Not lost in translation: Bill Murray is the 2021 Maltin Modern Master

Curated by Screenmancer Staff

SANTA BARBARA, CA: Academy Award-nominated actor and American film legend Bill Murray is set to receive the prestigious Maltin Modern Master Award at the 36th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Murray will be honored on Friday, April 2nd for his long-standing contributions to the film industry, most recently in the role of Felix Keane in Sofia Coppola’s ON THE ROCKS opposite Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans, for which he received Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice nominations. Leonard Maltin will return for his 30th year to moderate the evening.

“Bill Murray is one of a kind,” says Leonard Maltin. “He developed a comic persona early on that’s still as potent as ever, while expanding his reach and range as an actor. The boyish goofball in CADDYSHACK has become a playboy dad in ON THE ROCKS, with many dazzling and daring stops along the way. I have been an unabashed fan, from GHOSTBUSTERS to LOST IN TRANSLATION, so it is a privilege and honor to present Bill Murray with this year’s Maltin Modern Master Award.”

Murray, who received his first Academy Award nomination for Coppola’s LOST IN TRANSLATION in 2004, is also a six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, and a three-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee.  His iconic filmography includes roles in MEATBALLS, CADDYSHACK, STRIPES, TOOTSIE, GHOSTBUSTERS, THE RAZOR’S EDGE, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, SCROOGED, WHAT ABOUT BOB?, GROUNDHOG DAY, MAD DOG AND GLORY, ED WOOD, KINGPIN, WILD THINGS, RUSHMORE, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, LOST IN TRANSLATION, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, BROKEN FLOWERS, THE DARJEELING LIMITED, FANTASTIC MR. FOX, GET LOW, MOONRISE KINGDOM, HYDE PARK ON HUDSON, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, ST. VINCENT, ISLE OF DOGS, and THE DEAD DON’T DIE.

Murray, who is a comedy and acting icon, began his career in 1975 on the ABC Variety Show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell.  One year later, Murray joined the cast of NBC’s long-running and award-winning Saturday Night Live, which then was only in its second season.   In 1979, Murray landed his first lead role in a feature film as Tripper Harrison in Harold Ramis’ MEATBALLS.  He has gone on to star in nearly 70 feature films, for directors ranging from Jim Jarmusch and Wes Anderson, to Tim Burton and Frank Oz, Ivan Reitman and Peter and Bobby Farrelly, to Richard Donner and Sofia Coppola. His role in Coppola’s LOST IN TRANSLATION, opposite Scarlett Johansson, earned Murray a Screen Actors Guild nomination, a Golden Globe and BAFTA award, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

In his latest role as Felix Keane in Coppola’s ON THE ROCKS, which made its world premiere at the 2020 New York Film Festival, Murray received some of the best reviews of his career.  Mick LaSalle at the San Francisco Chronicle said, “Coppola brings out all of Murray’s many colors, sometimes all at once – his flippancy, his authority, his warmth, his isolation, his expressiveness, his inability to say everything he wants to say.”  Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post said, “in the pantheon of perfect Bill Murray roles – ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ ‘Lost In Translation’ – his smooth-talking character in the new comedy ‘On The Rocks’ ranks as one of the best.”  Justin Chang at the Los Angeles Times wrote, “You see in Felix the deadpan anarchic streak that has made Murray a force in American comedy for decades.”  Alonso Duralde at The Wrap wrote, “One suspects we will think of Murray’s work here alongside the likes of Bette Davis in All About Eve.”

ON THE ROCKS was released in Fall 2020 by Apple TV+ and A24, produced by Coppola and Youree Henley, and features an original screenplay by Coppola.

The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF. Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.  Past recipients include Brad Pitt, Glenn Close, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson.

The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place March 31st through April 10th, 2021. More information as well as Festival passes and tickets, will be available in the coming weeks at www.sbiff.org.