.
Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn was born in Minneapolis, MN, but grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago, graduating from Lake Forest High School in 1988. He cast in a Chevrolet commercial in 1988, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. His first film role was as Jamie O'Hare in Rudy in 1993. In 1996, Vaughn was cast in a Jon Favreau's successful independent film, Swingers, which increased his exposure to a larger audience. In 2003, Vaughn played a major role in the comedy Old School, which gained him lots of notoriety. In 2005, he followed up his role in Old School, in Wedding Crashers, starring alongside Owen Wilson. Since that role, he has appeared in many more successful movies, and continues to act today.
Jeff Garlin
Jeff Garlin was born in Chicago, IL, but went to high school in Florida. He briefly attended The University of Miami, where he started performing stand-up comedy, but dropped out. He has appeared on several television shows, including Dr. Katz, Arrested Development, The Daily Show, The Life and Times of Tim, and the Late Show with David Letterman. Most notably, Garlin stars alongside Larry David in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, as David's manager, Jeff Greene. Garlin has also appeared in and directed a few films, and has been a voice actor on films including toy Story 3 and WALL-E. in February of 2010, Garlin made his debut as an author, with his book, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World.
